FAFSA parent info for both undergrad and pharmacy student - possible to copy?
I'm feeling really overwhelmed right now with two FAFSA applications to complete. I just finished the parent portion for my son's undergraduate FAFSA, but now I'm wondering if I also need to fill out the parent section for my daughter who's starting pharmacy school next fall. Do graduate/professional students even need parent information on their FAFSA? And if they do, is there any way to copy all the parent tax/income information from one application to the other? I really don't want to manually enter all those numbers again if I don't have to!
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Alexander Evans
Good news! For graduate/professional students (including pharmacy), your daughter is automatically considered an independent student on the FAFSA. This means parent information is NOT required for her application. She'll only need to provide her own financial information. It's one of the perks of graduate school - less paperwork for parents!
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Ruby Garcia
•Oh that's such a relief! I was dreading having to go through all those income questions again. So she just fills out her own financial info and that's it? Even though we still help support her financially?
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Evelyn Martinez
my daughter is in med school and we still filled it out for her cuz some private scholarships asked for parent info even tho fafsa didn't. better safe than sorry i think
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Alexander Evans
•That's actually for the CSS Profile, which is different from FAFSA. Some private schools use CSS Profile for their institutional aid, and that form often does ask for parent info even for grad students. But the federal FAFSA itself doesn't require parent info for graduate/professional students.
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Benjamin Carter
The previous answers are correct - graduate/professional students are considered independent for FAFSA purposes regardless of actual financial support from parents. However, there are a few important things to know: 1. Your pharmacy student will only qualify for unsubsidized loans through FAFSA (no subsidized loans or Pell Grants) 2. She may also qualify for Graduate PLUS loans if she passes a credit check 3. If her pharmacy program uses the CSS Profile for institutional aid, they might still request parent information 4. For future years, you can use the FAFSA renewal process which will pre-populate much of the information for both students',applications, saving you time
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Ruby Garcia
•Thank you for the detailed explanation! I need to ask her if her pharmacy program uses CSS Profile then. Do you know if there's a way to find that out before we start? Also, I'm worried about these unsubsidized loans - does that mean interest starts accumulating immediately?
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Maya Lewis
I went through this EXACT same situation last year!!! One kid in undergrad and one in pharmacy school. I spent HOURS trying to figure out how to copy all my tax info from one application to the other before finding out I didn't need to do the parent part for my pharmacy student. The system is SO confusing and the FSA website kept crashing when I tried to call them!!! 😡
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Ruby Garcia
•It really is confusing! I wish they would make this clearer on the website. Did your pharmacy student end up getting decent financial aid without your information included?
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Maya Lewis
•They only got loans, no grants. Pharmacy school is EXPENSIVE. But at least I didn't have to do all that paperwork twice! Silver linings I guess... 🙄
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Isaac Wright
If your trying to get your questions answered by the student aid people goood luck lol I had to wait for 3 hrs and then got disconnected twice!!! The whole systems broken
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Lucy Taylor
Instead of wasting hours on hold, I recently used a service called Claimyr that got me through to a FAFSA agent in about 20 minutes. After getting disconnected three times trying to reach them about my kids' applications, I was desperate. Worked great - they call the FAFSA line for you, wait on hold, then call you when an agent is available. Saved me so much frustration. Their website is claimyr.com and they have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ
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Evelyn Martinez
•does this actually work? might try it cuz i need to talk to someone about my sons verification issues
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Lucy Taylor
•Definitely worked for me. My son had verification issues too and I needed to speak with someone directly. Just make sure you have your FSA ID and all the relevant paperwork ready when they connect you.
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Connor Murphy
One thing nobody mentioned - even though your pharmacy student doesn't need parent info for FAFSA, watch out for the Health Professions Student Loan if her pharmacy school offers it. That one DOES require parent info even for graduate students. My daughter's pharmacy program financial aid office didn't tell her this until after the deadline had passed! So frustrating.
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Benjamin Carter
•This is an excellent point! Health Professions Student Loans (HPSL) are an exception to the independent student rule. They're federal loans specifically for health profession students (including pharmacy) with exceptional financial need, and they do require parent information regardless of the student's age or independent status. They offer better terms than standard federal loans, so it's worth asking the pharmacy school's financial aid office about them specifically.
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Ruby Garcia
Thank you all for the helpful information! I'll let my daughter know she doesn't need our information for the standard FAFSA, but will have her check with her pharmacy program about CSS Profile and Health Professions Student Loans. I'm also going to look into that Claimyr service in case we run into problems. This forum has been so helpful!
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