FAFSA household size confusion - college student not claimed as dependent but have high schooler
I'm filling out the FAFSA for 2024-25 and stuck on the household size question. My situation: we have a child in college who we DO NOT claim as a dependent on our taxes, plus another child in high school who we do claim. When answering the household size question, should I put 4 (me, spouse, college student, high school student) or just 3 (excluding the college student)? The wording is confusing me because it asks about "family size" not just dependents. The college student doesn't live at home during school but comes back for summers. I don't want to mess this up and risk our high schooler's future aid!
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Anastasia Kuznetsov
This is actually a common question! For FAFSA household size, it's based on who you SUPPORT financially, not just who you claim on taxes. If you provide more than 50% of your college student's support (even if you don't claim them as a tax dependent), they should be included in your household size. So if you're still helping with their expenses significantly, your household size would be 4. If they're completely self-supporting, then 3 would be correct.
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Diego Fernández
•Thanks for responding! We pay about half her college costs and she covers the rest through her campus job and student loans. She pays for her own apartment during the school year but lives with us in summer. Does that count as 50% support? The FAFSA instructions aren't clear to me on this.
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Sean Fitzgerald
The exact FAFSA rule is that your household includes: you, your spouse, your children (even if they don't live with you) IF you provide more than half their support between July 1, 2024 and June 30, 2025. The key is the SUPPORT test, not where they live or tax filing status. Add up ALL expenses - tuition, housing, food, medical, etc. If you're covering more than 50% of those costs, count them in your household size as 4. If not, then 3.
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Zara Khan
•omg thank u for explaining this!! ive been stuck on this same question for like 3 days and none of the ppl at my kids school could give me a straight answer!!
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MoonlightSonata
ugh the fafsa is so annoying with these questions. i went through this with my son last year and we just guessed. nobody ever questioned it. i think they just want to make this process painful on purpose.
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Sean Fitzgerald
•While it can definitely be frustrating, getting these questions right is important because household size directly impacts your Student Aid Index (SAI) calculation, which determines aid eligibility. It's worth taking the time to answer accurately.
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Mateo Gonzalez
I work in college financial aid (15+ years) and I always tell parents to do the math on support. Add up ALL costs for the college student - tuition, housing, food, medical, cell phone, car insurance, etc. Then figure out who pays what. Include student loans in the STUDENT'S contribution (not yours), but any Parent PLUS loans count as YOUR support. If your contribution exceeds 50%, include them in household size and count them as a college student too.
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Diego Fernández
•This is so helpful, thank you! We do pay for her car insurance, health insurance, and phone plus some tuition. When I add it all up, it's probably around 60% of her total expenses. So it sounds like I should count her in our household size as 4 and also count her as in college for the number in college question, right?
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Nia Williams
One mistake I made last year - don't include the value of letting them live at home during breaks! I thought that counted toward the 50% support test but my financial aid officer told me they only count actual expenses you pay. So summers at home don't count unless you're paying for something specific.
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Mateo Gonzalez
•Actually, housing DOES count as support, even when they live at home. The federal guidelines allow for the fair rental value of housing provided to be counted toward support. So if your student lives with you during summers/breaks, you can include a reasonable estimate of what that housing would cost as part of your support calculation.
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Luca Ricci
OMG i was on hold with the federal student aid people for THREE HOURS yesterday trying to get this exact question answered!!! finally gave up. the fafsa website is totally broken too - kept logging me out when i tried to save my progress. has anyone found a faster way to actually talk to a human being at fafsa? this is insane!!
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Zara Khan
•I used this service called Claimyr last month when I was having issues with my FAFSA verification and it saved me hours of waiting. You can check it out at claimyr.com - they have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ. Basically they hold your place in line and call you when they get a real person. Worked great for me!
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Diego Fernández
Thanks everyone for the helpful responses! I did the math and we are definitely providing more than 50% support when I factor in tuition contribution, health insurance, car insurance, and phone plan. I'm going to list our household size as 4 and include both children in the count. Just to be super clear - for the "number in college" question, I should put 1 (just the college student) not 2 (since the high schooler isn't in college yet), right?
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Mateo Gonzalez
•That's correct. For 2024-2025 FAFSA, the "number in college" question only counts household members who will be enrolled at least half-time in a degree or certificate program during the 2024-2025 academic year. So if your high schooler won't start college until Fall 2025 or later, you'd put 1 for this academic year's form.
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Aisha Mohammed
I always thought FAFSA was just about who you claim on taxes!! I've been doing this all wrong for years probably costing us thousands in aid eligibility! why don't they make this clearer???? now i have to go back and look at everything again ughhhhh
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Anastasia Kuznetsov
•It's a common misunderstanding! Tax dependency and FAFSA household size are determined differently. The good news is that if you're filling out the 2024-25 FAFSA now, you're focusing on the correct year. Each FAFSA application only affects that specific academic year's financial aid, so previous years don't need to be corrected.
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Connor O'Neill
Just wanted to add another perspective as someone who went through this exact situation last year! The 50% support test can be tricky to calculate, but here's what helped me: I created a spreadsheet with two columns - "We Pay" and "Student Pays" - and listed every single expense for the year. Don't forget smaller things like textbooks, lab fees, transportation costs, and even groceries when they're home. It really adds up! Also, if you're unsure about whether something counts, err on the side of including it in your calculation. The financial aid office at your high schooler's target colleges can always review your household size if they have questions during verification. Good luck!
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