This is probably a stupid question, but I filed the FAFSA on January 5th and got an email saying it was processed on the 6th, but the schools I put down still don’t say they have it on their portals. I would guess that they just need time to process it, but I’ve submitted other forms since then (NCP’s) and they have already shown up in the portal. Was there something else I was supposed to do? Or should I just keep waiting because it normally takes this long?
Schools will pull your fafsa from the fafsa database on their own schedule. They may do it weekly, biweekly or whatever. It sounds like you have submitted profile to some or all of your schools. As profile is more detailed, it will be the primary source of info for those schools that require it. Fafsa will be used to determine if you qualify for any federal or state aid. Yes, be patient, it will show up when the schools are ready to process it.
Ok thank you!
I’ve worked in financial aid at a couple different schools. While we want students to submit early, we can’t move the FAFSA info into our systems this early … the computer systems have to be set up, tested, etc first. They are “there,” just sitting ready to be imported when the time is right.
Also want to add: The date you filed the FAFSA is what the colleges use (not the date they load it into their system). If your initial FAFSA is rejected by the federal processor, the date that will be on the FAFSA is the date the first “good” FAFSA is processed.
Alright, good to know. Thanks for the help!