FAFSA household size confusion: Adult son files own taxes but lives at home - count him or not?

If hes living in ur house and not paying rent hes getting support from u so count him

This is a common question! For FAFSA purposes, you should count your son in your household size if you provide more than 50% of his support, even if he files his own taxes. Housing is actually a major form of support. Since he lives with you rent-free and doesn't contribute to household expenses, you're likely providing more than half his support through: - Housing (rent/mortgage equivalent) - Utilities (electricity, water, internet) - Other household expenses The fact that he buys his own food and pays car insurance doesn't necessarily mean he provides more than 50% of his total support. Housing costs typically represent the largest expense in most budgets. So yes, your household size should be 4.

Be careful with this! I made this exact mistake and ended up having my daughter's SAI score calculated wrong. When they verified our application, they found out my son wasn't technically receiving more than half his support from us even though he lived at home. Had to go through a whole correction process which delayed her aid by MONTHS!!!

my situation is kinda similar except my brother who lives with us is 27 and has a good job but he still lives at home cause of the housing market being crazy expensive. my mom counted him in our household size and got no problems with verification, but this was for 2024-2025 FAFSA not the new simplified one

The 50% support rule can be complicated to calculate precisely, but here's a practical approach: 1. Calculate approximate market value of the housing you provide (what would he pay for rent in your area?) 2. Add utilities/services he uses but doesn't pay for 3. Add any other expenses you cover (health insurance, phone plan, etc.) 4. Compare that total to what he spends on himself If your provided support exceeds what he provides for himself, then yes, include him as household size 4. Keep in mind that the 2025-2026 FAFSA uses the new Student Aid Index (SAI) calculation, and household size directly impacts this number. Including him will likely lower your daughter's SAI, potentially increasing her aid eligibility, but only if you truly provide more than half his support.

When I was trying to reach someone at Federal Student Aid to ask almost this exact same question, I kept getting disconnected after waiting for like 45 minutes. Super frustrating! I ended up using this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me through to an actual FSA agent in about 10 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ The agent I spoke with confirmed that housing is considered significant support, and if your son isn't paying rent or contributing to household bills, you should count him in the household size. They said housing often represents 30-40% of total support calculations right off the bat.

One important thing to remember: if your son is 23, he's not automatically considered independent for FAFSA purposes (that's age 24). But since he files his own taxes and you're asking about YOUR household size for your daughter's FAFSA, that distinction doesn't matter here. Just document how you calculated support in case of verification. Take the annual market value of the housing you provide, add utilities, and any other support. Compare to his annual income minus what he spends on himself. This will help if questioned later.

This is why fafsa is so confusing!!! The new one was supposed to be simpler but theres still all these weird rules about who counts in ur household 🙄

Thanks everyone for your advice! Based on what you've all shared, I'm going to count my son in my household size (so 4 total) since we do provide his housing and utilities which is definitely more than 50% of his support when I calculate it all out. I'll keep documentation ready in case we get selected for verification. Really appreciate all your help!

Great choice! Just went through this exact situation last year with my 22-year-old daughter who was working but living at home. I calculated that providing her housing alone was worth about $1,200/month in our area, plus utilities added another $200/month. Even though she was earning $35k/year, we were still providing over half her total support. The key is documenting everything now - I wish I had done a spreadsheet from the beginning like others mentioned. Good luck with your daughter's aid package!

As someone who just went through this process, I'd definitely recommend including your son in the household size of 4. The housing you provide is likely the biggest factor - in most areas, free rent and utilities easily represents $15k-20k+ per year in support. Even if he's earning good money and paying for his own food/car insurance, you're still covering his biggest expense. I made the mistake of overthinking this initially and excluded my adult daughter who was in a similar situation. Had to go back and correct it after talking to a financial aid counselor who explained that housing support alone usually puts you over the 50% threshold. Keep those records handy though - if you get selected for verification, having a clear breakdown of housing costs vs. his personal expenses will make the process much smoother.