FAFSA household size confusion - will listing adult child affect our aid?

According to the official FAFSA guidelines, household size includes: 1. The student 2. The parents 3. Parents' other children if parents provide more than half their support 4. Other people ONLY if they live with you AND you provide more than half their support The key question is: do you provide more than 50% of your adult daughter's support? If she pays for her own food, contributes to housing costs, and covers her personal expenses, then she shouldn't be counted in your household size for FAFSA purposes - even if she physically lives with you. Since she files taxes independently and works full-time, it sounds like she shouldn't be counted unless you're still covering most of her expenses.

i had the EXACT same issue last yr!! my son is 22 and lives at home but has a job and does his own taxes. i put 5 on fafsa (us, him, and 2 younger kids) and got flagged for verification!! huge headache that delayed everything by 2 months!! they made me change to 4 and resubmit everything. so annoying

This is a common question with FAFSA. The financial aid office is probably right that it won't impact the SAI calculation significantly in your case, but technically you should be accurate. The specific rule is the "more than half support" test. Even if she pays some rent and buys her own food, do you still provide more than 50% of her total living expenses when you factor in the below-market rent, utilities, cell phone plan, health insurance, etc.? If you're unsure, you can use the worksheet on the Federal Student Aid website that helps calculate this: https://studentaid.gov/apply-for-aid/fafsa/filling-out/dependency#dependent-or-independent

I work in a college financial aid office, and honestly we see this all the time. The official rule is about providing more than half support, but the system rarely flags this specific issue for verification unless there are other inconsistencies in your application. If you want to be 100% by-the-book accurate: Don't count her if she provides more than half her own support. Count her if you provide more than half. But practically speaking, this single question about household size is unlikely to trigger verification on its own or significantly change your SAI (Student Aid Index) unless you're right on the border of a specific aid threshold.

Getting through to anyone at Federal Student Aid to ask these questions is absolutely IMPOSSIBLE. I spent 3 days trying to reach them to ask about a similar situation with my stepson. After being on hold for hours and getting disconnected multiple times, I found Claimyr (claimyr.com) which got me through to an agent in about 20 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ The agent confirmed that adult children who file independently should NOT be counted in household size unless you provide more than half their total support - regardless of their physical address. Cleared everything up for me!

I got TRIGGERED by this post!!! 😤 The whole FAFSA household size thing is SUCH A MESS this year with the new system! Last year my husband's adult son from previous marriage lived with us temporarily and I counted him (because he lived with us!) - got SELECTED FOR VERIFICATION and had to provide bank statements, tax forms, proof of address for EVERYONE! Took 2.5 months to resolve and almost lost our kid's financial aid package. The system is BROKEN. They make the rules impossible to understand then punish YOU when you get confused by their terrible instructions.

im confused why the school said changing it "wouldn't make a difference"? changing household size definitely can affect aid amounts. maybe they meant in ur specific situation it wouldn't matter bc of income level? id want a clearer answer tbh

antoehr thing to think about - will ur daughter be on your taxes next year as a dependent? if no then definitely dont count her on fafsa

Just to add one more thing - the guidance for the 2024-2025 simplified FAFSA actually makes this clearer than in previous years. The official definition now explicitly states that other household members must "receive more than half of their support from your parents and will continue to do so during the award year." So if your daughter is supporting herself through her full-time job and filing independent taxes, the official guidance is to NOT include her in your household size, even if she lives with you. The system is designed to count dependents, not just household residents.

This is such a helpful thread! I'm dealing with a similar situation and was also confused about the household size rules. It's really reassuring to see that multiple people have confirmed the "more than half support" test is the key factor, not just where someone lives. For anyone else reading this - it sounds like the consensus is: if your adult child files their own taxes, works full-time, and covers most of their own expenses (even if they live with you), they shouldn't be counted in your FAFSA household size. Better to be accurate from the start than deal with potential verification issues later! Madison, it sounds like you've got your answer - changing to 4 is the right call. Good luck with the rest of the financial aid process!