FAFSA household size confusion - Should working adult child living at home be included?

For 2024-2025 FAFSA, household size includes you, your spouse, your children (including those not in college) IF you provide more than half their support, and others who live with you IF you provide more than half their support. The key question is: do you provide more than 50% of your daughter's support? If she pays for her own food, clothes, medical expenses, etc. and just lives rent-free, you might NOT be providing more than half her support. But if you're covering most meals, utilities, health insurance, etc., then you probably ARE. I recommend calculating it out - add up everything you pay for her vs what she pays herself. This gets tricky with shared expenses like utilities and groceries.

my parents kicked me out the SECOND i got my degree lol ur daughter has it made!! but for real tho i think its abt if u pay for more than half her stuff. my brother stayed home after college and my parents counted him on fafsa bc they paid for everything except his car payment

This is a common question! According to the new FAFSA guidelines for 2024-2025, you should include your daughter in your household size IF you provide more than 50% of her financial support, regardless of whether she filed her own taxes. I've worked with many families in similar situations. Generally, including an additional household member who isn't in college can potentially INCREASE your son's aid eligibility, as it shows more people being supported by the same income. However, if your daughter earns substantial income that would be counted in the household income calculation, that could offset the benefit. For most accurate results, I suggest: 1. Calculate if you truly provide >50% support (housing value counts!) 2. If yes, include her in household size 3. Remember her income won't be counted if she's not required to file FAFSA herself The living at home rent-free is actually a significant form of support when properly valued! Don't underestimate it in your calculation.

we had the EXACT same issue last yr w my brother!!! the financial aid office told us if they dont pay rent and u buy food for them theyre part of ur household PERIOD. we counted him and got more aid so IDK maybe it helps?

The FAFSA system is SO FRUSTRATING!!!! They make these questions deliberately confusing. Last year I put my working son in our household and got AUDITED for verification!!! Had to provide ALL these documents proving we supported him. Then this year I didn't include him and our EFC went up by $5000!!! Can't win either way with this corrupt system. They WANT us to make mistakes so they can give less money!!! 😡😡😡

I work in college admissions and see this question ALL THE TIME. The real test is the 50% support rule, but most families underestimate how much support they provide. Free housing, utilities, food, family cell phone plans, auto insurance, health insurance - these all count! For the 2024-2025 FAFSA specifically, including your daughter will likely benefit your son because it increases household size without adding another college student (which would split the EFC). The new SAI formula still considers household size as a factor in determining aid eligibility. Be prepared though - about 30% of FAFSAs get selected for verification, and household size questions are commonly verified. Keep documentation of expenses you cover for her just in case.

wait i just realized something - doesn't the new FAFSA ask for contributors not parents?? my friend said something about this, like if your daughter makes over a certain amount she might need to be a contributor which could mess things up? idk maybe I'm confused about the new system

i think this depends on if ur daughter is under 24??? my brother lived at home after graduation but since he was over 24 they said he wasnt part of the household for FAFSA. anyone know if thats right?

UPDATE: I called our university's financial aid office and the advisor confirmed what most of you said - since we provide housing, utilities, health insurance and most food, we're well over the 50% support threshold. We should count our daughter in the household size even though she works full-time and files her own taxes. Thanks everyone for your help! The advisor also mentioned it will likely increase my son's aid eligibility since our income is supporting more people.

That's great news! It's always helpful to get confirmation directly from a financial aid office. For anyone else reading this thread - this is exactly the right approach. When you're unsure about FAFSA questions, don't guess! Call the financial aid office at your school or the Federal Student Aid Information Center (1-800-433-3243). They can walk you through your specific situation and help you avoid costly mistakes. Plus, if you get selected for verification later, you can reference that conversation if any questions come up about your household size reporting.

This is such a helpful discussion! I'm currently dealing with a similar situation with my 23-year-old daughter who graduated last spring and moved back home while she looks for a job in her field. She's working part-time at a retail store but we're still covering most of her expenses. Reading through all these responses, it's clear that the 50% support rule is really the deciding factor. I hadn't thought about putting an actual dollar value on the free housing we provide, but that makes total sense - especially in today's rental market! For anyone else navigating this, I found it really helpful to look at the FAFSA completion guide on studentaid.gov which has some examples of how to calculate support. It specifically mentions that housing, food, clothes, medical care, and transportation all count toward the support calculation. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences - it's made me feel much more confident about including my daughter in our household size for my younger son's FAFSA!