@Mugsy8 As the mom of two kiddos, I definitely feel for you! The decision to remove the consideration of the number of children in college from the calculation was made with two primary objectives in mind: simplification and fairness. As it relates to simplification, the goal was not to increase the amount families have to pay when they have more members enrolled in college–tough choices were made to bring down the number of questions asked on FAFSA, and this one didn’t make the cut. The revised formula still considers overall family size in computing potential aid and also increases the income protection allowance, or IPA. The result? A slight increase in aid eligibility for lower-income families with multiple siblings, and a drop in eligibility for middle- and upper-income families with two or more students on campus.
@CRob71, ug, technology–it’s great until it isn’t right? Each individual parent should have their own parent account, unless your child has a situation where only one parent will need to file for them (for example, they live with their mom and she’s the only one who financially supports them). Without knowing the specific issues you faced, I can’t give you 100% accurate advice. For example, if you’re married filing jointly then both parents should be on each child’s FAFSA. If you and the other parent are married-filing jointly then the big questions (income) were probably filled out properly. However, things like savings, bank account, etc might have been reported for just one parent–which technically isn’t right. If you’re not married or you are married-filing separately, then the parent who the child lived with most during the past 12 months would have been the right parent to put on that child’s FAFSA. That’s changing with the new FAFSA, as Sorin put: Students must now report the income of the parent that gives most financial support, not the just parent they live with most of the year. The number of kids you have applying for FAFSA shouldn’t present any issues with filing. Lots of families have two kids in college (or 5!) and can file using their parent accounts. Each child should definitely have their own FAFSA though!
Can you go into more detail about why siblings in college are no longer a factor and how that will impact aid?
@CRob71 Sounds like maybe you were having some technical difficulties? We’d suggest reaching out to live chat Federal Student Aid as soon as the application is up if you run into issues again.
@sillinessforBschools For an estimate of how their federal financial aid for 2024-2025 will differ, students can use the Federal Student Aid Estimator on the Federal Student Aid website.
@buddhaauthor You’re in a tricky spot. You’ll need to file an appeal with each college’s financial aid office 
FAFSA will be based off of “prior prior” year only. So you’ll need to explain and show (via taxes) your situation with each college. The good news is that often they do come through with an adjusted package!
@Jill_Dalton Did you need more specific clarification than Mugsy, happy to help just wanted to know the exact questions? 
The decision to remove the consideration of the number of children in college from the calculation was made with two primary objectives in mind: simplification and fairness. As it relates to simplification, the goal was not to increase the amount families have to pay when they have more members enrolled in college–tough choices were made to bring down the number of questions asked on FAFSA, and this one didn’t make the cut. The revised formula still considers overall family size in computing potential aid and also increases the income protection allowance, or IPA. The result? A slight increase in aid eligibility for lower-income families with multiple siblings, and a drop in eligibility for middle- and upper-income families with two or more students on campus. Unfortunately I’m having trouble dropping links in the forum but if you want to get a rough estimate of your new SAI definitely check out the FAFSA Calculator.
Thanks. Our child is a second year in a college they enjoy, so an explanation is needed for only one college. But they do want a FAFSA, despite it’s outdatedness. Glad to hear they might reevaluate!
Definitely do the FAFSA first, you’ll need that for the appeal anyway
@Bailey_UPchieve, @Mark_UPchieve, based on our polls, it seems like a lot of students are concerned about this year’s changes to the FAFSA because they won’t get aid. Are these worries justified and what can they do to maximize their chances?
Only one parent completes the FAFSA (that is, is the contributor) if the parents are married and filed taxes jointly. That parent completes it for both parents: Federal Student Aid.
This is definitely a common concern whenever changes are made to something this important. I’d definitely encourage students and families to fill out the Federal Student Aid Estimator as it is using the updated formula. This way they’ll get a real estimate about their potential Student Aid Index. Additionally, in most cases the majority of the aid students receive actually comes from the institution rather than directly from the federal government. So while FAFSA certainly will impact federal grants and loans most directly, colleges still have a fair amount of “institutional” aid that they have a lot of discretion over!
@kelsmom thanks so much for the clarification! Sorry for our unclear response. If parents are married and filed taxes jointly, and you put down both parent’s financial information you should be good!
We have reached the end of our FAFSA AMA so I want to thank both @Mark_UPchieve and @Bailey_UPchieve for taking the time and answer our questions. It’s been great getting more clarity on this year’s changes.
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