What Is the Student Aid Report (SAR)?

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• The Student Aid Report summarizes the information on your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
• Starting in the 2024-2025 school year, the Student Aid Report becomes the FAFSA Submission Summary.
• You should check your FAFSA Submission Summary for any errors that could impact your aid.

With the average cost of college ranging from $26,000 to nearly $56,000 depending on the school, it’s no wonder more than 43 million Americans have had to take out student loans. 

If you’re one of them — or think you’ll need a federal student loan for an upcoming school year — the Student Aid Report, or SAR, will play a role. Here’s what you need to know about this document.

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What is the Student Aid Report (SAR)?

The Student Aid Report is a document that, through the 2023-2024 school year, was used to summarize the data submitted on a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). It also included the student’s Expected Family Contribution (EFC). 

As part of the FAFSA Simplification Act, the SAR will be replaced with the FAFSA Submission Summary starting with the 2024-2025 school year. 

The SAR and FAFSA Submission Summaries are designed for student use only, though they will help you spot errors you may have entered into your FAFSA, which could impact what aid colleges offer you.

“It also alerts the applicant if their application was selected for verification or if there were any problems with any of the government data matches — citizenship, Social Security Number, etc. — that require follow-up with the college financial aid offices,” says Shannon Vasconcelos, senior director of college finance at Bright Horizons College Coach.  

What’s in the Student Aid Report?

Student Aid Reports contained personal details, like your name, address, contact information, education history, financial information, and colleges you’re considering. 

The new FAFSA Submission Summaries will contain similar information. You can expect to see:

Application status

This area will tell you where your FAFSA stands and whether it was selected for verification. This simply means some of the data on your FAFSA submission must be checked for accuracy.

“It’s not a big deal,” says Robert Kersey, executive director for financial assistance and veterans affairs at the College of Charleston. “Some schools may want to verify the student’s information, or the student could have been selected at random.”

If you are asked to verify information, you’ll also be asked for specific documentation to support that verification. Pay attention to the due date. “Being late may cost you financial aid dollars,” Kersey says.

Federal student aid eligibility

Your summary will also include your Student Aid Index — formerly called the Expected Family Contribution. This is a measure of how much your household can contribute to your costs of college and how much assistance you will need for the upcoming school year.

This section will also detail whether you’re eligible for any federal Pell Grants and, if so, how much you may be able to get. If you are eligible for these grants, take these numbers with a grain of salt.

“Numbers could change based on financial aid office review,” Vasconcelos says. “A financial aid offer could also include additional institutional aid from the college, which would not have been referenced on the FAFSA Submission Summary.”

Comments

The comments section offers a checklist of issues that were found on your FAFSA submission. There are also instructions for correcting these problems. (Typically, you’ll make them directly via FAFSA.gov.) In some cases, you may need to contact your school’s financial aid office. 

Special circumstances

When you fill out your FAFSA form, you will be able to indicate any special circumstances you might have. These can include things like being on active military duty, living in foster care, being legally emancipated, being homeless, and other extenuating situations, which could have an impact on the amount of aid you require. If you put any of these on your form, you’ll see a breakdown of how your school’s financial aid administrator took them into account.

Federal student loan summary

Your FAFSA Submission Summary will also include a section summing up your history with federal financial aid. You’ll see Federal Family Education Loans (FFEL), direct loans, federal Perkins loans, grants, and total balances and pending disbursements for each of these. 

FAFSA summary

This is the final section on your FAFSA Submission Summary, and it details all the information you previously submitted on your application. This includes your identifying and contact information, career plans, personal circumstances, family size, demographics, high school information, tax information, and details regarding your spouse’s or parents’ personal and financial information, as their income and assets can affect your Student Aid Index and personal contribution to college costs.

There will also be a breakdown of the colleges you chose to apply to, including their location, graduation rate, transfer rate, loan default rate, average costs, and median student debt upon graduation.

How to read and interpret your SAR

Reading your FAFSA Submission Summary — formerly called the Student Aid Report — is critical, as it can help you spot errors that could affect your eligibility for financial aid (or how much you’re able to receive). Here’s how to go about accessing and reading your FAFSA Submission Summary.

How to access Your SAR

The Department of Education will send you your FAFSA Submission Summary by email and mail a hard copy once it has received, processed, and transmitted your application. This usually happens within three days to two weeks after filing.

“This is a student’s indication that their FAFSA has been processed and information delivered to the colleges listed on their FAFSA,” Vasconcelos explains.

You can access your FAFSA Submission Summary any time through your FAFSA.gov account. 

Make sure you review your FAFSA Submission Summary quickly. Since it indicates your FAFSA has already been sent to the colleges of your choice, you’ll want to remedy any errors fast — before the schools begin finalizing financial aid packages.

Understanding the EFC

You can find your Student Aid Index — formerly called your Expected Family Contribution — at the very top of your FAFSA Submission Summary and in the “Federal Student Aid Eligibilty” section. 

Information here does not indicate that you have actually received any of the aid amounts mentioned — only that you may be eligible for them. Your college will use the index to determine how much aid to offer you.

“Your Student Aid Index and Pell Grant eligibility are interesting numbers to take note of, but students should understand that the FAFSA Submission Summary is not a financial aid offer,” Vasconcelos says. “The college financial aid office will review your FAFSA data, verify any necessary data, resolve any potentially conflicting information, and send you an official financial aid offer after acceptance.”

Reviewing financial information

The most important thing you can do with your FAFSA Submission Summary is to verify the accuracy of the data you submitted on your FAFSA. Any errors could impact your eligibility for aid or how much you’re able to receive.

According to the Department of Federal Student Aid, some common mistakes include mixing up parent information and student information, incorrect tax numbers, and skipping financial details. 

“Make sure you didn’t make any mistakes or typos,” Vasconcelos says. “Adding or subtracting an extra zero can make a huge difference to financial aid eligibility.”

If you find mistakes, you can make changes directly on the printed-out document and mail them in. (there are directions on page 2 for this). You can also change most of your answers online by logging into your FAFSA account, correcting the error, and then resubmitting it. Just remember that the application has already been sent to your schools, so you may want to contact them directly to make sure the changes are reflected on their end.  

Schools and aid offers

The schools you apply to don’t actually receive your FAFSA Submission Summary (formerly Student Aid Report). Instead, they use an ISIR — Institution Student Information Record.

“They use an ISIR, the Institution Student Information Record,” says Elaine Rubin, director of communications at college planning firm Edvisors. “This is the information provided in the FAFSA but may also provide more information regarding data which is not visible to the student, as well as past borrowing and grant information. The ISIR may also have flags for certain codes which need to be resolved by the school before awarding aid. Flags could be for types of FAFSA Verification, conflicting information, or getting close to loan limits.”

Schools also receive your Federal Tax Information from the Internal Revenue Service. They’ll use this, plus the information on your FAFSA, to determine what financial aid to offer you. The formula — at least to determine how much you need to afford the school — is the cost of attendance, minus the Student Aid Index, minus any other financial assistance you’re receiving. 

Special circumstances

Extenuating circumstances may increase the amount of financial aid you’re eligible for. If you have new special circumstances that are not reflected in your FAFSA Submission Summary, you can log back into your FAFSA to add them. You’ll also want to contact your school’s financial aid administration and request a review of your circumstances, as they may lead to additional assistance. 

Next steps 

Once you receive your FAFSA Submission Summary, review it carefully — ideally with your parents or guardians nearby — to ensure all the information is accurate and up to date. If you find any issues or missing information, update your application at FAFSA.gov and contact the financial aid offices at the schools you’ve applied to. You can also use your StudentAid.gov account to monitor your financial aid application and manage your loans. 

And if you need help, reach out to a professional. That could mean a financial planner, a student loan advisor, or a representative from your school’s financial aid office. 

Student Aid Report FAQs