FAFSA for grad school - daughter has no tax forms but parents can't be included?

For graduate school FAFSA, your daughter is automatically considered an independent student regardless of whether you claimed her on your taxes. If she hasn't filed taxes because her income was below the filing threshold, she'll just indicate this on the FAFSA. The system will ask if she filed taxes and she can select "No" and provide her actual income information from her W-2s or payment records. The FAFSA system is designed to handle this common situation.

my son went thru this last yr. they WILL ask 4 income even w/no taxes filed. he had to put all his campus job money + summer work. just have her gather all W2s or pay stubs. no parent info needed!!

Graduate school FAFSA processing is different from undergraduate. For 2025-2026, graduate students are considered independent regardless of tax dependency status. Here's what your daughter needs to know: 1. She'll need to report all income earned in 2023 (the base tax year for 2025-2026 FAFSA) 2. If she earned below the filing threshold (~$12,950 for single filers), she can indicate she didn't file 3. She should still report all income from W-2s and any untaxed income 4. For cash jobs without documentation, she should estimate as accurately as possible 5. Graduate FAFSA primarily determines eligibility for Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans and Grad PLUS loans Important: If selected for verification, she would need to request a Verification of Non-filing Letter from the IRS to confirm she wasn't required to file taxes.

I'm going through the exact same thing with my son right now! The most frustrating part was when he tried logging into studentaid.gov and kept getting errors because he's never filed a FAFSA on his own before. We had to call the help line like 4 times and kept getting disconnected. Such a headache!

Wait I'm confused about the FAFSA stuff. I thought graduate students still needed parents info? When I was applying for my masters they asked for my parents tax stuff and I was 24!!

hey just want 2 add my daughter got VERIFIED after saying she didnt file taxes. HUGE PAIN!!! had to get letter from IRS saying she didnt file + submit all her W2s. took like 3 extra weeks so tell ur daughter to be ready for that!!!!

To address some questions raised here: 1. For the original poster: Yes, your daughter should gather ALL income documentation from 2023 now (W-2s, 1099s, payment records). The FAFSA for 2025-2026 uses 2023 as the base year, not 2024. 2. Regarding verification for non-filers: Your daughter can request a Verification of Non-filing Letter from the IRS using Form 4506-T or through the IRS website. She doesn't need to visit in person. 3. For untaxed/cash income: She should make reasonable estimates and keep personal records in case of verification. 4. About graduate aid: Remember that graduate students are mostly eligible for unsubsidized loans (up to $20,500/year) and Grad PLUS loans (up to the cost of attendance). Grants are limited and usually school-specific. The key thing is to complete the FAFSA as soon as it opens in December - graduate school aid can be first-come, first-served at many institutions.

For your specific timeline question: Your daughter needs two separate FAFSAs. 1. For her final undergrad semester (Fall 2024): She should have already completed the 2024-2025 FAFSA (which used 2022 tax info). This would have included your parental information since she was still an undergraduate dependent. 2. For her graduate program (starting Fall 2025): She'll complete the 2025-2026 FAFSA when it opens in December 2024, using 2023 tax year information. This one will be completed as an independent student regardless of her tax dependency status. If she hasn't completed the 2024-2025 FAFSA for her final undergrad semester, she should do that immediately.

Just want to add something nobody mentioned - tell your daughter to check with each grad school's financial aid office directly! My son's program had separate fellowship applications with different deadlines than the FAFSA. We almost missed out on $12k in department funding because we only focused on the FAFSA part.

Adding to the discussion - I work in a university financial aid office and see this situation constantly. A few practical tips for your daughter: 1) Create her FSA ID early if she hasn't already, 2) Keep detailed records of ALL 2023 income (even small amounts matter), 3) If she's selected for verification as a non-filer, the IRS Verification of Non-filing Letter can be requested online at irs.gov - no need to visit in person, 4) Many grad programs also have priority deadlines for institutional aid that are EARLIER than general admission deadlines, so check those dates carefully. The good news is that graduate FAFSA is much simpler than undergrad since no parent info is needed!

As someone who just went through this exact process last year, I can confirm everything others have said is accurate! One thing I'd add is to make sure your daughter saves ALL her 2023 income documentation in a dedicated folder - even if amounts seem small. I had to scramble to find old pay stubs when I got selected for verification. Also, if she has any scholarships or grants from her undergrad that she received in 2023, those need to be reported too as untaxed income. The FAFSA completion time for grad students is usually much faster than undergrad since there's no parent info needed - took me maybe 30 minutes once I had everything organized. Good luck to your daughter with her grad school applications!

Just want to emphasize something that might not be obvious - even though your daughter will be filing as an independent student for grad school, make sure she understands that her 2023 income (the base year) might affect her Expected Family Contribution differently than when she was a dependent. As an independent student with low income, she'll likely qualify for a higher loan amount, but don't be surprised if the EFC calculation looks different than what you're used to seeing on her undergrad FAFSAs. Also, I'd recommend she complete her FAFSA as early as possible in December since some grad programs have limited funding pools that get distributed on a first-come basis, even if their "priority deadline" isn't until later in the spring.

One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet is the Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) situation for graduate students. Since your daughter didn't file taxes, she won't be able to use the IRS DRT to automatically import tax information into her FAFSA. This actually makes the process a bit simpler in some ways since she'll just manually enter her income information from her W-2s and other records. However, make sure she's extra careful with accuracy since manual entry is more prone to errors that could trigger verification. Also, if any of her graduate programs require the CSS Profile in addition to FAFSA, that's a whole separate process with different requirements - some schools do ask for parent information on the CSS Profile even for graduate students, so definitely check each school's specific requirements beyond just the federal FAFSA.

I went through this exact situation with my daughter two years ago! One thing I'd add that really helped us was creating a simple spreadsheet to track all her 2023 income sources before starting the FAFSA. We had columns for: employer name, dates worked, gross income, and whether she received a W-2 or not. This made the actual FAFSA completion much smoother and gave us confidence we weren't missing anything. Also, don't stress too much about small cash payments that might not have perfect documentation - the financial aid offices understand that students often have informal work arrangements. Just estimate as best you can and keep whatever records she does have. The most important thing is submitting the FAFSA early when it opens in December. Good luck to your daughter with her graduate applications!

As someone who just completed my first independent FAFSA for grad school this year, I can relate to the confusion! The process was much more straightforward than I expected once I understood the key points everyone has mentioned here. One thing that really helped me was setting up an account on the IRS website early so I could access my transcripts if needed during verification. Even though I didn't file taxes, having that account ready made me feel more prepared. Also, I'd recommend your daughter start gathering her 2023 income documentation now rather than waiting until December - it took me longer than expected to track down some of my old pay stubs from campus jobs. The independent student status for grad school is actually a relief compared to coordinating with parents for undergrad FAFSA! Best of luck to your daughter with her applications.

As a newcomer to this community, I just want to say how incredibly helpful this entire thread has been! I'm in a very similar situation with my own daughter who's applying to grad school, and I was completely overwhelmed by the FAFSA process until reading all these detailed responses. The step-by-step guidance about 2023 being the base year, the verification process for non-filers, and especially the reminders about early December filing and checking individual school requirements beyond just FAFSA - this is exactly the kind of practical advice you can't easily find elsewhere. I'm definitely going to bookmark this thread and follow the spreadsheet suggestion for organizing income documentation. Thank you all for creating such a supportive and informative discussion!

Welcome to everyone who's new to this discussion! As someone who's been helping families navigate FAFSA for years, I wanted to add a few practical tips that might be useful. First, make sure your daughter creates her FSA ID using her own email address (not a family shared one) since she'll need independent access for grad school. Second, if she had any work-study positions during undergrad, those earnings should be reported as regular income on her graduate FAFSA - work-study isn't treated differently for grad students like it is for undergrads. Finally, consider having her reach out to the financial aid offices at her target grad schools in January after submitting her FAFSA - they can often provide school-specific guidance about their aid timelines and any additional forms needed. The graduate school financial aid landscape is quite different from undergrad, but with proper preparation it's definitely manageable!