Adding schools after completing FAFSA? This is the best way to add additional colleges and universities to the FAFSA application.
We know filling out your FAFSA, especially for the first time, can be confusing. Add to that the pressure of picking a college to attend, and you may be so overwhelmed that you fail to include a potential school. In some cases, you may even change your mind and choose to apply to a college altogether.
If you need to add a college after submitting the FAFSA, simply log into your FAFSA online and add a new school or school code. Just be sure to make any FAFSA corrections as soon as possible so that you don’t hinder your chances of receiving the maximum amount of aid possible.
To add a college after submitting your FAFSA form, update your school codes, access your FAFSA® online, and follow the steps below.
- Login with an FSA ID or with student information at fafsa.gov.
- Find and select the option to “Make FAFSA Corrections.” Then, enter your FSA ID or personal information.
- Depending on whether you logged in using your FSA ID or your personal information, you will be prompted to enter your FSA ID and create a save key or just create a save key.
- Click “next” on the FAFSA correction home screen.
- Locate the “School Selection” page with the school codes and enter the school’s name in the search bar to bring up its code in the database.
- You will need to know the state in which the college is located as well as its full name or city to bring up an accurate result.
- Click on the appropriate code and make sure the school is displayed in your list of schools before submitting the corrections. After you’ve verified that the information is correct, click the ‘next’ button.
Note: If you log into your FAFSA.gov account and you see that your form is “still processing,” as pictured below, you will have to wait until your form finishes processing before you can add schools. (Learn more about how long it takes FAFSA to process here.) - Click on “Sign & Submit” in the top navigation, preview your changes, and click submit. After you submit the new school, you will receive a notification that your application is being processed.
- When your FAFSA updates finish processing, you will receive an email notification. Then, when you log in, you will see the option to add or remove to make your changes.
Important Limit Of 10 Colleges
No more than 10 colleges can be listed on the FAFSA at any given time, so adding more than 10 will overwrite a previous code.
If you feel you need to apply to more than 10 schools, there is a way to get around the limit by choosing which school codes to delete when adding additional ones.
When filling out the FAFSA, we recommend you add in-state public colleges first,
as this is the best way to be considered for state grants.
- Follow up with any colleges that have earlier financial aid deadlines.
- Submit your FAFSA.
- Wait for your Student Aid Report (SAR), as this indicates the colleges
- you listed have received your information.
- After receiving the SAR, log in to your FAFSA and delete the original
- school list.
- Create a new school list and then re-submit your FAFSA.
- If you’re applying to more schools, wait to receive your SAR again,
- Repeat the process for a new batch of schools.
You can also add colleges using the data release number (DRN) located on your SAR. Simply supply this number to the college’s financial aid department, and the school will pull up your FAFSA® information.
The FAFSA process makes it easy to add schools to your application even after submitting it. No matter how many schools you add, be sure to reach out to each financial aid department directly to see if you need to supply additional documentation before receiving your award letter.
College Aid Consulting Services is a full-service financial aid advisor as FAFSA preparers and CSS profile consultants. We help our clients qualify for more college financial aid and lower out-of-pocket expenses for families. Contact us today for a FREE consultation to show you how we can help you.
