Who actually fills out the FAFSA - students or parents? Completely lost

The FAFSA is designed to be completed by both the student AND parent(s) working together. The student should create their own FSA ID and start the application, but parents need to create their own separate FSA ID to provide their financial information. This is especially important with the new 2025-2026 FAFSA which requires direct contributor access. Technically, it's the student's application (hence why you create it under your FSA ID), but it requires parental financial information that you shouldn't have access to. Your parent(s) will need to: 1. Create their own FSA ID 2. Be added as a contributor to your FAFSA 3. Complete their portion with their tax/income information Neither of you can really complete it alone, so it needs to be a collaborative effort.

I remember my parents REFUSING to fill out their part when I was in school!!! They were like "you're 18, figure it out yourself" and then I couldn't get financial aid because they made too much money but wouldn't help pay. So frustrating!!!

To add specific details to what others have mentioned: 1. Student creates FSA ID at studentaid.gov 2. Student starts FAFSA application 3. During the application, you'll identify your parent/contributor(s) 4. They'll receive an email invitation to complete their section 5. Parent creates their own FSA ID if they don't have one 6. Parent logs in and completes the contributor section 7. After all contributors finish their sections, the student reviews everything and submits the final application With the new FAFSA, the process is more clearly separated between student and parent portions. Parents never see the student's section, and students don't see the details of what parents enter (though you'll see the calculated Student Aid Index (SAI) that results). If your mom refuses to provide info, you'll only be eligible for unsubsidized loans as a dependent student unless you qualify for a dependency override (which requires documented unusual circumstances like abuse, abandonment, or incarceration).

my mom made me do the whole thing myself lol i had to like sit next to her and ask for all the tax info while i typed everything....it was super awkward and took forever....just warning you its not fun either way

I struggled with this EXACT same situation last year. My parents kept pushing the responsibility back and forth and we ended up missing priority deadlines at two schools! If your mom is resistant, try explaining that while it's your education, the government requires HER information to determine your aid eligibility. One thing that helped with my parents was scheduling a specific time to sit down together with both laptops open. We created both FSA IDs at the same time, then I started my portion while my mom worked on hers. The whole thing took about 40 minutes. Also, if you're having trouble reaching the Federal Student Aid help center (which we did multiple times), I found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me through to an actual person in about 10 minutes when I kept getting disconnected on my own. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ. It really helped when we had questions about the contributor section that the online help didn't address.

lol welcome to the wonderful world of FAFSA where nothing makes sense and the rules are made up 🙃 but seriously, as the others said, it's technically YOUR application but it needs YOUR PARENTS' financial info, which is the most backwards system ever invented.

One important clarification: for the 2025-2026 FAFSA, the process has been redesigned to be much clearer about who does what. The student creates and owns the application, but parent contributors must complete their own sections directly through their own FSA ID login. This is different from previous years when students could manually enter parent information. The system now automatically pulls tax information when contributors give permission through the IRS Data Retrieval Tool, which eliminates a lot of the manual entry and potential errors. However, this means BOTH you and your parent must actively participate in the process. There's a hard requirement that contributors (parents) must create their own FSA ID and complete their section personally. You can't do it for them, and they can't do your part.

After your mom completes her portion, you'll need to log back in to review everything and submit the final application. The system will notify you when she's done her part. And to address your concern about what happens if she refuses to provide information: Unless you qualify for a dependency override (which requires extreme circumstances like documented abuse, abandonment, or incarceration), you'd only be eligible for unsubsidized loans - no grants or subsidized loans. This is a common frustration with the system, but unfortunately those are the rules. For the 2025-2026 FAFSA, make sure both you and your mom are prepared with: 1. Separate FSA IDs (username and password) 2. Access to email accounts associated with your FSA IDs 3. Social security numbers for both of you 4. Your mother's 2023 federal income tax return 5. Records of any untaxed income from 2023 6. Information on cash, savings, and checking account balances If you plan ahead and gather everything, the process itself isn't too difficult.

For divorced parents, the FAFSA only requires information from the parent you lived with the most during the past 12 months. If you split time equally, then it's the parent who provided more financial support. If your custodial parent (the one you lived with more) is remarried, your step-parent's information must also be included. This is often a point of confusion and frustration, but it's a strict requirement. Your non-custodial parent (the one you don't live with as much) is not required to provide information on the FAFSA. However, be aware that some private colleges may require a separate CSS Profile that does ask for non-custodial parent information for their institutional aid.

After all this back and forth, are you both finally on the same page? I wish someone had explained this to me and my parents before we started fighting about it too 😂

Just wanted to add that communication is really key here! I had a similar situation with my parents where we kept assuming what the other person was supposed to do. What helped us was having a quick conversation about expectations before we even started the application. I'd suggest sitting down with your mom and explaining that you WANT to take ownership of the process, but you literally can't complete it without her financial information. Maybe frame it as "I'll handle all the logistics and scheduling, but I need you to be my partner in this since the government requires your info." Also, don't underestimate how overwhelming the FAFSA can feel to parents who haven't done it before! My mom was actually nervous about "messing something up" on her section, so once I explained that we were doing it together and could ask for help if needed, she was much more willing to participate. Good luck! It sounds like you've got a good plan now.