Summer 2024 FAFSA: Loans not disbursed yet despite approval - anyone else waiting?

same here!!! i'm also waiting for my summer loans to disburse. financial aid office told me 'just wait' but my due date is literally NEXT FRIDAY. really stressing me out because i need to buy books too and can't access any refund until they process everything. this is my first summer semester so i dont know if this is normal??

Summer disbursements typically follow a different schedule than fall/spring semesters. Most schools disburse summer aid 10 days before classes start, but many DoE disbursements are running 2-3 weeks behind schedule this year due to the FAFSA Simplification implementation. As long as your loans show as 'accepted' in your portal, you should be fine - the school knows the money is coming. Most institutions won't drop your classes if there's pending financial aid, but you might want to get that confirmed in writing from your financial aid office.

I work in a financial aid office (not yours obviously). Here's what's happening: The Department of Ed's systems are EXTREMELY backed up right now because of all the FAFSA changes. Summer processing is particularly affected. If your aid is showing as 'accepted' in your student portal, your school has done their part. You won't be penalized for DoE delays. Most schools have automatic holds to prevent dropping if you have pending aid. Double-check with your specific school, but this is standard practice.

@profile5 It's cutting it close, but most summer disbursements should process within the next 10-14 days. If you're in a bind for books, check if your school has an emergency book loan program or if the bookstore allows charging against pending financial aid. For housing costs, talk to your financial aid counselor - they might be able to process an emergency hardship loan against your expected refund.

I was having the EXACT same problem and got so fed up with waiting. After calling the Federal Student Aid number like 20 times and getting nowhere, I finally used Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to a real person at FSA. Their video (https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ) showed exactly how it works. The agent I spoke with was able to confirm my loans were approved and gave me documentation to show my school. My disbursement came through 3 days later. Worth a try if you're desperate!

@profile8 Yeah it worked for me! I was skeptical too but I was desperate after waiting on hold for hours multiple days in a row. Having the actual documentation from FSA made my school take the issue more seriously too.

This whole system is RIDICULOUS!! My daughter's summer loans were approved in February and we're still waiting for disbursement. Fall 2024 is going to be a complete disaster with all these FAFSA delays. The financial aid office keeps giving us different answers every time we call. First they said mid-May, then end of May, now they're saying "we don't know." How are students supposed to plan?!? The Department of Education should be EMBARRASSED by this circus!!

@profile4 They CLAIM there won't be penalties but I don't trust them. Get everything in writing! The financial aid office told us there's an automatic hold on her account to prevent drops, but I made them put it in an email just to be safe. This new FAFSA system has been nothing but problems.

my loans just hit my account today!! check your portals everyone, might be coming through now. took exactly 12 days after my "accepted" status appeared.

Quick update for everyone: I've been tracking this issue across several schools, and it appears the Department of Education started processing a large batch of summer loan disbursements yesterday. Several institutions are reporting funds coming through now. If your loans were accepted before May 15th, you should see disbursement within the next 3-5 business days. If accepted after that date, it might be another 7-10 days. For those worried about payment deadlines, most schools automatically extend deadlines when there are pending federal loans, but the policy varies by institution. I recommend getting written confirmation from your financial aid office about their specific policy.

Just wanted to add my experience for anyone still waiting - I was in the exact same boat with summer 2024 loans showing "accepted" but no disbursement. Mine finally came through yesterday (took about 10 days from accepted status). The key thing that helped was getting written confirmation from my financial aid office that my classes wouldn't be dropped due to the DoE delays. Also, my school's bookstore let me charge books against my pending aid once I showed them the email confirmation. Don't panic if you're still waiting - it seems like they're processing them in batches now. Just make sure you have that written protection from your school!

Just checking in - has anyone who was waiting seen their summer disbursements come through in the last few days? I'm still showing "accepted" status but no actual funds yet. My tuition deadline is this Friday and I'm starting to get really anxious. The financial aid office keeps saying "any day now" but I need to know if I should start looking for backup payment options. Also wondering if anyone has had success with that Claimyr service mentioned earlier - seems like it might be worth trying at this point!