FAFSA login confusion with multiple kids in college - same account or different?

You'll use the same parent FSA ID for all your children. Each of your children will need their own FSA ID, but as the parent/contributor, you just use your one account for all FAFSA applications. When you log in, you'll be able to link to each child's FAFSA. The system is designed for parents with multiple students in college. Just make sure when you're completing each FAFSA that you're answering the household size questions correctly to indicate multiple children in college, as this significantly impacts your SAI calculation and potential aid eligibility.

same parent login for all kids!!! each kid needs there own FSA ID but you just use your account over again. don't make new ones or you'll confuse the system and possibly delay your applications

As others have mentioned, you'll use the same parent FSA ID for all your children. This is actually a key feature of the FAFSA system - they want to track your overall parent contribution across multiple students. When you have multiple dependents in college simultaneously, the expected parent contribution is divided among them, which can significantly increase aid eligibility for each child. For the 2025-2026 FAFSA, make sure you: 1. Use your existing parent FSA ID 2. Have each child create and use their own unique FSA ID 3. Complete separate FAFSA applications for each child 4. Accurately report the number of family members who will be in college 5. Answer the dependency questions carefully for each child The system will automatically recognize you're the same parent and adjust calculations accordingly.

The FAFSA system is INTENTIONALLY CONFUSING to trip parents up!!! I made the mistake of creating two separate parent accounts when my twins went to college and it was a NIGHTMARE to fix. Took me 3 months of calling and getting disconnected before I finally reached someone who could merge my accounts. The whole system is designed to make us fail I swear.

I was in your exact situation last year with my middle child starting college while my oldest was a junior. After struggling to get through to someone at Federal Student Aid for clarification (kept getting disconnected after 1+ hour holds), I found Claimyr.com which got me connected to an FSA agent in under 15 minutes. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ showing how it works. The agent confirmed that I should use my existing parent FSA ID for all my children's applications. They also helped me understand how to properly indicate that I had multiple children in college, which significantly lowered our expected contribution for each child. Definitely worth getting clarification directly from FSA rather than potentially making a mistake.

My cousins roomate created seprate accounts and got his kids aid delayed til november so def don't do that lol

One additional tip - when you're completing the new FAFSA for the 2025-2026 academic year for both children, you'll need to answer the family size and college attendance questions very carefully. The system will ask for the total number of dependents and then specifically how many will be attending college. This is where having multiple students really helps your aid calculation. With the new FAFSA formula, your Student Aid Index (SAI, which replaced the old EFC) gets divided by the number of family members in college. So if your calculated SAI would be $20,000 with one student, it becomes approximately $10,000 per student when you have two enrolled simultaneously. This reduction can potentially qualify your children for aid they wouldn't receive otherwise.

Thanks everyone for the helpful responses! I feel much better knowing I should stick with my existing parent FSA ID. I'll make sure to answer the questions about multiple students in college carefully. I'm definitely going to look into getting specific advice about our situation through that Claimyr service too, since we have some complicated retirement account situations I want to make sure are handled correctly. Really appreciate all the advice!

Just wanted to add my experience as someone who went through this exact situation! I have twins who started college the same year, plus an older child who was already enrolled. The key thing that helped me was keeping a spreadsheet with each child's FSA ID, their school codes, and important deadlines since managing three FAFSAs can get overwhelming. Also, don't forget that some schools have earlier priority deadlines than the federal FAFSA deadline, so make sure you're tracking each college's specific requirements. The good news is once you get the system down with your first two kids, adding the third will feel much more manageable!