Tuesday Tips for March 2024

Good news! FAFSA processing has begun!

Federal Student Aid began processing submitted FAFSAs on March 10. FAFSAs are being processed on a "first-in, first-out" basis (by order of submission date). It’s estimated it will take until early April to clear the backlog of submitted FAFSAs. Here are some key points for FAFSA filers:

Check the status of your FAFSA.

To see if your FAFSA has been processed, log into StudentAid.gov with your FSA ID (username and password).

Access your FAFSA Submission Summary (FSS).

Once your FAFSA has been processed, your FAFSA status will be updated from In-Review to Processed. You’ll also be able to access your FAFSA Submission Summary (FSS) where you’ll see your Eligibility Overview (which includes an updated Student Aid Index or SAI if one was able to be calculated), FAFSA Form Answers, School Information, and Next Steps.

You'll have to wait a bit to make corrections.

No corrections can be made at this time. Federal Student Aid has stated that students will be able to make corrections once the backlog of FAFSAs has been processed, which should be sometime in early April.

Watch your email.

In the coming weeks, emails will be sent to students who have submitted a FAFSA to let them know their FAFSA has been processed. Emails are not being sent immediately upon processing.

Parents will only see the FAFSA processing status.

If parent information was required on your FAFSA, your parent can log into StudentAid.gov with their own FSA ID to see the status of your FAFSA. Keep in mind parents only see the FAFSA processing status—they will not see the SAI nor will they see a link to the FAFSA Submission Summary.

Be aware of the impact on schools and financial aid offers.

Colleges, universities, and other post-secondary education programs are receiving FAFSAs as they are processed. It will take time for these schools to load and test records before they can generate financial aid offers. Many schools will begin sending their financial aid offers sometime in April.

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