r/FAFSA

i know it only is supposed to be used for tuition and fees so it looks like the IRS says you need to declare and pay taxes on money you use for non qualified expenses like room and board. I technically have maybe 500-1000 that I do not use for tuition but my financial aid office said that that is for like living expenses. IRS says i would need to declare that money and pay income taxes - which admittly would be like zero because i fall under the standard tax deduction but who is right?

I ask because I was to use the scholarship exception to withdraw from my 529 up to the pell grant I get, but if I am already supposed to be declaring idk if i can?

My Son is a HS junior in NY, and we have a complicated situation. need some advice on how to Fill out the FAFSA forms. Here goes:

We have been divorced for years, and he lives with his mom and grandparents. the mom can barely keep a job, and hasn't had a full years salary in the past 4 years. she a nurse who used to make $120K. the last couple of years she has been in and out of jail and rehab and hasn't worked a full year In a while. she is not a responsible mother. the grandmother basically take care of him.

she has no money saved for college and probably will be back in jail before the year is over.

I have 7k saved for him in a savings account for college,

I make 150K, live in a different town, see him 3 times a week, and pay child support $340 a week to the mom. which the grandmother uses to support him . grandmother does not have custody , me and the mom are joint.

who should we list as the contributing parent?

he has great grades, top 10 in his class and big dreams of Ivy League schools.

we also have divorce agreement that states both parents are only responsible for half the yearly cost of NYS SUNY school.

thanks for the advice.

ALSO , I forgot , She remarried this year, and is staring the divorce process, the do not speak or live together, does his income affect us?

Hello. Im a new college student who just finished my first semester. And I filled out a second fafsa form and submitted it for summer classes. I received no financial aid for this semester. I feel like there could be a mistake. Because I received financial aid for my first semester. I have not contacted my schools financial office yet. But I plan at my next given opportunity. I just wanted to see if anybody else has had this happen before.

Do they just go based off our parent’s income. In my case isn’t very high. But I’m trying to help out with the bills. Not sure how it would affect the aid that is gifted tho.

tuition is $20,000 for my two year program. my SAI was around $13k and i was only offered unsubsidized loans for my MSW program. i make about $50k a year, live independently in LA county, and will probably have to quit my job because of the full time program + 20 hour/week unpaid field placement. (i will try to move my work to part-time, but this is contingent on management approval)

i feel like fafsa completely ignores the reality of living independently in a high cost area while doing an unpaid internship. i genuinely don’t understand how people financially survive MSW programs without family support.

has anyone successfully appealed their aid package or found ways to make this work?

I was on academic probation and this was supposed to be my last academic plan before getting back into good standing. I withdrew from one class because I genuinely thought I was allowed to and was never told it could permanently affect my financial aid eligibility.

Now the school says I can’t appeal again and have to pay out of pocket. I already spoke to advising and financial aid, and they basically said there’s nothing they can do.

If I had known the consequences, I would’ve tried other options instead of withdrawing. I’m struggling financially and honestly don’t know what to do now.

Has anyone been through something similar? Is there any way to appeal, talk to the Dean of Students, or transfer schools without completely losing aid?

I’m taking 4 Express A courses this summer. That’s May 18,2026 to June 29,2026.
How would I know whew I’m going to receive reimbursement from FAFSA?

My wife applied for FAFSA since she will be attending her Masters this Fall. The school she is attending is public.

The estimated student aid index said -1500 (she does not work currently and we have one child. We file married jointly and I make about 78k a year before tax. She also is on a valid green card, so not a citizen yet.) It also mentioned that she doesn't qualify for the pell grant.

So my question is this: would only part of the tuition be covered or would I need to pay for everything?

I didn’t pass any of my classes last term (fall), and i took the max amount of classes in the spring and passed them all. How am I supposed to keep above 67%?????

I've been waiting on this financial aid appeal for almost 3 weeks at this point, my page is now saying my major or curriculum is ineligible for financial aid? I've called them multiple times im getting really frustrated and I dont know what to do. The screenshot is what it shows on my financial aid tab.

I 17F, am currently a Junior in High School. My parents are divorced and they have split custody, but my mom is pretty much my sole financial provider. My mom is a single parent who does not make much, while my dad is remarried and makes quite a bit. My dad has made it clear that he will not help pay for my college, but filling out CSS and including him is going to make it seem like I don’t need need-based aid. Is there anything I can do in this situation?

Hi, i’m a full-time student & receive the maximum amount of financial aid. My husband is considering going back to school to earn his bachelors. His education is mostly paid for through the military (he isn’t using the GI bill, it’s TA), but there’s a cap on how many classes they will pay for each year. He’s considering filling out the FAFSA application to be able to complete his classes faster than the military will pay for but is unsure because we’re both worried it will impact the amount of financial aid I receive.

Has anyone done this & have any advice? I’m currently in a sweet spot where I don’t have to pull loans to obtain my bachelors, so that’s where my concern comes from! Any advice from any dual enrolled couples is appreciated, it doesn’t have to be military specific🙂

My oldest son is in high school, and my second will be starting in the upcoming school year, so their higher education is increasingly on my mind.

I am familiar with FAFSA and all of that in general, having been a non traditional student during undergrad, and then just finishing my masters this month. However, my children live with my ex-husband so from my understanding, it will be his income that is used for FAFSA, not mine (unless they come live with me, but that is not a strong possibility right now; he is able to be a stay at home father and we both like that he is able to provide that care for them whereas I must work).

His income is non-taxable, so he is not required to file any federal income taxes (and he lives in a state without state income taxes, so no state taxes either). Right now, he is not remarried, and this could all change by the time my oldest graduates, as their “stepmom” (we call her that, even if not legal yet) does work so once they marry, her income will be on their joint taxes. But for now, assuming it stays the same, will my son still be able to file the FAFSA form and get aid if his father is not required to file any taxes?

I have not ever had parental information on my FAFSA since I used it after having kids, so I don’t know how it’s asked or what is provided on that side. Would my son’s dad provide his letter from the VA that shows what his non-taxable pension is, and they would use this instead of federal tax forms to calculate his SAI? Would the fact that there is no tax form on file for their father mean that our children do not receive any Pell grants? Will it depend on the school? Or would this be an exception and they’d use my taxes since I’m the only one filing taxes, even though they live with him?

Hi! I’m going to grad school this fall and I submitted my loan application yesterday. However, I accidentally submitted an application for a GradPLUS loan rather than an unsubsidized loan.
I reached out to the school and apologized then asked what I should do and if I should submit a second application (FAFSA said eligibility is determined by the school, and I know I’m not eligible for GradPLUS loans because I’m not grandfathered in). They said I didn’t have to make any changes.
I just wanted to check that there isn’t anything I need to do and that I don’t have to create a second application for unsubsidized loans in order to get my COA loan for the school year?
Thank you so much in advance!

I have 2 children and their father that live with me. Do I put him in my fafsa? We aren’t married and never were

I submitted my fafsa form back in January and it got processed and approved. I recently changed my college plans and made a correction adding 1 more college to the form and submitted the process. Today I checked the site and I got an error message below and my submission did not go through at all. I'm genuinely so stressed out and scared I don't know what to do. Am I supposed to call all the colleges I'm enrolling for and they will know what to do or will I not receive any aids from fafsa at all?

https://preview.redd.it/radg50k7gs1h1.png?width=1528&format=png&auto=webp&s=26eab9fb2bf2cb4ca666c760f9333230f292c9e9

Like the title says ^^^ I am a dependent on my mom’s taxes and she just told me she forgot and didn’t file for 2024 taxes. The UC registrar and verification requirements for UCD require her to file 2024 taxes and I’m really anxious and stressed cause she didn’t and she said she’ll try to do it by the end of the month and doesn’t know where her documents are at. Will my financial aid package be revoked because she didn’t file for 2024??? Has anyone been through this situation or know further information? I am relying heavily on the financial aid package since I qualify for the blue and gold plan and my mom made 56K 2024 but she also doesn’t plan to fund my education. So if they revoke my package I can’t transfer (can’t afford it) and this is my 3rd try!! 😭
The deadlines for housing and submitting these documents is coming up fast so this is really stressful. 😣

How do people get more than 2k in refunds when they’re full time students?

Thank you all for taking the time to comment.🙏

I’m fairly confused why when I applied for financial aid, they required my 2024 tax documents? I am attending fall 2026. My husband and I have been struggling for over a year now, we are not in any shape or form where we were in 2024. So why are they basing if I’m applicable for aid or not off my 2024 tax documents?

I applied for the 2026-2027 fafsa and I was denied. The School told me that they haven’t received my transfer transcripts. The transfer said they have my transcripts. My balance is huge it’s a lot to pay out of pocket. I don’t even understand why I was denied coz all my transcripts have been received.