FAFSA for triplets attending different colleges - one application or separate ones?

You only need to fill out ONE FAFSA application, but you'll list all three colleges your triplets are attending. Each student needs their own FSA ID (with unique email addresses), but you as the parent only need one FSA ID. When you complete the FAFSA, you'll add all three children and select all their schools. The SAI (Student Aid Index) calculation will be the same for all three, but each school will receive the information separately. Just make sure to input the correct colleges for each child.

Im going thru same thing with twins!! Called FSA 5 times and got hung up on everytime. So frustratin!!! Eventually learned each kid needs own FSA ID (w/ different emails) but u do ONE application and list all schools. You'll add all 3 as students in the application. Its confusin because FAFSA makes you think u need separate applications but u dont.

This is one of the most common misunderstandings with FAFSA for multiple children. Here's exactly what you need to do: 1. Each student (each triplet) needs their own unique FSA ID linked to their own unique email address 2. You as the parent need one FSA ID linked to your email 3. File ONE FAFSA application, but you'll add all three children as students 4. For each child, you'll select their specific colleges 5. The system will calculate one SAI based on your household information 6. Each school will receive the relevant student's information The 2025-2026 FAFSA has simplified this process compared to previous years, but it still causes confusion. Make sure each child uses their correct FSA ID when they sign their portion of the FAFSA.

My sister had twins go to college last year and she said it was a total nightmare trying to figure this out! She ended up doing separate applications and it caused all kinds of problems with the financial aid packages. Definitely listen to the people saying do ONE application with all three kids listed!

Try using Claimyr to get through to FSA agents quickly if you run into any issues during the application process. I was stuck on hold for hours trying to understand how to handle my kids' applications until someone recommended it. You can find it at claimyr.com and they have a demo video at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ. I was connected to an FSA agent in minutes, and they walked me through the entire process for my multiple-student situation.

i had twins last year and what a headache!! make sure ur triplets each make their own account dont try to use same email for all of them thats what I did and had to start ALL over again lol

One additional point that might help: When you complete the 2025-2026 FAFSA with multiple students, pay close attention to the contributor section. As the parent, you'll only need to enter your financial information once, and it will apply to all three students. There's a section where you specifically assign which schools go with which student. The system is actually quite well designed for multiple student households - it's just not immediately obvious how it works until you're in the application.

Based on your situation with triplets attending different schools, here's a quick checklist of what you'll need before starting: 1. Your 2023 tax return information (they're using prior-prior year for 2025-2026 FAFSA) 2. Each student's Social Security Number 3. Your Social Security Number 4. FSA ID for yourself (create at studentaid.gov) 5. Separate FSA ID for each triplet (each needs their own email) 6. List of the colleges each student plans to attend (have the school codes ready) 7. Information about your assets (savings, investments excluding retirement accounts and primary home equity) The new FAFSA pulls most tax information directly from the IRS using the Direct Data Exchange, but having your documents ready helps verify everything is correct.

Another thing to watch out for!!! When u do the parent contribution part make sure u check that its applied to ALL three students! My friend had twins and she accidentally only connected her parent contribution to one kid and the other one got way less financial aid bcuz of it!!

I can't thank everyone enough for all this advice! I'm going to sit down this weekend and create all the necessary FSA IDs first (one for me, and one for each triplet with their own emails), then tackle the single FAFSA application. If I hit any roadblocks, I'll try that Claimyr service to get through to someone at FSA. Wish me luck - I'm feeling much more confident now!

As someone who just went through this process with twins last year, I want to emphasize one more thing that saved me a lot of headaches: double-check that each of your triplets' FSA IDs are fully verified BEFORE you start the main FAFSA application. The verification process can take a few days, and if you're in the middle of the application and one of their IDs isn't verified, you'll get stuck and potentially lose your progress. Also, have a backup plan for the school codes - sometimes the search function on the FAFSA site gets glitchy, so having the actual federal school codes written down ahead of time is super helpful. You're doing great by getting organized first!

I went through this exact situation with my quadruplets two years ago! The process is definitely overwhelming at first, but once you understand the system, it's actually pretty straightforward. Here's what worked for me: Create all FSA IDs first and wait for them to be fully verified (this took about 3-4 days for each of my kids). Then tackle ONE FAFSA application where you'll add all three as students. The key thing that confused me initially was that you CAN select different schools for each child within the same application - you're not limited to choosing the same schools for all of them. Also, keep a spreadsheet with each child's FSA ID login info because you'll need them to sign their portions of the application, and trust me, they WILL forget their passwords! The SAI calculation actually works in your favor with multiple kids in college - the system recognizes the financial burden of having multiple students and adjusts accordingly. You've got this!