FAFSA confusion - married couple filing jointly - do BOTH spouses need to submit separate applications?
I know this has been asked about a billion times…my husband live together, both have jobs, file jointly. We each made an account. Do we both have to submit an application? A "yes" or "no" is the only answer I need thx in advance
24 comments
Join the conversation
Chloe Delgado
No, only ONE parent needs to complete the FAFSA. Since you file taxes jointly, either you OR your husband can be the one to complete it (but not both). The application will ask for both of your income information though. Just make sure whoever completes it has an FSA ID and uses that same account consistently.
0 coins
Liam O'Reilly
•THANK YOU! Exactly what I needed without all the extra info everyone else keeps giving me.
0 coins
Ava Harris
Yep just one! We had the same situation. My wife ended up doing it cause I'm hopeless with forms lol
0 coins
Liam O'Reilly
•Perfect, thanks! My husband is the form-filler in our house so I'll let him handle it.
0 coins
Jacob Lee
As others said, just one parent completes the FAFSA. But make sure you're using the studentaid.gov website for the official FAFSA. There are scam sites that charge you to fill out what should be a FREE application! The F in FAFSA literally stands for Free!
0 coins
Liam O'Reilly
•Yeah we're using the right site. Honestly this whole process is confusing with all the accounts and FSA IDs and SAI calculations. Just wanted to make sure we weren't missing something obvious.
0 coins
Emily Thompson
No, but it MATTERS which parent does it! My wife did ours and her income is higher than mine and our daughter got less financial aid than her friend whose parents make similar total income but the lower-earning parent did the FAFSA. The system is RIGGED against families where the mom is the primary breadwinner!!!!
0 coins
Chloe Delgado
•That's not accurate information. For the 2024-2025 FAFSA and forward, it doesn't matter which parent completes the form. The SAI calculation uses the *combined* income from joint tax returns regardless of which parent submits. Your daughter's aid was likely different for other reasons (assets, number of children in college, etc).
0 coins
Emily Thompson
•That's what they WANT you to believe. We literally have identical situations to our friends except who filled out the form. Same income, same number of kids in college. The FAFSA algorithm discriminates, they just don't admit it.
0 coins
Sophie Hernandez
Everyone here is right that only one parent needs to complete the FAFSA, but I wanted to add some clarification. The confusion often happens because BOTH parents in a married household may need their own FSA ID (for identity verification purposes), even though only one parent actually completes and submits the FAFSA application. This is especially true if your student is also submitting their own FAFSA for college.
0 coins
Liam O'Reilly
•Ahh that might be why we got confused! We do both have FSA IDs and our daughter has her own. So basically we all needed IDs but only one parent actually submits the FAFSA itself?
0 coins
Sophie Hernandez
•Exactly! You've got it. All three of you need FSA IDs for various verification purposes, but only one parent actually submits the application. And whoever starts the application should be the one to finish it - don't switch between accounts mid-application.
0 coins
Daniela Rossi
when i tried doin mine i kep gettin kicked out of the system after waitin 2 hrs to get in... has anyone else had this problem?? so frustrating
0 coins
Ryan Kim
•I had the same issue last week! I ended up using Claimyr to get through to an actual FAFSA agent on the phone who helped me complete my application. Saved me hours of frustration with the website. You can see how it works at claimyr.com - there's even a video demo at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ showing how it gets you past the hold times. The agent explained that the system has been having intermittent issues since the redesign but they can process applications directly over the phone.
0 coins
Daniela Rossi
•thx ill check that out! anything is better than staring at a loading screen for another 2 hrs
0 coins
Jacob Lee
Just to clarify since there's some misinformation in this thread: For the 2025-2026 FAFSA, married parents who file jointly only need ONE parent to complete the application. The system will ask for both parents' information, and calculate the Student Aid Index (SAI) based on your combined household income and assets. It truly doesn't matter which parent completes it as long as all the information entered is accurate.
0 coins
Liam O'Reilly
•Thanks for confirming! We're actually doing the 2025-2026 FAFSA so this is exactly what I needed to know.
0 coins
Ava Harris
random question but does anyone know if stepparents income counts if they're not legally adopted the student? my husband and his ex are arguing about this
0 coins
Jacob Lee
•Yes, if the biological parent and stepparent are married and living together, the stepparent's income MUST be included on the FAFSA regardless of whether they've legally adopted the student. The 2025-2026 FAFSA looks at the household, not just legal guardianship.
0 coins
Ava Harris
•ugh that's what i told him but his ex keeps saying otherwise. thanks for confirming!
0 coins
Mateo Rodriguez
Just wanted to jump in as someone who went through this exact same confusion last year! The short answer is NO - only one parent submits the FAFSA. We're married filing jointly too, and I spent way too much time overthinking it. My wife ended up doing ours since she's better with forms. The system will pull info from your joint tax return anyway, so it really doesn't matter which one of you does it. Good luck with the process!
0 coins
Daryl Bright
•Thanks for sharing your experience! It's reassuring to hear from someone who went through the same confusion. This whole process feels unnecessarily complicated when you're new to it, but sounds like once you figure out the basics it's not too bad.
0 coins
Noah Ali
Just to add my two cents as someone who literally just went through this - NO, you don't both need to submit applications! We made the same mistake initially and created two accounts thinking we both needed to apply. Only ONE of you submits the actual FAFSA, but like others mentioned, you might both need FSA IDs for verification purposes. We ended up having my spouse do it since they had all our tax documents organized. The process was actually pretty straightforward once we figured out we weren't supposed to duplicate everything!
0 coins
Zara Ahmed
•This is super helpful! I'm new to this whole process and was definitely overthinking it. It sounds like the key takeaway is that even though we both need FSA IDs, only one person actually completes and submits the FAFSA application itself. Thanks for breaking it down so clearly - saves me from making the same duplicate account mistake!
0 coins