FAFSA 2025-2026: Can I count stepchildren who live elsewhere when reporting multiple kids in college?

it depends if your husband claims his kids on his taxes. if not then prob cant include them

This is a common situation with blended families. For FAFSA purposes, you can only include household members who either: 1) live with you and you provide more than half their support, or 2) would be required to provide parent information if they were completing their own FAFSA. Since your stepchildren live with their mother and she claims them on taxes, they would not be counted in your household size or number in college on your FAFSA - even though your husband helps with tuition. They would be reported on their mother's FAFSA instead. This seems unfair, but the SAI formula only counts students once, and they're part of their mother's household for FAFSA purposes. The payments your husband makes would be considered untaxed income to the student if they exceed $2,500 annually per student.

We went through something similar last year. My advice is to call FSA directly and get it straight from them because sometimes the online info is confusing. Good luck reaching someone though - I spent 3 days trying!

The previous answer is correct - for FAFSA purposes, students can only be counted in one household. Since your stepchildren live with their mother and she claims them as dependents, they would be part of her household for FAFSA purposes, not yours. However, there's an important nuance regarding your SAI (Student Aid Index) calculation: Your husband's tuition payments to his children may need to be reported as untaxed income provided to others if they exceed $2,500 per year per child. This should be reported in the section for "Money paid on behalf of others" which often gets overlooked. One strategy some families use in this situation is to document these educational expenses as part of child support agreements, as child support paid isn't counted against you in the FAFSA formula.

Without a court order specifically addressing the college expenses as part of child support, the payments would typically be considered "money paid on behalf of others" rather than child support. Child support is generally defined as court-ordered payments for minors. One consideration: if these payments are causing significant financial strain, you might want to look into filing a Special Circumstances appeal with each of your biological children's financial aid offices after you receive their aid offers. You can explain the situation about supporting multiple college students across households. Each school has discretion to adjust aid based on circumstances not captured by the FAFSA.

THIS SYSTEM IS SO MESSED UP!! My husband pays for his ex's kids too but we get ZERO credit for it on FAFSA!!! Meanwhile his ex gets all the benefits on her FAFSA even though WE are paying half!!! How is this fair?? The whole system is designed for traditional families and completely screws over blended families. I've complained about this for years and nobody cares.

wait im confused... so if the kids live with mom but dad pays tuition, do they count on moms fafsa? and does she have to report the money he gives as income or something???

Thanks everyone for the helpful replies! I just wanted to update that I spoke with a financial aid advisor who confirmed what most of you said - my stepkids don't count in our household for FAFSA purposes since they live with their mom. However, she did recommend we use the special circumstances process at each school after submitting the FAFSA to explain our financial situation with supporting 4 college students across two households. She said many schools will take this into consideration for institutional aid even if the federal formula doesn't. So at least there's some potential for help through that route!

Great update! The special circumstances appeal is definitely your best bet. Just a heads up - when you submit those appeals, make sure to include documentation of the tuition payments your husband makes (bank statements, tuition bills, etc.). Schools really want to see proof of the financial impact on your household. Also, don't be discouraged if some schools say no initially - each institution handles these differently and some are more flexible than others. It's worth appealing to all of them since you never know which ones might be willing to work with you!

I'm dealing with a similar situation but from a different angle - I'm the student whose parents are divorced and both households contribute to my education. Just wanted to add that when you do submit those special circumstances appeals, it really helps to have a clear breakdown of exactly how much each household contributes annually. I had to provide a detailed budget showing my mom's FAFSA info plus documentation of what my dad contributes for tuition, room & board, etc. Some schools were able to do a "professional judgment adjustment" that took both households' contributions into account. It's definitely worth the extra paperwork - I ended up getting an additional $3,200 in need-based aid at one school after they reviewed my appeal!

As a newcomer to this community, I really appreciate seeing how helpful everyone has been with this complex situation! I'm currently preparing for my own FAFSA journey next year and had no idea about these blended family complications. The information about special circumstances appeals is particularly eye-opening - I never knew schools had that kind of flexibility beyond the federal formula. It's also really valuable to hear from both the parent perspective and the student perspective like KhalilStar shared. This thread has definitely taught me to start gathering documentation early and not assume the initial FAFSA calculation is the final word. Thanks to everyone for sharing their experiences and expertise!