What’s the best way to confirm that a college got my FAFSA application? I submitted it a couple of weeks ago, and I just want to make sure everything's in order. Do colleges typically send a confirmation, or should I check online?
Once you submit your FAFSA, you should expect to receive a Student Aid Report (SAR) via email within a few days to a week if you provided an email address. If not, you'll receive it by mail within two weeks. This report includes a summary of the data you entered on your FAFSA. You can view and print your SAR by logging into your account on the FAFSA website.
While the SAR does not confirm that specific colleges have received your FAFSA, it does include a list of the schools you entered on your FAFSA. In order to confirm receipt of your FAFSA, you should contact the financial aid offices of the colleges you listed. The timing on this can vary, so don't be alarmed if it takes 1-2 weeks after submitting your FAFSA for a school to confirm it's been received. Remember, it's also possible that the financial aid office is busy and may not be able to respond immediately.
Remember, the FAFSA is a free application for federal student aid, so when it's sent, it goes directly to the federal processing center, who then forwards the info to all the schools you listed. So it's not the individual colleges confirming that they got it, but rather the Federal Student Aid office confirming they sent it to your schools.
In terms of tracking it yourself, there isn't a spot on the FAFSA website that specifically confirms a college has received the data. However, you can check the status of a submitted FAFSA online on the FAFSA website. If the FAFSA's status shows as "processed," then the data would have been sent to all the schools you listed.
Ultimately, direct communication with each school's financial aid office will provide the most reliable confirmation of receipt. Reach out to them via email or phone to double-check that they received your FAFSA information and that you have completed all necessary financial aid steps.
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