FAFSA only showing one twin on parent portal - how to add second child?

The redesigned FAFSA system works differently for multiple students. Your twins need to add YOU (with your FSA ID) as a contributor on THEIR applications. You don't add them to your account - it's the reverse! Each of your children needs to log into studentaid.gov separately, start their own FAFSA, and add you as a contributor by entering your FSA ID. You'll then receive notification emails with links to complete your portion for each student. The system is designed to minimize duplicate data entry, which is why the financial questions seemed brief - but it does require each student to initiate their own application.

same thing hapend to me!! i have triplets and was pulling my hair out trying to figure out where to put the other 2 kids lol. turns out they EACH have to start there own fafsa and then invite you. super confusing!!!

The new FAFSA is a NIGHTMARE for families with multiple students!! I spent HOURS trying to figure this out. The government completely failed to clearly communicate that each student must initiate their own application. The old system was so much more straightforward - just add all your dependents to one form. I ended up having to call FSA to figure it out, and was on hold for over 2 HOURS before I got someone who could explain it properly. Ridiculous waste of time.

The minimal financial questions are normal with the new system! The 2025-2026 FAFSA directly imports your tax information from the IRS using the Data Retrieval Tool, so you don't manually enter most income details anymore. That's actually one improvement they made - less manual data entry. But yes, as others mentioned, each student initiates their own application and adds contributors. When both twins add you, you'll complete your section once for each application.

I work in a high school counseling office, and this confusion with multiple students is our #1 FAFSA issue this year. Here's a step-by-step for parents with multiple children: 1. Each student creates their own FSA ID 2. Each student starts their own FAFSA application 3. During their application, each student adds you as a contributor using your FSA ID 4. You receive notification emails for each student 5. You complete your portion for each student separately The system is designed to share your information across applications, but each student must initiate independently. The financial questions are minimal because they're pulling directly from IRS data now.

My cousin went thru this exact thing w/ her twins last semester! The new system is super weird compared to before. She said that once both kids added her as a contributor she got separate emails for each one but only had to enter her info once and it copied to both applications automatically. The whole contributor system is backwards from how anyone would expect it to work lol

One important thing no one mentioned - make sure your twins use DIFFERENT email addresses for their FSA IDs! My niece and nephew are twins and used the same family email for both accounts which caused all kinds of verification problems. Each student needs their own unique email. Also, the system should send you a separate contribution request for each child, and you'll need to approve each one individually, but your information should only need to be entered once.

wait does the FAFSA give more money for twins/triplets going to college at the same time? I thought they just calculated each kid separately??

The whole "students add parents as contributors" thing is the MOST counterintuitive design possible. Who thought this made sense?? In what world do dependents add their providers instead of the other way around? Classic government incompetence. The old system where parents could add all their kids to one form was so much more logical.

Update: I finally got both twins to add me as a contributor, and I can now see both applications on my dashboard! You were all right - each student has to initiate their own FAFSA and add me, rather than me adding them. The process is working much more smoothly now. Thanks everyone for your help!

I'm going through the exact same process with my daughter and son (they're a year apart but both applying for 2025-2026). One thing I learned the hard way - make sure both twins complete their student portions of the FAFSA BEFORE the priority deadlines for their schools! Even though you'll fill out your contributor section for both, each student needs to submit their individual application by their school's deadline. Some schools have early priority dates in February/March, so don't wait too long for the second twin to get their application started. Also, double-check that both applications show "Submitted" status - I almost missed that my son's was still sitting in "In Progress" even after I completed my contributor portion.