FAFSA 'number in college' question - do concurrent enrollment high schoolers count?
I'm filling out my FAFSA for 2025-2026 and totally confused about how to count my kids for the 'number in college' question. We have quite the educational spread in our household: - 2 kids attending university full-time - 2 high schoolers in concurrent enrollment (taking 2-3 college classes while still in high school) - 1 child in Pre-K (at least this one's easy!) Do I count just the 2 full-time college students? Or should I include all 4 who are taking college courses? The FAFSA instructions weren't super clear to me, and I don't want to mess up our SAI calculation since we're already paying so much for education. Thanks for any help!
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Giovanni Marino
Great question! For the FAFSA's "number in college" question, you should only count students who will be enrolled at least half-time in an eligible college program for the award year. High school students taking a few college classes through concurrent enrollment don't meet this requirement because they're primarily high school students. So for your situation, you should only count the 2 full-time college students. Including the concurrent enrollment students could actually flag your application for verification since it might look unusual.
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Amara Okonkwo
AuthorThank you! That makes sense. I was worried I'd be missing out on additional aid by not including them, but it's better to be accurate than get flagged for verification.
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Fatima Al-Sayed
count the 2 fulltime only. i tried counting my dual enrollment kid last year and got flagged for verification. total nightmare!
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Dylan Hughes
SAME THING HAPPENED TO ME!! Verification is the WORST. I was stuck in verification hell for almost 3 months last year because I counted my high schooler who was doing early college. The financial aid office basically told me they weren't considered a "college student" for FAFSA purposes even though they were earning college credits. The whole system is ridiculous.
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NightOwl42
my son is in dual enrollment too and our college advisor said only count students who will graduate with a degree during the FAFSA year
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Sofia Rodriguez
That's not quite accurate. The student doesn't need to graduate during the FAFSA year to be counted. They just need to be enrolled at least half-time in a program that leads to a degree or certificate. The key distinction is that concurrent enrollment students are primarily enrolled in high school, not college, even if they're earning some college credits along the way.
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Dmitry Ivanov
Here's the official rule from the Federal Student Aid Handbook: "A student is considered to be enrolled in an eligible program if they're enrolled at least half-time in a degree-seeking program." Your concurrent enrollment high schoolers wouldn't meet this definition since they're not admitted as degree-seeking college students yet. Another way to think about it - who will be receiving a financial aid package? Only your full-time college students, right? The high schoolers in concurrent enrollment usually have their tuition covered by the high school or a special program, not through federal financial aid. So definitely just count the 2 full-time college students. This will give you the most favorable SAI calculation.
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Amara Okonkwo
AuthorThat's really helpful, especially the point about who actually receives financial aid packages. You're right - our high schoolers' college classes are covered by a state program, not through federal aid. Thanks for the detailed explanation!
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Ava Thompson
I've been trying to call the Federal Student Aid office for days about a similar question (I have a kid who might be taking a gap semester) and kept getting disconnected or waiting for hours. Someone on another thread recommended using Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to an actual person at FSA. I tried it yesterday and got connected to someone in 20 minutes instead of waiting for 2+ hours. They have a video showing how it works at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ if you want to check it out. The agent confirmed that only students enrolled at least half-time in degree programs count for that question.
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Amara Okonkwo
AuthorThanks for the recommendation! I might need that service if I have more questions. Good to know about your gap semester situation too - that's helpful for future reference.
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Dylan Hughes
The FAFSA is SUCH a headache for blended families and non-traditional situations!! I have 6 kids in a blended family and figuring out who counts where almost caused a divorce last year 😂 BTW - did you know the FAFSA actually has a MAXIMUM number of kids they let you count for the household size calculation?? We found that out the hard way. The system wouldn't let us enter more than 10 household members online!
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Miguel Herrera
wait really?? what happens if you have more than 10 people in your household? do they just pretend the others don't exist??
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Dylan Hughes
We had to call and they said to submit a special form explaining our household situation. More paperwork, of course! 🙄 And yes, I've heard stories of large families where they basically had to pick which kids to include because the system wouldn't accept them all. Beyond ridiculous.
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Sofia Rodriguez
The official FAFSA instructions state: "Count yourself and your children if they will receive more than half of their support from you between July 1, 2025 and June 30, 2026. Include other people only if they live with you, receive more than half their support from you, and will continue to receive that support during the 2025-2026 academic year." For the number in college question specifically: "Enter the number of people in your household who will attend college between July 1, 2025 and June 30, 2026. Include only people who will attend a postsecondary institution at least half-time in a program that leads to a degree or certificate." The key phrase is "at least half-time in a program that leads to a degree or certificate." Your concurrent enrollment students are taking some college classes, but they're not enrolled half-time in a degree program. They're primarily high school students taking some advanced coursework.
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Amara Okonkwo
AuthorThank you for providing the exact wording from the FAFSA! The "at least half-time in a program that leads to a degree" part makes it very clear. I appreciate everyone's help with this.
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Hannah Flores
As someone new to navigating FAFSA with multiple kids, this thread has been incredibly helpful! I'm in a similar situation with one child doing Running Start (our state's version of concurrent enrollment) and was wondering the same thing. It's really frustrating that the FAFSA instructions aren't clearer about this distinction. The fact that multiple people got flagged for verification just for trying to be thorough shows how confusing the system can be for families. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences - it's saving me from making the same mistake! One follow-up question: does anyone know if there's a difference between how dual enrollment vs. Running Start vs. concurrent enrollment programs are treated, or are they all considered the same for FAFSA purposes?
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