FAFSA Customer Service
Phone Number & Contact Info
Q:
How do I talk to a live human at FAFSA?
A:Repeat "Representative" until you are transferred. You can also use our free service that can talk to FAFSA for you and report back. Q:
Does FAFSA offer 24 hour customer service?
A:Not at this number; hours here are Mon-Fri 8am-11pm, Sat-Sun 11am-5pm EST. The least busy day is Sunday, and the most busy day is Tuesday. If the call center is closed, you can schedule a call. Q:
How long will I wait on hold?
A:The average hold time is 7 minutes. The longest hold times are on Thursday, and the shortest are on Wednesday. You can skip the hold time for free. How do I get through the phone menu to a live person?
Consider using our free service that calls and talks to customer service for you, then sends you a report. Or use our free service that waits on hold and tells you when a human rep is on the line. But if those options don't appeal to you, our team has also documented the phone menu for FAFSA below.
Our AI powered phone can dial, navigate the phone menu, wait on hold, and even talk to customer service for you, for free. You don't even need to learn about the path through the various phone options.
That same, free GetHuman Phone can call and navigate the menus and wait on hold for you, but you can opt to do all the talking. We notify you when a rep is on the line and ready to talk, so no need to worry about changing menu options and weaving your way through the maze.
Of course, we completely understand if you prefer to do all the dialing, waiting, and talking yourself. All of these free tools are optional.
GetHuman researchers routinely call this FAFSA phone number to document the phone system.
Here is how our research team describes the way the FAFSA phone system greets you: Thanks for calling Federal Student. This call may be monitored or recorded for quality and training purposes. We are currently experiencing longer than average wait times to get to an agent. At any time, you can say "main menu" or press the star key to return here. In order to connect you to an agent that can help, please choose a reason for your call. You can say "existing loan," "FAFSA application," "studentaid.gov," or for information on how much aid you'll receive, say "Aid."
Here is our latest tip for weaving through the phone menu to get to a real person the fastest: Repeat "Representative" until you are transferred.
Below are some clips we've found from FAFSA's phone menus and tips that help give an idea of what you will encounter when you call. We've highlighted why they are important as well:
They may ask your reason for calling (instead of a menu)
"In order to connect you to an agent that can help, please choose a reason for your call."
Excerpt from a call with FAFSA
Friday, May 31, 2024 7:26 PM
They may ask you to say or enter information
"Thanks for calling Federal Student Aid.
This call may be monitored or recorded for quality and training purposes.
We are currently experiencing longer than average wait times to get to an agent.
At any time, you can say main menu or press the star key to return here."
Excerpt from a call with FAFSA
Friday, June 14, 2024 6:53 PM
What are the hours and when should I call?
FAFSA operates the call center for this 800-433-3243 phone number Mon-Fri 8am-11pm, Sat-Sun 11am-5pm ET. The short answer is that you should call on a Friday. This observation and the following section are based on analysis of a sample set of 891 calls made in the last 90 days using our free, web-based phone (see above).
When you use our free AI-powered phone to call and talk, wait on hold, or navigate for you, it will automatically wait until the FAFSA call center opens before trying to call. It will ask your permission before it places the call, so you can also further delay that scheduled call until you are ready. But that means you can "set it and forget it" ahead of time.
An important note: busy times vs hold times vs best time to call
When we refer to busy or less busy times, we are talking about the volume of calls. The busiest times are when the most people are calling this FAFSA phone number (least busy times have fewer people calling). This high call volume does not necessarily mean that you will have a long hold time when you call. Companies like FAFSA staff their call centers differently based on the time of day and day of the week, so you may experience a shorter wait on hold at the busiest of times. When we refer to the best time to call, we are referring to the optimal combination of lower call volume and shorter wait times.
The least busy time to call
The least busy day to call FAFSA is Sunday. The most busy day to call is Tuesday, which averages 2725% more phone calls by comparison. Again, this is based on a sample of 891 calls made with our AI-powered, web-based phone in the last 90 days.
- Sun
- Quietest
- Mon
- Tue
- Busiest
- Wed
- Thu
- Fri
- Sat
The shortest wait on hold
We measured the shortest hold times to be on Wednesday. The longest wait in the queue on average occurs on Thursday.
The best time to call FAFSA
In summation, the best day to call FAFSA is Friday.
Why Customers Call FAFSA
If you have time to do a bit of reading before you call FAFSA, we recommend you read over some of our problem-specific articles.
What is the deadline for submitting the FAFSA form?
The deadline for submitting the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form varies depending on the state and the college or university you plan to attend. However, it is strongly recommended to complete and submit the FAFSA as early as possible. The federal deadline for the FAFSA is June 30th, but most states and colleges have their own deadlines that may be earlier. It is important to check the specific deadline for your state and institution to ensure you don't miss out on any available financial aid. Remember, submitting the FAFSA early increases your chances of receiving the maximum amount of aid for which you are eligible.
Can undocumented students apply for FAFSA?
No, undocumented students cannot apply for federal financial aid through FAFSA. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) requires applicants to possess a Social Security number, and undocumented students generally do not have access to this identifier. However, some states and colleges offer financial assistance to undocumented students through alternative programs. The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, for example, may provide certain opportunities for undocumented students in some states. It is recommended for undocumented students to research eligibility requirements and apply for state and institutional aid directly through the respective state or college financial aid offices. Several advocacy organizations also provide support and resources for undocumented students in pursuing higher education.
Top FAFSA customer service problems
Click the link above to get answers to just about any FAFSA customer service question, including step by step guides for the most complex issues. You can also detail a new issue and get answers instantly.
Below is a sample of recent calls to FAFSA, and their purpose. Are any of these similar to the reason you are trying to call?
Assistance with FAFSA parent application: "I need help with the FAFSA application for parents."- From a call lasting 5m 45s , Jun 28, 2024 4:59 PM
Seeking disability information: "I'm calling to inquire about disability information for the FAFSA application."- From a call lasting 4m 44s , Jun 25, 2024 6:15 PM
Fixing Social Security number: "Basically, I just wanted to fix my mom's Social Security number issue."- From a call lasting 25m 1s , May 14, 2024 12:49 AM
Assistance with FAFSA application: "My account didn't exist, and it said my Social Security number was already linked to an account."- From a call lasting 25m 47s , Apr 24, 2024 11:42 PM
Trouble with FAFSA signature: "I've been having some issues trying to get a signature for my son's application for school."- From a call lasting 14m 46s , Apr 3, 2024 9:39 PM
Account recovery assistance: "I've been trying to rediscover my account and get it recovered, but keep getting connected to the help desk after multiple calls."- From a call lasting 104m 41s , Apr 2, 2024 5:39 PM
Unable to assist: "No."- From a call lasting 4m 36s , Mar 26, 2024 8:22 PM
More FAFSA Customer Service Contacts
There are of course other ways to contact FAFSA customer service besides the phone. Below we list the best ones, by medium.
FAFSA Customer Service Live Chat
If phone-based customer service is not available, or the wait times are long, many people prefer chat as a next-best option. Some even prefer it to calling on the phone. Luckily, FAFSA provides this option.
FAFSA Customer Help Desk / Web Support
As a last, sometimes only, resort- FAFSA customer service can be accessed through their website. This can entail digging through help articles before finding a form and "being allowed" to submit a problem to their team, and rarely leads to a real-time conversation, which is why GetHuman does not recommend this unless it's the only way.
Conclusion and closing notes
This is FAFSA's best phone number, the real-time current wait on hold and tools for skipping right through those phone lines to get right to a FAFSA agent. This phone number is FAFSA's best phone number because 24,396 customers like you used this contact information over the last 18 months and gave us feedback. Common problems addressed by the customer care unit that answers calls to 800-433-3243 include Request for documents, Account access, Application status and other customer service issues. The FAFSA call center that you call into has employees from Westlake, TX / Jamaica and is open Mon-Fri 8am-11pm, Sat-Sun 11am-5pm ET according to customers. In total, FAFSA has 1 phone number. It's not always clear what is the best way to talk to FAFSA representatives, so we started compiling this information built from suggestions from the customer community. Please keep sharing your experiences so we can continue to improve this free resource.
GetHuman does not provide call center services or customer support operations for FAFSA. The two organizations are not related. GetHuman builds free tools and shares information to help customers of companies like FAFSA. For large companies that includes tools such as our GetHuman Phone, which allows you to call a company but skip the part where you wait on the line to get a live human rep. We continue to work on these tools to help customers like you (and ourselves!) navigate the messy phone menus, hold times, and confusion with customer service. As long as you keep sharing it with your friends and loved ones, we'll keep doing it.