Does my incoming freshman need to fill out FAFSA themselves or can I do it as a parent?

Congratulations on your daughter's acceptance! Yes, your daughter must create her own FSA ID and complete parts of the FAFSA herself, even as an incoming freshman. It's a two-part process: she creates her FSA ID and fills out the student section, then you create your own parent FSA ID to complete the parent/contributor sections. Both of you need separate FSA IDs linked to different email addresses. Even though she may not have income, she still needs to confirm that and provide other required student information. The system is designed this way for privacy and consent reasons.

ur sister is right, kids gotta make their own account. my son had to do his part first then I did mine last yr. kinda annoying but thats how they do it

To be very clear: Your daughter MUST create her own FSA ID and complete her portion of the FAFSA, and you as the parent MUST create your own separate FSA ID to complete the parent contribution section. This is required for all dependent students regardless of whether they have income. The process flows like this: 1. Student creates FSA ID at studentaid.gov 2. Student starts FAFSA application with basic information 3. Student reaches the parent section and provides parent email 4. Parent creates separate FSA ID 5. Parent completes financial/contributor section 6. Student reviews full application and submits The student is always the primary applicant, even when they're a dependent with no income. The parent is considered a contributor to the application.

When my kid did his FAFSA we kept getting an error about the parent section not matching something. Took us FOREVER to figure out! Make sure your name and SSN match exactly what's on your tax returns.

The whole FAFSA system is SO FRUSTRATING!!!! My daughter and I spent HOURS trying to get through this stupid application because they kept transferring us between different departments when we called for help. The worst was when the parent linking wouldn't work and we couldn't fix it online - had to call and wait FOR.EVER. to get to an agent!! They seriously need to make this process easier for families!!!

my daughter did hers on her phone and i did mine on the computer worked fine just need ur tax info handy

One more important thing: make sure your daughter lists ALL the schools she might attend on her FAFSA. She can add up to 10 schools, and each one will receive her FAFSA information. This ensures she gets aid offers from multiple institutions. If she needs to add more than 10 schools, she can update her FAFSA after submission to swap out schools. Also, double-check that you're using your 2023 tax information for the 2025-2026 FAFSA.

fyi they changed lots of stuff this year with the fafsa formula so dont trust what ppl tell u from previous years!! the whole calculation thingy is different now (sai not efc

Thank you everyone for the helpful responses! I'm much clearer now on how this works. We'll both create separate FSA IDs (with different emails), have her start the application and list all her schools, then I'll complete my section with our 2023 tax info. Really appreciate the warnings about potential technical issues too - I'll definitely save that Claimyr link in case we run into problems. Wish us luck with this financial aid journey!

Welcome to the FAFSA journey! As someone who just went through this process with my son, I can confirm everything others have said is correct. One thing I'd add is to make sure you both write down your FSA ID usernames and passwords somewhere safe - my son forgot his halfway through and we had to go through the whole password reset process which delayed our submission by a week! Also, don't panic if the application times out while you're working on it - you can save and come back later. The system saves your progress automatically every few minutes. You've got this! The process seems overwhelming at first but once you get started it's pretty straightforward.