Where to find my son's FAFSA SAI score? No email received after processing
My son's FAFSA was processed almost three weeks ago (mid-April) but I haven't seen anything about his SAI score. I'm confused about where to find this information. Was I supposed to get an email? I've logged into the studentaid.gov parent portal but don't see any obvious link or page showing his SAI. This is my first time dealing with FAFSA (my older kids didn't attend college), so I'm completely lost. His college is asking for his SAI number and I have no idea where to find it. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
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Isabella Ferreira
same thing happened to me! they dont send emails anymore with the SAI i don't think. you have to log into the STUDENT account (not parent) and look at the confirmation page. my daughter had to download her SAR pdf to find it
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Malik Thompson
•Thank you! So I need to have my son log in to his account instead of using my parent portal? I didn't realize there was a separate confirmation page. Will try that tonight when he gets home from work.
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CosmicVoyager
The SAI (Student Aid Index) is displayed on the Student Aid Report (SAR), not sent as a separate email. Your son needs to log into his own studentaid.gov account (not the parent portal), go to the FAFSA form section, and click on "View Student Aid Report (SAR)". The SAI will be displayed near the top of the PDF. If you're not seeing the SAR available yet, it could mean there's additional verification needed. Has your son checked if there are any pending tasks in his account?
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Malik Thompson
•Thank you for the detailed explanation! I didn't realize I needed to use my son's account. He's working late tonight but I'll have him check tomorrow morning. I'm a bit worried now about verification issues - would those show up as a notification in his account?
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Ravi Kapoor
•Just to add - sometimes there's a lag between when the FAFSA is "processed" and when the SAR with the SAI becomes available. If it's really been 3 weeks though, something else might be going on. Make sure your son checks his Message Center too (little envelope icon on studentaid.gov) - they often send notifications there rather than email.
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Freya Nielsen
I went through THIS EXACT HEADACHE last month!!!! The entire system is ridiculous! My daughter's FAFSA was "processed" but then we couldn't find the SAI anywhere. Turns out there was a "verification" flag that wasn't clearly marked. We had to submit extra tax documents and then wait ANOTHER two weeks before the actual SAI showed up. Check if there's a verification required - it should show up on his dashboard but sometimes it doesn't. The whole system is broken if you ask me.
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Malik Thompson
•Oh no, that sounds frustrating! I'm going to check for verification issues when my son logs in. How did you eventually resolve it? Did you have to keep calling FSA or did you just upload documents through the portal?
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Freya Nielsen
•We tried calling for THREE DAYS straight and kept getting disconnected after waiting for an hour! Finally gave up and just uploaded the documents they wanted through the portal. Then waited... and waited... with no confirmation. The whole thing is a mess. College deadlines don't wait for FAFSA to get their act together!
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Omar Mahmoud
just a heads up the SAI isnt always where u expect it to be. my sons wasnt on the first page of the SAR but buried in like page 5 or something weird. scroll through the whole pdf!
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Malik Thompson
•Thank you for the tip! I'll make sure to check the entire document once we find it.
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Chloe Harris
Financial aid advisor here. For the 2025-2026 FAFSA, the SAI location and delivery method changed from previous years, which is causing a lot of confusion. Here's what you need to know: 1. The SAI is ONLY available on the student's account (parent access won't show it) 2. It appears on the Student Aid Report (SAR), which is a PDF document 3. To access the SAR: Have your son log in → My Documents → Find the Student Aid Report 4. The SAI should appear on the first page, but occasionally appears elsewhere in the document If the SAR isn't available after 3 weeks, it suggests one of three issues: - Verification is required (check "To Do" items in the student account) - There's an application error that needs correction (check Message Center) - The application is still in a processing queue (less likely after 3 weeks) Most colleges need the SAI by mid-May for financial aid packaging, so I recommend resolving this soon.
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Malik Thompson
•Thank you so much for this detailed information! This helps tremendously. I'll have my son check his account tonight following exactly these steps. The college financial aid office has been asking for his SAI by May 10, so we definitely need to get this resolved quickly.
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Malik Thompson
UPDATE: Finally got this sorted out! My son logged into his account and we found that there WAS a verification notice in his Message Center. Nothing was sent by email to alert us. We had to upload his W-2 forms and my tax return transcript. Once we did that, it took about 4 days for processing, and then the SAR with the SAI became available. The number appears near the top of page 1 of the SAR PDF. For anyone else having this issue - definitely check the Message Center in the student account and look for any verification requirements. They don't make this very obvious!
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CosmicVoyager
•Great news! I'm glad you got it resolved. This is a common issue - the 2025-2026 FAFSA has been selecting more applications for verification than in previous years. The good thing is you caught it in time for your May 10 deadline.
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Isabella Ferreira
•thx for updating! helped me figure out my daughters account too - she also had verification stuff we didnt know about
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