Should I update FAFSA for second child going to college? Already under 275% poverty threshold

The new FAFSA simplified formula has indeed changed how multiple children in college affects your SAI calculation. Under the previous system, having multiple students would significantly reduce your EFC (now called SAI), but with the 2024-2025 FAFSA, the direct multiple-student divisor has been eliminated. However, there are still some potential benefits to updating your information: 1. While the SAI won't be directly divided, your family's available income calculation may still be affected when considering your total financial resources across multiple students. 2. Since you're already under the 275% of federal poverty level threshold, your daughter may already qualify for maximum Pell Grant, so the update might not change her federal aid. 3. Many colleges still consider the number of family members in college for their institutional aid calculations, even if the federal formula doesn't. I would recommend submitting the correction. It's better to have the most accurate information on file, especially if your son will also be filing FAFSA for himself.

dont bother updating. my cousins both in college and we updated fafsa last yr to show 2 instead of 1 and literally NOTHING changed with their aid. complete waste of time and we had to wait another 3 weeks for processing. the schools didnt care either.

Since your SAI is 14829 and you're under 275% of the poverty line, your daughter likely already qualifies for a substantial Pell Grant. With the new FAFSA simplification, the number of students in college no longer directly divides your SAI like it used to with the old EFC system. However, I'd still recommend updating the FAFSA for two important reasons: 1. Some colleges use their own institutional methodology for awarding their funds, and many still consider multiple students in college. 2. Having accurate information prevents potential verification issues later. To update, log into studentaid.gov, go to your FAFSA application, select "Make FAFSA Corrections," and change the number of family members in college. It should only take about 10-15 minutes to submit the correction.

I had this EXACT same situation last year! Was so frustrated trying to reach someone at Federal Student Aid to ask this question. Kept getting disconnected or waiting on hold forever. Finally found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to a live FAFSA agent in about 15 minutes instead of hours of redials. The agent confirmed that while multiple students doesn't divide the SAI anymore, it can still affect institutional aid at many colleges. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ In my case, updating the FAFSA didn't change my son's federal aid, but it DID help with his university grants, so definitely worth the update in our situation.

just wondering, is your son considered a dependent or independent student? cuz if hes 24 and filing his own fafsa as independent then updating yours probably wouldnt even matter??? not sure tho

The 275% poverty line threshold is really important here! If your SAI is 14829 and you're under that threshold, your daughter should already qualify for the maximum Pell Grant ($7,395 for 2024-2025) or very close to it. Updating to add another student in college might not change her federal aid much in this specific case. BUT!!!! If your son is actually 22 (as you mentioned), not 24, and still your dependent, then updating could help with institutional aid at both their schools. Many private colleges especially still consider multiple students in their own aid formulas. The FAFSA processing is actually moving much faster now than earlier this year, so corrections are typically processed within a week rather than the 3-4 weeks we saw in January.

This entire FAFSA simplification has been a DISASTER!!! My kids lost thousands in aid because of the changes to the multiple student calculation. The old system was WAY better for families with multiple kids in college. Now we're expected to somehow pay the same amount for TWO kids that we used to pay for ONE?? Make it make sense!!! And don't get me started on how the rollout was months late and full of bugs. I'm still furious about all of it.

As a newcomer to this community, I just wanted to say how helpful this discussion has been! I'm in a similar situation with my twins starting college next year and was completely confused about how the new FAFSA changes would affect us. Reading through everyone's experiences - both positive and negative - has really clarified things for me. It sounds like the key takeaway is that while federal aid calculations have changed, many colleges still consider multiple students for their institutional aid. I'll definitely be updating our FAFSA to show both kids and also reaching out directly to each college's financial aid office to understand their specific policies. Thanks to everyone who shared their real-world experiences - it's so much more valuable than trying to decode the official government explanations!

As another newcomer here, I'm really grateful for all the detailed insights everyone has shared! I'm dealing with a similar situation - my daughter is a junior in high school and my son just turned 23, so we'll likely be in the multiple-student scenario soon. What strikes me most from reading through this thread is how much the new FAFSA changes have created uncertainty, but also how generous this community is with sharing real experiences. @Javier Torres - it sounds like you got your answer about your 24-year-old son filing independently, which saves you the hassle of updating! @Emma Wilson's explanation about institutional vs federal aid calculations was particularly enlightening. I had no idea that colleges might still use their own formulas even when the federal calculation changed. One question for the group: for those who did update their FAFSA to show multiple students, did you find that most colleges were transparent about whether they still consider this factor in their institutional aid decisions? Or did you have to really dig to find out their policies?

As a newcomer to this community, I've been following this discussion closely and it's been incredibly informative! I'm currently helping my sister navigate a similar situation with her two kids potentially overlapping in college next year. What really stands out to me from everyone's experiences is how much the institutional aid policies vary between schools. It seems like the new FAFSA changes have created this confusing landscape where the federal calculation works one way, but individual colleges may still use their own methods. I'm curious - for those who successfully received additional institutional aid after updating their FAFSA to show multiple students, did you find that certain types of schools (public vs private, large vs small) were more likely to still factor this in? My sister is trying to decide whether it's worth the effort to update, and it sounds like the answer might depend heavily on where her kids are planning to attend. Also, thank you @Taylor Chen for the practical tip about calling during mid-afternoon and asking that specific question! That's exactly the kind of actionable advice that makes this community so valuable.