Keep Moving Forward!
The FAFSA is indeed a crucial step in accessing federal and state financial aid programs for your education. By completing the FAFSA, you’ll have the opportunity to apply for grants, scholarships, work-study programs, and even loans. Once you’ve submitted your FAFSA, the information is sent to your school’s financial aid office, and they will handle the processing and distribution of your aid. Each school has its own schedule for disbursing aid, which may depend on various factors such as the completion of required paperwork. It’s always a good idea to reach out to your school’s financial aid office to inquire about their specific disbursement dates. If you’ve accepted a Direct Loan or a TEACH Grant, it’s important to have completed entrance counseling before those funds can be disbursed to you. You can check with your school’s financial aid office to ensure that your entrance counseling on StudentAid.gov has been successfully completed. Remember, the FAFSA is an essential tool to explore the financial aid options available to you. If you have any further questions or need assistance with the FAFSA process, feel free to contact your school’s Financial Aid office.
I filled out my FAFSA form. When can I expect to receive information about my financial aid?
We’ve done the work for you!
Here is what is on the FAFSA official website.
After all sections of the online FAFSA form are completed and submitted, the student will receive a confirmation email noting their submission date, their estimated Student Aid Index (SAI), and estimated Federal Pell Grant eligibility. However, the student will not receive a FAFSA Submission Summary until FSA processes the FAFSA, beginning in late January.
Now… People who do need to amend have been told they can’t get into FAFSA to make changes until the original submission is processed.
At first people were thinking the processing time was 3-5 days but now people are thinking it won’t be until end of January. Please stay in touch with your Financial Aid Office of your University. It’s YOUR money!
What does this mean for the Smith Scholarship?
The “Required” documentation portion of the FAFSA will be lifted so you can finish your application before the deadline. January 16th.. Please note, The Deadline is fastly approaching so be sure to complete your Smith Application without the FAFSA portion.
Again please remember, after the FAFSA deadline, and your FAFSA AND Smith Application has been FULLY completed, FAFSA will email you a link with an opportunity to make changes. The selection process will continue as usual. If selected, Smith will ask for your SAI information to determine your scholarship.
In short, your SAI and disbursement dates will be determined by your school.