Need in-person FAFSA help in San Diego - single mom confused by application process

Im also a single mom with a kid at SDSU! The FAFSA is super confusing at first. Have you tried going to one of the FAFSA workshops at the library? They do them every month I think. My daughter and I went to one last semester and it helped alot. Bring your tax return and w-2 forms, and your sons tax info if he filed. They'll walk you thru all the steps.

check if SDSU has FAFSA help events on campus. my kid goes to Grossmont and they had advisors who would sit with you and literally look over your shoulder while you filled it out. saved my life honestly

As a financial aid advisor, I'd recommend starting with the SDSU Financial Aid Office rather than looking for help elsewhere. They offer regular FAFSA completion workshops specifically for parents. For the 2025-2026 application, you'll need your 2023 tax return and W-2 forms, plus your son's if he filed. Since you mentioned being a single parent, you'll only report your income information in the parent section. For the dependency questions, your son will almost certainly be considered a dependent student unless he's 24+, married, a veteran, or has dependents of his own. His part-time work will need to be reported in the student section, but won't affect your parental contribution calculation. The most common mistake I see is parents using their FSA ID to complete the student's portions. Make sure your son creates his own FSA ID and completes his sections himself. You'll use your separate FSA ID for the parent portions.

If you're looking for in-person help, I definitely recommend SDSU's Financial Aid office. They have walk-in hours but you need to schedule at least a week in advance now because they're always busy. They helped me understand how my parents' retirement contributions affected my SAI calculation, which was super helpful! In the meantime, the online FAFSA walkthrough videos on studentaid.gov are actually pretty decent. Check out the one specifically about dependency status and parent information for dependent students. Also, if your son receives any untaxed income (like contributions to retirement accounts or child support), that needs to be reported separately from his W-2 income. That's a common thing people miss.

The FAFSA is THE WORST!!! I tried for THREE DAYS to submit my daughter's application and kept getting system errors. Called the helpline and was on hold for 2+ hours before getting disconnected TWICE!!! This system is designed to FAIL students from families who don't have financial advisors or college counselors. Why do they make it SO COMPLICATED??? My daughter almost missed her priority deadline because of these stupid technical issues!!!

have u tried the california student aid commission workshops? they do free fafsa help sessions. my nephew went to one last yr

another thing to remember is the priority deadline for cal grants is march 2!! miss that and ur kid might miss out on free $$$. learned that the hard way last year :

Just thought of something! If youre low income you might qualify for free tax prep help through VITA and they can also help with FAFSA questions. My friend used them last year and they were super helpful with understanding how her child support should be reported on FAFSA.

Following up on retirement contributions - yes, your retirement contributions can affect the SAI calculation. For the 2025-2026 FAFSA, voluntary retirement contributions are reported as untaxed income, which can increase your SAI (potentially reducing aid eligibility). However, mandatory contributions to employer retirement plans are not counted. One more important note: Since your son is a continuing student at SDSU, make sure to also check if he needs to complete the CSS Profile in addition to the FAFSA. Some California institutions require both for institutional aid, though SDSU typically only requires FAFSA for most aid programs.