Does FAFSA ask about dorm vs. commuter status when reapplying for sophomore year?

The FAFSA itself doesn't ask about housing status - this information is collected directly by the college, not through the federal form. Each school has different costs for dorm vs. commuter students, so they handle this separately. Your daughter needs to update her housing plans through the college's housing portal or by contacting the housing office specifically (not financial aid). The college will then adjust her cost of attendance (COA) to include room and board, which affects how much total aid she's eligible for.

This is a common point of confusion! The FAFSA doesn't ask about housing plans because it's focused only on calculating your Student Aid Index (SAI) - basically your family's ability to pay. The college uses this SAI number plus their own Cost of Attendance figures (which DO factor in housing) to create the final aid package. What you need to do: 1. Complete the FAFSA as normal 2. Make sure your daughter has completed any housing applications through the school 3. Contact the college's housing office to confirm her dorm status is in their system 4. If you get a financial aid package that doesn't seem to account for housing costs, then contact financial aid for an adjustment

my daughter hd the same issue last year when she switched from commuter to dorms. fafsa dosent care about housing. the school does that part. we had to fill out a budget adjustment form with the financial aid office after we got her package to get more aid for the dorms. each school does it differntly.

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WAIT PEOPLE!!! Housing DOES affect your aid package! My daughter got $4200 less when she lived at home vs dorms!!! The financial aid office needs to know her housing status to calculate her total Cost of Attendance. The problem is every school handles this information differently. Some schools automatically adjust based on the housing application, others require you to specifically request a COA adjustment!

To clarify some confusion in this thread: The FAFSA determines your SAI (Student Aid Index), which is your family's ability to pay. The college then uses that SAI against their Cost of Attendance (which includes different figures for commuters vs. dorm residents) to determine need-based aid. Bottom line: You need to make sure the college has the correct housing information in their system, but this isn't part of the FAFSA itself.

I work in admissions (different school) and I can tell you what happens behind the scenes. When FAFSA data comes in, we use the SAI to determine eligibility. Then our system checks the housing status in our INTERNAL records to assign the correct COA budget. If housing status isn't updated in our system, we default to whatever was there before (in your case, commuter status). So you absolutely should contact both housing AND financial aid to ensure they have the correct status on file!

Just wanted to add my experience as another data point - my son switched from commuting to dorms between his freshman and sophomore years, and we ran into the exact same confusion! What ended up working for us was creating a simple checklist: 1) Submit FAFSA (done), 2) Complete housing application with deposit (sounds like you did this), 3) Call housing office to confirm they have her listed as a resident for fall, 4) Email financial aid office to request they verify her COA reflects dorm costs, 5) Follow up if the aid package looks wrong. The key was being proactive and contacting both offices before the aid package was finalized. Good luck!

I went through this exact same process last year with my daughter! The key thing to remember is that FAFSA and housing are handled by completely separate systems at most colleges. What I learned is that timing matters a lot - make sure to contact both the housing office AND financial aid office before they finalize her aid package for the year. In our case, the housing office had her dorm application but financial aid was still using her freshman year commuter status. I had to specifically ask financial aid to update her Cost of Attendance to reflect the higher dorm costs. It took about 2 weeks to get everything sorted out, but she ended up receiving an additional $3,800 in aid to help cover the room and board expenses. Don't wait - be proactive about getting both offices on the same page!

As someone who works in financial aid at a state university, I can confirm what others have said - the FAFSA doesn't collect housing information because that varies so much between schools. What I'd recommend is calling the financial aid office and specifically asking to speak with someone about a "Cost of Attendance adjustment for housing status change." Use those exact words - it'll help you get transferred to the right person faster. Also, get everything in writing! Once you speak with someone, ask them to email you confirmation of what steps they're taking to update her COA. This creates a paper trail in case there are any issues later. The $13,500 difference you mentioned is substantial and will definitely impact her aid eligibility, so it's worth the extra effort to make sure it's handled correctly.

I just went through this exact same situation with my son last month! The FAFSA definitely doesn't ask about housing - that caught me off guard too. What I learned is that you need to be really proactive about coordinating between the housing office and financial aid office. Here's what worked for us: First, I called housing to confirm they had his dorm application and that he was listed as a resident for fall semester. Then I called financial aid and asked them to verify that his Cost of Attendance reflected the higher dorm costs rather than commuter costs. The financial aid person told me they don't automatically update the COA when students change housing status - you have to specifically request it! In our case, this made a difference of about $4,200 in additional aid eligibility. I'd recommend calling both offices this week and asking them to confirm everything is properly coordinated in their systems before they finalize her aid package.

I'm a new member here and this thread has been incredibly eye-opening! I'm in almost the exact same situation - my daughter commuted her freshman year and is planning to move into the dorms for sophomore year. I had no idea that the FAFSA doesn't ask about housing status and that this could affect her aid package so significantly. Reading everyone's experiences has made me realize I need to be much more proactive about this. I'm going to follow the advice here and contact both the housing office and financial aid office to make sure they have her correct status on file and that her Cost of Attendance gets updated properly. It's scary to think that without this conversation, we might have ended up with an incorrect aid package! Thank you all for sharing your experiences and tips.

I'm also a newcomer dealing with this exact situation! My son commuted freshman year but wants to live on campus for sophomore year. Reading through all these responses has been so enlightening - I had no idea the FAFSA doesn't handle housing information and that it could make such a big difference in aid (sounds like $3,000-5,000+ based on everyone's experiences). I'm taking notes on all the advice here, especially using the phrase "Cost of Attendance adjustment for housing status change" when I call financial aid, and making sure to get everything in writing. It's both reassuring and concerning to see how common this confusion is - clearly the schools need to do a better job communicating how housing changes affect financial aid! Thanks to everyone for sharing their experiences and creating such a helpful resource thread.