FAFSA doesn't ask for bank balances & no way to explain 2024 widow status - help!

You didn't do anything wrong! The 2025-2026 FAFSA has indeed eliminated the requirement to report bank account balances for most applicants. Only those with significant assets (generally over $500,000 in investments outside retirement accounts) are asked additional asset questions now.\n\nRegarding your widow status - this is a common issue with the new FAFSA. Since your 2023 taxes were filed jointly but your status changed in 2024, you should have used the current status (widow) but included the full joint tax information from 2023. The system is designed to understand this discrepancy.\n\nIf you're concerned, you can contact your daughter's financial aid office at her school once her FAFSA is processed. They can add a note to her file explaining the change in circumstances. The school might ask for additional documentation of your husband's passing to adjust her aid eligibility.

Oh thank you! I was so worried I'd messed everything up. I did select 'widowed' and used the joint tax info, but got that error message. I'll definitely contact the financial aid office if there are any issues. One follow-up question: without reporting bank balances, how do they calculate our 'ability to pay'? It seems weird they wouldn't want to know if someone has $100 or $100,000 in savings?

they dont ask for bank stuff anymore with the new fafsa!! my neighbor works at the college financial aid office and told me they simplified it this year. but sorry about your husband :

Thank you for the condolences. It's been a difficult year trying to manage everything on my own, including figuring out college finances. Glad to hear that's normal about the bank accounts!

The updated FAFSA for 2025-2026 uses a new formula called the Student Aid Index (SAI) instead of the old Expected Family Contribution (EFC). This new calculation doesn't consider cash savings for most families - only income and certain investments.\n\nFor your widow status situation, you actually should call the Federal Student Aid office directly to explain your circumstances. They may need to manually adjust your application. The system is supposed to handle these scenarios but is still buggy after the redesign.\n\nThe proper way to handle this is:\n1. Continue with the application using 'widowed' status\n2. Use the full income from your joint 2023 return\n3. Contact FSA to explain the change in circumstances\n4. Be prepared to submit a special circumstances form to each college\n\nThis is definitely one of those situations where the 'simpler' form actually creates complications for families with changes between tax year and application year.

I've been trying to get through to FSA for two weeks about my daughter's application error and CANNOT get a human on the phone. The hold times are insane and then they disconnect you. OP might have better luck using Claimyr (claimyr.com) - it holds your place in the queue and calls you back when an agent is available. They have a video showing how it works at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ - saved me hours of frustration when I was dealing with verification issues.

Wait I thought this is a problem with the FAFSA system... I used a widow status on mine too but I got divorced in 2023 and I think that's why it accepted mine without errors??? Anyone know if this will cause problems later?

No, those are completely different situations. Divorced in 2023 means your 2023 tax return would match your current status. The OP's situation is different because her status changed AFTER the tax year being used for FAFSA. Your application should be fine if your tax filing status matches your current marital status.

The FAFSA is GARBAGE this year!!! My son is a freshman and I've been fighting with this stupid form since October. Constantly crashing, weird errors about parent contributions that make no sense, and NO ONE can get through on phone support!\n\nThey eliminated the bank account question to \

It's somewhat comforting to know I'm not alone in my frustration, though I'm sorry you've had such a terrible experience! I was so nervous about making mistakes. My daughter will be the first in our family to attend college, and I'm learning as I go. I hope they improve the system for future applicants.

To answer your follow-up question about how they calculate ability to pay without bank balances: The new Student Aid Index (SAI) focuses primarily on income rather than assets. Research showed that for most families, income was a better predictor of ability to pay than cash savings. \n\nThey're still looking at investments outside of retirement accounts if they exceed certain thresholds, and they still consider real estate beyond your primary residence. But checking and savings accounts are no longer part of the formula for most applicants.\n\nAlso, each college may still collect additional financial information through the CSS Profile or their own institutional forms, especially if your daughter is applying to private colleges. These may ask for more detailed asset information.

this is why my daughter got more aid than we expected even tho i had saved up around 18k for her college fund!! they didnt even ask about it on the fafsa but the CSS profile for her private college DID ask. just depends on the school.

That's helpful context. My daughter is applying to a mix of public and private schools, so I'll need to watch for the CSS Profile requirements too. The financial aid process has so many more layers than I anticipated!

I just went through this exact situation myself as a recent widow. What ultimately worked for me was completing the FAFSA with my widow status, then immediately reaching out to each college's financial aid office directly with documentation (death certificate). They added a note to my son's file, and some schools had me complete a

Thank you so much for sharing your experience. It helps knowing someone has navigated this specific situation successfully. I'll follow your approach and contact each school's financial aid office. I'm sorry for your loss as well - figuring out all these practical matters while grieving is extremely challenging.

my daughter just went thru this FAFSA mess last month. dont worry about the bank stuff, they got rid of that question this year thank god!! for the widow thing tho you need to call the schools directly. we had a different issue (job loss) but same idea where the 2023 taxes didnt match reality. each school handled it different, some wanted extra forms and some just made notes in her file. \n\ngood luck and sorry about your husband :

this is so confusing! so fafsa doesnt care about your savings at ALL now?? that seems crazy to me

Not entirely accurate. The FAFSA still considers certain assets, but they've raised the Asset Protection Allowance and simplified which assets are counted. For most middle-income families, bank accounts no longer factor in. However, larger investments, additional properties, and business assets are still considered if they exceed certain thresholds. The formula now places more emphasis on income than liquid assets for most applicants.