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Financial aid counselor here - just to clarify some timeline expectations for the 2025-2026 FAFSA cycle: - "Processed" status means your application was received and initial checks were completed - SAI (Student Aid Index) calculation typically takes 3-10 business days after "processed" status appears - Schools don't receive your information until the SAI is calculated - If your application is selected for verification (about 35% are), the SAI will be delayed until that process is complete If you're approaching the 10 business day mark, I'd recommend contacting Federal Student Aid directly. Also make sure to check both the student and parent portals, as sometimes the information appears in one but not the other due to access permission differences.
UPDATE: Thank you everyone for your helpful advice! I had my daughter log into her student account and the SAI was actually there! It wasn't showing in my parent portal for some reason. For anyone else with this issue - definitely check both accounts. I appreciate all your help!
Another important point - when your grandson completes his FAFSA as an independent student, he'll need to report HIS income only (not yours). If he has a part-time job, he'll need his W-2 form. If he doesn't work, he'll report zero income. He'll still need to answer all the asset questions too - if he has any savings accounts or investments (unlikely, but just in case). Independent students qualify for higher Direct Unsubsidized Loan amounts ($9,500 for freshmen vs $5,500 for dependent students), which might help with covering costs.
To address your follow-up questions: 1. Arizona state grants are found at: https://azgrants.az.gov/ (application opens in January) 2. ASU does NOT require CSS Profile for most aid (only for certain private scholarships) 3. Regarding your grandson's $5,000 income - this will NOT hurt his grant eligibility significantly. As an independent student with income under $12,000, he'll likely qualify for the maximum Pell Grant amount (approximately $7,400 for 2025-2026) 4. About loans - they should be a last resort, but federal direct loans have safeguards like income-driven repayment. The key is avoiding private loans which lack these protections. Your grandson should also complete the FAFSA as early as possible after October 1, as some aid is first-come, first-served.
try printing out the confirmation email your husband got. my sons college financial aid office said they're accepting those as proof if the system is glitching. better safe than sorry
Just wanted to follow up - did your husband's contributor information show up on the dashboard yet? The system updates sometimes happen in batches overnight, so many people see changes the next morning.
Hey just wondering - did any of those solutions work for you? My FAFSA is still missing after trying everything suggested here. Getting really worried about my school deadlines too.
Update: I got through using that Claimyr service and the agent confirmed my application is in the system but flagged for "additional verification" - that's why it disappeared from my dashboard. They said I should receive an email in 3-5 business days with instructions on what additional documents they need. The agent also put a note in my file to expedite the review since my deadline is approaching. So relieved it's not completely lost!
Just a note for everyone dealing with missing applications: The Department of Education announced yesterday that they're aware of the dashboard display issues and are working on a fix. They're prioritizing processing applications even when they don't display correctly in accounts. If you have a confirmation email, your application IS in their system, even if you can't see it. They're adding a new status tracking feature next week that should help with visibility.
Too little too late! This rollout has been a complete disaster. My daughter might lose thousands in aid because of their technical problems. Is the DOE going to compensate students who miss out on aid because of THEIR errors?
I understand your frustration. While I can't speak for the DOE, most colleges are being extremely flexible this year with deadlines and requirements because we all recognize the challenges with the new system. I strongly encourage everyone affected to document everything and communicate directly with their school's financial aid office. Many schools have set up special exception processes specifically for these FAFSA technical issues.
Astrid Bergström
UPDATE FOR EVERYONE: The Department of Education just announced yesterday that they're aware of this notification glitch and are working on a fix. According to their statement, applications that appear complete when you log in ARE actually complete in their system, and the notifications can be ignored. They expect to resolve the issue within 2 weeks. In the meantime, they recommend checking your actual application status by logging in rather than relying on the automated notifications.
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Ravi Patel
•Thank you so much for this update! That's a huge relief. I did try clicking through each section again like someone suggested above, and I made sure to hit the final submit button. Fingers crossed the notifications stop soon - they're giving me serious anxiety!
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Ravi Patel
UPDATE: Problem solved! After manually going through every section again and hitting the final submit button (which I had missed before), the system finally acknowledged everything as complete. The notifications stopped after about 24 hours, and we received our SAI calculation this morning. For anyone else experiencing this - make sure you hit that final submit button after the IRS data retrieval, even if all sections show complete with green checkmarks!
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Sean Fitzgerald
•Thanks for updating! Just went back and found that final submit button too. This whole system is so poorly designed smh
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Diego Fernández
•Great news! This confirms what we've been seeing with many families. The key is that final submission after tax data retrieval. Glad your daughter has her SAI now for college decisions!
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