FAFSA/TAP confusion - how to send NY State TAP awards to multiple colleges?

This was super confusing for me too last year! The TAP system is completely different from FAFSA. With TAP, you can only list one school at a time, but you CAN change your school code later after you've submitted. Log into your HESC account (not your FAFSA one) at hesc.ny.gov and there should be an option to "Change College." You'll need to do this for each school individually. It's annoying but that's how their system works.

The previous response is mostly correct, but there's a bit more to know. For the 2025-2026 application cycle, NY State made some changes to the TAP system. After receiving your TAP award notification, you need to: 1. Log into the HESC website (hesc.ny.gov) 2. Go to Account Information 3. Select "Change College" 4. Enter the new college's TAP code (different from FAFSA code) 5. Repeat for each school Important: There's usually a 3-5 business day processing time before the new school can see the TAP information. Also, you can only have ONE school selected at any given time - the system automatically removes the previous school when you add a new one. Finally, if your son decides which school he'll attend, make sure that school is the last one you select in the system.

I wemt through this EXACT situation with my daughter! The NY TAP system is SO ARCHAIC compared to FAFSA. Here's what we learned after many frustrating phone calls: The schools will all create initial financial aid packages WITHOUT the TAP amount included. Once your son decides which school he'll attend, THAT'S when you need to change the TAP code to that specific school. Then they'll add the TAP award to his final package. So basically, he'll get financial aid offers from all schools, but they won't include TAP. After he commits to one school, you update the TAP code to that school, and they'll revise his package to include TAP.

I HATE the NY state TAP system!!! I spent HOURS on the phone trying to reach someone at HESC last year when we had issues with my son's application. Keep getting disconnected or waiting forever. The whole thing is ridiculous - why can't they just send the info to all the schools like FAFSA does??? NYS needs to update their ancient systems!!

just want to add that the TAP award ur son got might be different depending on which SUNY he goes to! the max award is different for different types of schools (community college vs 4-yr) so dont be confused if the final amount changes when he picks a school

I notice everyone's talking about the HESC website, but when my daughter applied this year, we had to use the new NY State Student Portal instead. They migrated everything over from the old HESC system. Just letting you know in case you're looking in the wrong place! The process is basically the same though - still can only have one school selected at a time.

Thanks everyone for the helpful responses! I was able to log in (it was the new Student Portal for me) and see where to change the school code. I'll wait until he decides which SUNY to attend before making the final change. It's still confusing why they can't just send the info to all schools like FAFSA does, but at least I understand the process now!

Just wanted to add one more tip that helped us - if you're having trouble finding the TAP codes for each SUNY school, they're actually different from the FAFSA school codes! You can find them on each school's financial aid website, or there's a searchable list on the NY State Student Portal. We made the mistake of trying to use FAFSA codes at first and couldn't figure out why it wasn't working. Also, keep screenshots of your TAP award letter because some schools asked us to upload it separately to their financial aid portals even after we changed the school code in the system.