FAFSA housing question missing? Can't find where to indicate on-campus vs. off-campus living

You're absolutely right to be concerned! The housing question IS still part of the FAFSA process, but with the recent redesign, it's actually moved to a different section. Look under the "School Selection" area - after you select each school, there should be an option to indicate your housing plans for that specific institution. The system now asks for your housing plans on a per-school basis since your living situation might differ depending on which school you attend.

same happened 2 me! almost submitted without it lol

I don't think the housing question even matters anymore with the new FAFSA changes. My aid package was EXACTLY THE SAME whether I put on-campus or with parents!!! The whole system is rigged to give less money. They just want to know your housing plans so schools can charge you more for dorms. Don't believe me? Try changing your answer after you get your SAI and watch how it doesn't affect anything!!!

when i did mine the housing question appeared after i picked my schools too. def confusing since it used to be a main question!

I've been trying to call the Federal Student Aid help line for TWO DAYS about this exact issue! Kept getting busy signals or disconnected after waiting for 45+ minutes. Finally used Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to someone at FSA. Their service connected me with an agent in under 10 minutes who confirmed the housing question is now school-specific. You can see how it works in their demo video: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ - saved me so much frustration!

I'm working on my daughter's FAFSA right now and was literally just wondering the same thing! Thanks for asking this - I would have completely missed it too. This is my first time filling out the 'new' FAFSA and everything feels so different. Does anyone know if the housing selection affects the SAI calculation itself or just the final aid package? I want to make sure we're maximizing her aid opportunities.

Does anyone know if you can change your housing selection later? I put on-campus for all my schools, but I might end up living off-campus for one of them depending on costs.

my roomate said her finaid advisor told her to always put "on campus" even if ur not sure yet bc it gets u more money and u can change it later lol

This is such a helpful thread! I'm a parent helping my son with his FAFSA and we ran into the exact same issue. The new interface is definitely confusing compared to the old version. One thing I'd add is that if you're applying to multiple schools with different housing costs, it's worth double-checking that you've selected the right housing option for each one. We almost accidentally put "living with parents" for a school that's 500 miles away! The school-specific approach makes sense but it's easy to miss if you're not expecting it.

As a newcomer to FAFSA, I'm so grateful this thread exists! I was panicking thinking I had somehow skipped a section or that my application was broken. The school-specific housing question placement makes logical sense once you know about it, but it's definitely not intuitive if you're expecting it to be in the main sections like before. For anyone else who might be confused - I found it helpful to go through each school selection slowly and make sure I'm answering all the follow-up questions that appear after adding each institution. The new FAFSA interface has a learning curve for sure!

I'm a first-time FAFSA filer and this thread has been incredibly helpful! I was getting so frustrated because I kept looking for the housing question in the main sections. It's such a relief to know it's now school-specific - that actually makes more sense since living costs vary so much between different colleges. I just went back and found all the housing options for my schools. One quick question though - does anyone know if there's a way to see a summary of all your housing selections after you've entered them? I want to double-check that I didn't accidentally select the wrong option for any of my schools, but I can't seem to find a summary view anywhere in the application.

As someone who just went through this exact same confusion last week, I can confirm that the housing question is definitely still there - it's just hidden in the school selection section now! What really threw me off was that I was expecting it to be a single question that applied to all schools, but now you have to specify housing plans for each individual school you're applying to. This actually makes sense since you might live on-campus at one school but off-campus at another depending on location and costs. Pro tip: after you add each school, don't rush through the follow-up questions that appear - that's where the housing option is buried. I almost missed it completely on my first pass through the application!

As a newcomer to the FAFSA process, I cannot thank everyone enough for this discussion! I was pulling my hair out trying to find the housing question and honestly thought the website was glitched. Reading through all these responses has been so reassuring - it's clear that the new FAFSA design has confused a lot of people, not just me. I especially appreciate the detailed explanations about how housing selection affects Cost of Attendance vs. SAI. That distinction was something I definitely didn't understand before. For other newcomers who might find this thread: take your time with each school selection and don't panic if the interface feels different from what you expected. The information is all there, it's just organized differently now!

As a newcomer to the FAFSA process, this thread has been a lifesaver! I was getting so frustrated because I kept searching through every section multiple times looking for that housing question. I even tried using the search function on the FAFSA website thinking maybe I was just blind. It's such a relief to know that so many other people had the same confusion with the new design. I just went back and found all my housing selections under each school - you're absolutely right that it's easy to miss if you're not expecting it there. Thank you all for sharing your experiences and tips! This community is amazing for helping newcomers navigate these confusing changes.

As a newcomer to the FAFSA process, I'm so grateful I found this thread! I was completely lost trying to find the housing question and starting to worry that I had somehow accessed an incomplete version of the application. Reading through everyone's experiences has been incredibly reassuring - it's clear that the redesigned FAFSA interface has created confusion for many people, not just those of us who are new to the process. I really appreciate how supportive this community is in helping each other navigate these changes. The explanation about how housing selection affects Cost of Attendance rather than SAI was particularly helpful - that's definitely not something I would have understood on my own. For anyone else who might be struggling with the new format, don't give up! The information is all there, it's just organized very differently than you might expect.

As a newcomer to the FAFSA process, I can't express how relieved I am to have found this thread! I was starting to panic thinking I had somehow broken the application or was missing entire sections. I spent hours clicking through every page looking for that housing question, even cleared my browser cache thinking it was a technical issue. Reading everyone's experiences here has been such a comfort - it's reassuring to know that both newcomers and experienced filers are struggling with the new interface design. I just went back and successfully found all my housing selections under each school. The school-specific approach actually makes a lot of sense once you understand it, but the placement is definitely not intuitive. Thank you to everyone who shared their tips and explanations - this community is incredibly helpful for navigating these confusing changes!

As a newcomer to this community and the FAFSA process, I want to echo everyone's gratitude for this incredibly helpful thread! I was having the exact same issue - spent literally 2 hours going through every single section thinking I was missing something obvious. I even tried logging out and back in multiple times convinced there was a glitch. Finding out that the housing question moved to the school-specific section is such a relief! I just checked and found all my options there. It's so reassuring to see that both first-time filers and experienced parents/students are finding the new interface confusing. This community's willingness to help newcomers navigate these changes is amazing. For anyone else struggling - the housing question really is there, just hidden under each individual school selection!

As a newcomer to the FAFSA process, this entire thread has been absolutely invaluable! I was having the exact same panic about the missing housing question - spent over an hour going through every section multiple times thinking I must have skipped something major. It's incredibly reassuring to see that so many other people, both newcomers and experienced filers, ran into this same confusion with the redesigned interface. I just went back and found all my housing selections under each school - you're all absolutely right that it's easy to miss if you're not expecting it there. The explanations about how housing affects Cost of Attendance vs SAI were also super helpful for understanding the bigger picture. Thank you to this amazing community for being so supportive in helping newcomers navigate these changes!

As a newcomer to both this community and the FAFSA process, I cannot thank everyone enough for this discussion! I was literally about to call the help line in frustration because I couldn't find the housing question anywhere. Like so many others here, I spent way too long clicking through every section convinced I was missing something obvious. It's such a relief to discover that the question is now school-specific under the "School Selection" section - that actually makes logical sense once you know where to look! This thread has been more helpful than any official FAFSA guide I've found. The explanations about how housing selection affects Cost of Attendance calculations have also been incredibly educational. Thank you to this supportive community for helping newcomers like me navigate these confusing interface changes!

As a newcomer to this community and the FAFSA process, I'm so thankful I found this thread! I was experiencing the exact same frustration - couldn't find the housing question anywhere and was starting to think there was something wrong with my application. Reading through everyone's experiences has been incredibly reassuring, especially knowing that both first-time filers and people familiar with the old FAFSA are finding the new interface confusing. I just went back and successfully located all my housing options under each individual school selection. The school-specific approach actually makes perfect sense once you understand it, but wow, it's definitely not where you'd expect to find it! This community has been so helpful in explaining not just where to find things, but also how the housing selection impacts financial aid calculations. Thank you all for being so supportive to newcomers navigating these changes!