Do I need to give my daughter my Social Security Number for FAFSA FSA ID setup?

She's referring to the FSA ID, which replaced the old PIN system. Yes, as a parent contributor, you need your own FSA ID separate from your daughter's. You'll need this to electronically sign the FAFSA, and it requires your own social security number to create. However, YOU should be the one creating your FSA ID, not your daughter. Don't give her your SS# - instead, you should create your own FSA ID at studentaid.gov and then help her complete the parent portions of the FAFSA application. Your FSA ID is basically your electronic signature for all federal student aid documents.

you DONT give ur kid ur ss#!!!! i made that mistake w/ my son last yr & regretted it. u have to make ur OWN fsa id with ur own email (not same as kids email). its a whole separate account for parents.

I'm a financial aid counselor, and I want to emphasize what others have said - you absolutely need to create your own FSA ID as a parent. This is for your protection. The FSA ID serves as your legal electronic signature and you should never share this information with anyone, including your child. The process to create an FSA ID is: 1. Go to studentaid.gov 2. Click "Create Account" 3. Select "I am a parent, preparer, or student without a Social Security Number" 4. Follow the prompts to create your account You'll need: - Your SSN - Full name (exactly as shown on your Social Security card) - Date of birth - Email address (must be different from your daughter's) - Mobile phone number (recommended) After creating it, you can immediately use it to sign your child's FAFSA, but some FSA ID functions may take 1-3 days to fully activate.

When my kid was applying for financial aid last year, I was totally confused by this whole FSA ID thing too! I DID initially give my son my SSN and he tried to create an account for me, but it got all messed up and we had THE WORST time trying to fix it. Trust me - create your own FSA ID and save yourself the headache!

To answer your follow-up question - your daughter can enter all the information into the FAFSA, including your financial information, but you MUST be the one to sign the parent portion with your FSA ID. This is a legal requirement. Many families handle it this way: 1. Student starts the FAFSA application 2. Student completes their sections 3. Parent provides tax/income information to student 4. Student enters parent information 5. At the end, parent logs in with their FSA ID to electronically sign Just remember that by signing, you're certifying all the information is correct, so either review it carefully before signing or consider completing the parent sections yourself.

everyone keeps saying FSA ID but my kids school sent home papers that said PIN number??? is that the same thing or something different? my daughter is also bugging me for my ssn lol

I just went through this nightmare with my son's FAFSA. Tried calling the Federal Student Aid center for THREE DAYS and couldn't get through! Finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me a callback from an actual FSA agent in about 20 minutes. They helped me sort out the whole FSA ID mess when I couldn't reset my password. Saved me hours of frustration. There's a quick video demo at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ that shows how it works.

my daughter did this for me last year and now im locked out of my account and cant access ANYTHING for her second year fafsa!!! dont let them do it!! make ur own account!!

Also make sure you remember your FSA ID username and password!!! I created mine last year and totally forgot everything, and now I'm having to go through this whole verification nightmare for my son's renewal. Write it down somewhere safe or use a password manager.

One more important note: Make sure you use an email address that you regularly check and have reliable access to. The FSA system will send important notifications about your child's financial aid to this email. Also, if you ever need to recover your FSA ID account, you'll need access to this email. I've seen many parents use outdated emails or emails they rarely check, which causes problems later when they need to complete verification or make corrections to the FAFSA. Each person (you and your daughter) needs separate email addresses for your respective FSA ID accounts.

Just want to add my experience as another parent who went through this recently - I was initially hesitant too about the whole FSA ID thing, but it's actually pretty straightforward once you understand what it is. The key points everyone mentioned are spot on: 1. Never give your SSN to your kid for this 2. YOU create your own FSA ID at studentaid.gov 3. Use a different email than your daughter's 4. Keep your login info somewhere safe One thing I'll add is that after you create your FSA ID, test logging in a few times before you actually need to sign the FAFSA. I created mine and then didn't use it for a few weeks, and when it came time to sign, I had forgotten my security questions. Better to familiarize yourself with it early! The whole process took me maybe 10 minutes to set up, and then I was able to review and sign my daughter's FAFSA right away. Much easier than I expected once I stopped overthinking it.

I'm going through this exact same situation with my youngest daughter right now! After reading all these responses, I'm definitely going to create my own FSA ID tonight. I was about to just give her my SSN because I trust her, but now I realize it's not about trust - it's about following the proper process and protecting both of us from potential issues down the road. Quick question for those who've been through this: when you create your FSA ID, do you get any confirmation that it's been set up correctly? I just want to make sure I don't mess anything up that could delay her FAFSA processing.

As someone who just went through this process with my son this year, I want to echo what everyone else is saying - definitely create your own FSA ID! I was in the exact same situation where my son asked for my SSN and I had that gut feeling that something wasn't right about just handing it over. Here's what I learned: the FSA ID is basically your digital signature for all federal student aid documents, not just the FAFSA. You'll potentially need it for years if your daughter continues to need financial aid, loan documents, etc. Having your own account gives you control and visibility into everything. The process is really simple - took me about 5 minutes on studentaid.gov. Just make sure you have your SSN, full legal name (exactly as it appears on your Social Security card), and a reliable email address that your daughter doesn't use. One tip: write down your username and password immediately! I almost forgot mine by the time we were ready to submit the FAFSA a few days later. Your instinct to be cautious about your SSN is absolutely right - stick with that instinct and create your own account.