Understanding FAFSA for my grandson - Where do I start as a grandparent?

Welcome to the group! As a grandparent, you generally don't need to provide financial information on the FAFSA unless you're his legal guardian. The 2025-2026 FAFSA primarily looks at the student's information and the parents' financial data (if he's a dependent student). Your grandson will need to report his own income and assets, and usually his parents' information too. The SAI (Student Aid Index) is what replaced the old EFC - it's basically a number that determines how much aid he qualifies for. Lower is better! If you're planning to help financially, be aware that monetary gifts to your grandson could impact his aid eligibility for the following year if he keeps that money in his name.

One thing nobody mentioned - if your grandson's parents aren't being cooperative or aren't in the picture, there ARE options. My niece had to go through a dependency override process because her parents refused to provide information. It was BRUTAL trying to reach anyone at Federal Student Aid to help. After getting hung up on 8 times, I found this service called Claimyr that got me through to an actual human at FSA in under 20 minutes. They have this demo video (https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ) that shows how it works. The website is claimyr.com - saved us weeks of frustration when we needed answers about her specific situation.

I'm in the same boat as you! My granddaughter is applying to schools and I'm trying to help but EVERYTHING is different now! The biggest thing I've learned is to start early and make sure they have FSA IDs set up in advance. Both the student and parents need their own FSA IDs to sign the form. Also, they changed everything this year and now it's a completely new system called FAFSA Simplification which is ironically not simple at all lol! One thing I did to help was set up a 529 college savings account years ago. If you have one, remember it counts differently in the aid calculations depending on who owns it. If the parent owns it, it has less impact on aid than if the student or another relative owns it. GOOD LUCK TO US BOTH!!!

listen everyone here is making this more complicated then it needs to be. the kids parents need to fill out the fafsa and thats it. unless your the legal guardian you dont need to do anything. my son just went through this whole thing and i learned NOTHING matters except the parents income for the most part. they dont even ask about grandparents!!!

The FAFSA system is GARBAGE and completely broken right now!! My daughter and I tried submitting her application 4 times and kept getting errors. The new "simplified" FAFSA is a disaster. They cut the questions down but made everything MORE confusing. And don't get me started on how they calculate the SAI... my ex-husband and I are divorced and the formula penalizes us because we have separate households and therefore "more assets" according to their stupid formula. It's all rigged to give less aid!!! My advice? Help your grandson find scholarships that DON'T rely on FAFSA. Private scholarships, merit aid, anything that doesn't involve this broken system.

just want to add that if u want to help ur grandson, paying directly to the college is better than giving him $. the fafsa doesnt count payments made directly to the college against him for that year. but if u give him cash and he puts it in his account it counts as his asset and will reduce his aid next year. also tell him to apply for pell grants if ur family income qualifies!!

To summarize some key points for your situation: 1. As a grandparent, you won't need to provide information on the FAFSA 2. The best way to help financially is to either pay the college directly or gift money to the parents 3. If you give money directly to your grandson, it could affect his aid eligibility for the following year 4. Make sure your grandson and his parents create their FSA IDs early 5. The 2025-2026 FAFSA form became available on December 1, 2024, so they should complete it as soon as possible 6. Even if you think they won't qualify for need-based aid, completing the FAFSA is still important for access to federal student loans Is there a specific aspect of financial aid you'd like more information about?

Great question about scholarships! It can be complicated, but here's the general rule: scholarships can affect need-based aid but not necessarily loan eligibility. If your grandson receives scholarships, the school must reduce his need-based aid package by the amount of the scholarship. However, the school can choose HOW to reduce the package. Good financial aid offices will reduce loans first, then work-study, and only reduce grants as a last resort. Merit scholarships (based on academics, not financial need) might also affect his aid package, but again, good schools will reduce loans first. Some selective private colleges actually have policies where outside scholarships won't reduce their institutional grants. Bottom line: Scholarships are almost always beneficial, even if they cause some adjustment to the aid package. It's free money that doesn't need to be repaid!

As a grandparent who went through this process last year with my granddaughter, I wanted to add a few practical tips that helped us navigate everything smoothly: 1. Consider creating a shared Google doc or folder with your grandson and his parents where you can all track deadlines, required documents, and school-specific aid requirements. Each college can have different deadlines for their own aid forms beyond just the FAFSA. 2. If your grandson is applying to multiple schools, help him create a spreadsheet to compare aid packages when they come in. The "net price" (total cost minus all grants and scholarships) is what really matters, not just the sticker price. 3. Don't forget about state aid programs! Many states have their own grant programs with earlier deadlines than federal aid. In our state, we almost missed out on $2,000 in state grants because we didn't know about the separate deadline. 4. If you want to help but are worried about affecting his aid eligibility, you could also consider paying for things like textbooks, laptop, or dorm supplies directly to the vendors rather than giving cash. The whole process seemed overwhelming at first, but breaking it down into smaller steps really helped. Your grandson is lucky to have such a supportive grandparent looking out for him!

As someone who just went through this process with my own grandchild, I want to echo what others have said about starting early and staying organized. One thing that really helped us was attending a financial aid workshop at the local high school - many schools offer these for families in the spring. The counselor explained everything in plain English and even helped us understand the difference between subsidized and unsubsidized loans. Also, don't be afraid to call the financial aid offices at the colleges your grandson is considering! I was intimidated at first, but the staff were actually very helpful in explaining their specific policies and deadlines. Some schools even have grandparent information sessions. One mistake we made was assuming we understood everything from online research. Having that face-to-face conversation with a real person made all the difference. Your grandson is so fortunate to have you advocating for him - that support means more than you know!