FAFSA Help Guide:
Definition of a Parent

Step #4 of the FAFSA Online Guide to the FAFA Form tutorial follows. If you have not read through steps 1-3, we suggest you start with step #1. If you are ready to file your FAFSA form or Renewal FAFSA form online, then please click here.

Step #4: Who is a Parent?

Before you begin, who is a parent?

• Obviously, if you live at home with your married parents, they are your parents.
• If a parent is widowed or single, fill in the questions appropriately.

FAFSA Secret

Leave No Entry Blank

If you do not know the answer to something, put a zero there instead of leaving it blank.

• A step-parent (after marriage) is considered a parent from a financial aid perspective.
• If the parents are divorced or separated, the parent is considered to be the one which the student lived with more in the past 12 months.
• If the student did not live with either parent in a divorced/separated situation, the parent is the one who contributed more financial assistance in the past 12 months.
• If the student did not receive appreciably more support from one parent or another, the parent is the one who claims the student as a dependent on the IRS tax return.
• A foster parent, legal guardian, or a grandparent or other relative is not treated as a parent for purposes of filing a FAFSA unless that person has legally adopted the applicant. An adoptive parent is treated in the same manner as a biological parent on the FAFSA.
• The question of parents and dependents is one of the trickiest on the FAFSA. You may need to contact your financial aid officer to get a "professional judgement" or a "dependency override" if you're in a tricky situation, but you MUST file the FAFSA as a dependent student with as much information as possible on the parent regardless of your living situation if you otherwise meet the terms of a dependent student.

This step will also be easier if you have the parent's 2007 IRS 1040 form available (in PDF format). Print it out, fill it out to the best of your ability, and have it handy.

Step #4: Parental Information (Purple section)

• FAFSA Secret

  Apply As Close to January 1 As Possible

  File your applications for scholarships AFTER the FAFSA.

  This section is about the parent, not the student.
• Question 57 can be a trip up - this is the latest date of the status of the parent. If the parents are married, this is the wedding date. If the parents are separated, this is the date of separation, etc.
• As with the student, check, check, and check again the accuracy of the names and social security numbers. These should match the parents' tax returns and social security cards.
• Question 66: include yourself (the student) in the parents' household even if you don't live with them. Also include:
  • Siblings if the parents provide more than 50% support
  • Other people for whom the parents provide more than 50% support (i.e. grandparents living in the house, etc.)
  • Babies on the way who will be born before the start of the coming school year.
  • The more people who live in a household, the better.
• Question 67: always include the student - this number should never be zero.
• Question 76 should ideally be the same answer as Question 32: b. The goal, of course, is to get the FAFSA out the door as quickly as possible.
• Parents are more likely to file the standard 1040 rather than the other tax forms because of deductions.
• Questions 79-89 are similar to the student's questions earlier, and the same advice applies doubly so: we really recommend using a qualified tax professional to maximize your savings. At the very least, be sure you fill out the practice 1040 and refer to the deductions for the adjusted gross income!

Intermission: the FAFSA worksheets return!

• FAFSA Secret

  Fill Out a Practice FAFSA

  Did you know that you can "test drive" the FAFSA?

  Pull out that FAFSA worksheet and get to it!
• A lot of the information on the sheets for parents relies heavily on the IRS 1040.
• Remember - even though you don't need to file the contents of the worksheets, it's important to do them so that you get a correct EFC (expected family contribution)

Returning to Step #4...

• Time again to empty out those assets as much as possible. With parents, it's likely you will have more investments than a child/student, so those investments with a positive net worth need to be offset by something with a negative net worth, or those financial instruments should be shifted to someone else to manage.
• For questions about checking, savings, and investments, they are as of the date the FAFSA is filed, so make sure you move or spend appropriately!
• A reminder: parents' investments and financial standing is given less weight in financial aid considerations than students' financial standings.
• Read the breakdown in this FAFSA secret!

Move on to FAFSA Form Steps #5 and #6 »