When do schools start sending FAFSA award letters? Applied in January but no responses yet

My son has received award letters from 3 out of 8 schools so far. Boston College came first (April 11), then UMass Amherst (April 15), and just yesterday we got Sacred Heart. Nothing from his other schools yet. We submitted FAFSA on January 3 and got processed March 12, so on a similar timeline to you. The financial aid offices told us they're prioritizing accepted students who have indicated strong interest in attending. Has your daughter responded to acceptance letters or attended admitted student events? That might bump her up in the queue. Also check if the schools use a separate portal specifically for financial aid - sometimes those notifications don't appear in the main student portal.

u should call n email every school rn!!!! my cousin had to email the financial aid ppl like 5 times before they sent her package. some schools r just slow af and forget ppl. be persistant!!

Financial aid counselor here. This year is unprecedented with the FAFSA delays, and most institutions are running 4-6 weeks behind their normal award letter schedules. A few important points: 1. Schools legally cannot require a deposit without providing financial aid information, so if the May 1 deadline approaches and you still don't have packages, contact admissions about extensions. Most schools are being flexible this year. 2. Merit scholarships are often processed separately from need-based aid, which might explain why that preliminary estimate was incomplete. 3. Public universities are generally experiencing longer delays than private schools due to larger applicant pools and state-specific verification requirements. 4. CSS Profile schools can often provide estimates faster since they have additional data not dependent on the FAFSA processing. Prioritize following up with her top choice schools and explicitly mention the May 1 deadline in your communications. Be persistent but professional.

We FINALLY started getting award letters last week after months of waiting!!! My twin boys applied to 12 schools each (yes, 24 applications... RIP my sanity and bank account). They both had their FAFSAs processed in early March. So far we've gotten 7 award letters - all from private schools. ZERO from the public universities yet, which matches what the financial aid counselor said above. The annoying thing is the packages are ALL DIFFERENT in how they present the information. Some break down grants vs loans clearly, others just show a bottom line "estimated cost" that doesn't explain what's gift aid vs loans. It's infuriating! I've been making my own spreadsheet to compare them fairly. If you want, I can share the template I'm using once you start getting packages. It helps identify which offers are actually better beyond the flashy "we're giving you $X in aid!" that sometimes includes massive loans.

my son got a full ride at state u after i made a huge fuss. the financial aid office kept giving us the runaround saying they were backed up due to FASFA delays. i finally lost it and demanded to speak to the director. turns out his application had been "stuck" in their system since february!!! they fast-tracked it and we had the package 3 days later. sometimes u gotta be the bad guy. schools are drowning in applications and unless ur kid is a recruited athlete or legacy, ur just a number to them.

I was in your exact situation last week and was going crazy trying to reach the financial aid offices at my daughter's top schools. After dozens of disconnected calls and being on hold for hours, I finally tried using Claimyr to get through to several of them. It's this service that calls the financial aid offices and connects you once they reach a human - saved me from spending my entire day on hold. Using their service, I was able to speak with four different financial aid offices in one afternoon. Two schools told me they were still processing her file, but the other two said they would expedite her package after I explained our situation. We received both packages within 48 hours. If you're struggling to get through on the phones, I'd recommend checking out claimyr.com - they have a video demo at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ that shows how it works. Made a huge difference for us in finally getting answers.

My daughter is also still waiting on most of her financial aid packages. Out of 7 schools, we've only received 2 so far. The most frustrating part is that her dream school (high-ranked private university) sent an email saying they need additional verification documents, but when we called to ask exactly what they needed, no one could give us a straight answer. The whole system feels broken this year. I've been hearing that schools with May 1st deposit deadlines might extend them to May 15th because of the FAFSA delays. Has anyone heard this officially from their schools?

One strategy that worked for us: have your student email their assigned admissions counselor (not just the financial aid office) explaining that they're very interested in attending but need to see the financial aid package before making a decision. The admissions staff often have more pull with financial aid than parents do, since they're trying to convert their accepted students into enrolled students. When my son did this, two schools expedited his packages within a week. He specifically mentioned other competitive offers in his email (politely), which I think motivated them to get his aid figured out quickly.

Just got my son's last award letter today! Took forever but worth the wait - much better package than expected. Here's what worked for us: 1. Called financial aid AND admissions separately (they don't always communicate well internally) 2. Had my son follow up with thank-you emails after each acceptance, mentioning he was waiting on aid info 3. Checked for school-specific financial aid forms beyond FAFSA/CSS (some have additional institutional forms) 4. Requested expedited processing because of approaching deposit deadline Don't give up! The aid is coming, just much later than normal years. And remember you can always appeal offers if they don't meet your needs - we successfully appealed two packages with significant increases.