FAFSA email requirements for students - Can we share a family email address?

For the student portion of the FAFSA, your son will need: - His Social Security Number - His driver's license (if he has one) - His W-2 forms and other records of money earned in 2023 - His bank statements and investment records (if applicable) - His FSA ID (he'll need to create this) Regarding the email address - no, you cannot share an email address. Each FSA ID must be linked to a unique email address. This is a security requirement that the Department of Education strictly enforces. Your son should create a personal email account that he'll have access to long-term, not just his school email.

omg yes make sure ur son gets his own personal email!! my brother tried using our family email and it caused MAJOR problems when he tried to complete his fafsa!!! the system kept getting confused about which person was trying to log in!!

To answer your questions: 1. Your son needs to create his own FSA ID separate from yours. This is non-negotiable. Each FSA ID must have its own unique email address. The 2025-2026 FAFSA has completely changed - both you AND your son must create separate FSA IDs and both must contribute to the application. 2. For the student section, he'll need his SSN, driver's license if he has one, and any income information including his W-2s even if you claim him as a dependent. He should also have his bank account information if he has one. 3. My strong recommendation is to have him create a Gmail account. It's free, he can access it from his phone easily, and he won't lose it after graduation like his school email. The new FAFSA is much more streamlined than previous years but the separate FSA IDs are strictly required.

I went through this with my daughter last year. The FSA ID verification is usually quick - sometimes instant but can take up to 3 days. BUT here's what no one tells you: if there are ANY discrepancies between the information your son enters and his Social Security record (even a hyphen in a last name), the verification can take WEEKS and multiple phone calls to resolve. Also, the new FAFSA requires both the student AND parent to provide permission for the IRS to transfer tax info directly through the Data Retrieval Tool. This was a huge headache for us because I kept getting locked out of my account.

When I tried calling FSA about ID verification issues last month, I was on hold for over 2 hours before getting disconnected. I finally used Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to an agent in about 10 minutes. They have a video that shows how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ They called FSA for me, waited on hold, then called me when an agent was ready. Saved me so much time and frustration. The agent helped resolve our email verification issues immediately.

my daughter and i both had SEPARATE email addresses and STILL had problems!! the whole system is designed to make you fail i swear!!! we both got FSA IDs but then the parent part wouldn't connect to the student part and none of the links in the emails worked right. totally ridiculous!!!

One thing no one mentioned yet - your son should create his own email account BUT make sure you have access to it or that he adds you as a recovery option. My son never checks his email and almost missed the verification deadline because important notices went to his inbox. For the 2025-2026 FAFSA, both student and parent will get separate notifications, so having access to both accounts is really helpful.

I work in a college financial aid office. Here's what your son needs for his part of the FAFSA: - Social Security Number - Alien Registration Number (if not a U.S. citizen) - Federal income tax returns - W-2s and other records of money earned - Bank statements and records of investments (if any) - Records of untaxed income (if any) And absolutely get separate email addresses. This isn't just a preference - it's required by the system. Gmail and Outlook both offer free accounts that he can keep permanently. Also, start the process early! The new system has had issues, and priority deadlines for many schools are in early February 2025.