FAFSA family size confusion - do non-dependent siblings living at home count?

This is a common point of confusion! For FAFSA purposes, your parents' household size includes: 1. Your parents (including stepparents if remarried) 2. You (the student) 3. Your parents' other children IF they provide more than 50% support, even if they don't live with them 4. Other people who live with your parents IF your parents provide more than 50% support AND will continue to through June 30, 2026 The key here isn't whether they live at home, but whether your parents provide more than half their support. Since your sisters work full-time and file their own taxes, they likely support themselves financially. Unless your parents are paying more than 50% of their living expenses (housing, food, medical, etc.), they shouldn't be counted in the household size.

i included my brother who lives at home in mine even tho he works cuz my parents still pay for most of his stuff and the FAFSA didnt get flagged or anything

THIS IS LITERALLY WHY FAFSA IS SO FRUSTRATING!!! 😡 The questions are never clear and they NEVER explain what they actually mean by "support." Does free housing count as 50%? What about if parents pay for health insurance but nothing else? What about family cell phone plans?? UGH. I had the same issue with my brother last year and ended up not including him. My SAI went up by like 2500 points and I lost some grant money. The whole system is designed to confuse us.

If your sisters aren't dependent on your parents' tax return AND they provide more than 50% of their own support, they should NOT be included in the household size. This actually benefits you because a smaller household size means you might qualify for more aid. Make sure you're answering these questions accurately because FAFSA can select you for verification where you'd need to provide documentation to support your answers.

I got stuck on this same question yesterday while filling out my FAFSA! After hours of trying to reach Federal Student Aid by phone and getting nowhere, I tried using Claimyr (claimyr.com) and got through to a real person in about 10 minutes who explained exactly how to handle siblings living at home. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ. The agent told me that housing alone usually doesn't constitute 50% support unless the person has very few other expenses.

I faced this exact situation last year with my FAFSA. My 25yo brother lives with us but has a full-time job. The financial aid officer at my school told me to calculate roughly what percentage of his total support came from my parents. We estimated rent value + utilities he uses + food he eats from family meals divided by his total living expenses. It came out to about 35% so we did NOT include him in household size. Your sisters sound independent enough that they probably shouldn't be counted.

my friend got flagged for verification cuz she included her older sister who lived at home but worked full time. they made her remove the sister from the household count and her SAI went up by like 1200 points!! it totally messed up her aid package 😭 so be careful

One more thing to consider: if either of your sisters is enrolled at least half-time in college during the 2025-2026 award year, they could potentially be counted in both the household size AND number in college questions - but only if they meet that 50% support test from your parents. Being enrolled in college doesn't automatically mean they should be counted.

Just wanted to add my perspective as someone who went through FAFSA verification last year! When they asked for documentation, I had to provide proof of who lived in our household AND what support my parents provided to each person. For my 23-year-old sister who lived at home but worked, I had to show her pay stubs, bank statements, and a breakdown of household expenses. It was honestly a nightmare because we had to estimate the value of "free" housing and meals. My advice: if there's ANY doubt about whether your sisters meet that 50% support threshold, err on the side of NOT including them. It's much easier to explain a smaller household size than to justify including someone who's financially independent. The verification process can delay your aid disbursement by weeks or even months, which you definitely don't want when tuition is due!

I just went through this exact same situation with my FAFSA! My 22-year-old brother lives at home but works full-time at a warehouse. What really helped me figure it out was making an actual list of ALL his expenses for the year - rent (we estimated fair market value even though he doesn't pay), utilities, food, car payment, insurance, gas, phone, clothes, entertainment, etc. Then I calculated what my parents actually cover vs what he pays himself. Even though the "free rent" seemed like a lot, when you add up everything else he pays for (which is most of his living costs), my parents were only covering maybe 30% of his total support. So I didn't include him in our household size. The financial aid office at my school said this is the right approach - don't just look at the big-ticket items like housing, but consider ALL living expenses. If your sisters are working full-time and handling most of their own bills, they're probably not meeting that 50% threshold even with free housing. Hope this helps!

As a current college student who's been through this process multiple times, I can definitely relate to your confusion! The 50% support rule is really the key here, and from what you've described, it sounds like your sisters are financially independent even though they live at home. One thing that helped me when I was unsure was to think about it this way: if your sisters moved out tomorrow, would your parents need to send them money each month to cover their living expenses? If the answer is no (which it sounds like it is since they have full-time jobs), then they're likely supporting themselves and shouldn't be counted in your household size. I know it feels counterintuitive to exclude people who physically live in your house, but FAFSA is really looking at financial dependency, not just living arrangements. You're making the right call by being careful about this - verification is no joke and can really delay your financial aid when you need it most. Good luck with your FAFSA!

I'm new to this community but dealing with the same FAFSA headache right now! Reading through all these responses has been incredibly helpful. I have a similar situation with my 25-year-old brother who lives at home but works full-time as a nurse. Based on everyone's advice here, I think the key takeaway is that living arrangement ≠ financial dependency. Even though my brother doesn't pay rent, he covers his own car payment, insurance, student loans from his nursing degree, phone bill, food, clothes, and entertainment. When I actually sit down and calculate it like @Ella Knight suggested, my parents are probably only providing maybe 25-30% of his total support through housing and utilities. It's frustrating that FAFSA doesn't give clearer examples for these gray area situations, but I feel much more confident now about excluding him from our household size. Better to be accurate and conservative than deal with verification nightmares later! Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences - this thread should be pinned for other students dealing with the same confusion.