What does contributor mean on the FAFSA®?
Senior Associate, JPMorgan Chase
The Department of Education released a suite of changes to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) with its 2024-25 application. One change is that some of the form’s terminology differs from previous iterations. A new term you may want to have on your radar if you’re filing the FAFSA® is contributor.
So, what exactly are contributors as defined by the FAFSA®, and how could they affect how much college or graduate school financial aid you might receive? Keep reading for more information.
What does the term contributor mean on the FAFSA®?
A contributor is anyone such as you, a spouse, a biological or adoptive parent, or a parent’s spouse who’s required to provide their information on a FAFSA®, along with their consent and approval to share their tax information from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), for the form to be processed. Contributors will also need to provide their signature on the FAFSA®. If you or your contributors don’t provide consent and approval, you won’t be eligible for federal student aid in most cases.
Information provided by contributors may factor into a student’s Student Aid Index (SAI), a metric used to decide how much federal financial aid students may be eligible for, along with other types of financial aid for college or graduate school. In simple terms, contributors may impact how much financial aid you may be able to receive, as well as your potential eligibility for financial aid, based on the income and assets for the tax year a contributor supplies to the FAFSA®. Keep in mind that contributors file the FAFSA® using their tax information from two years prior before the current FAFSA® year. For instance, for the 2024-25 FAFSA®, contributors use information from their 2022 taxes.
How do you figure out who your contributors are if you’re filing the FAFSA®?
As covered above, a contributor is anyone required to provide information on a FAFSA®, such as you, your biological or adoptive parent, your parent's spouse, or your spouse, for the form to be processed. If filing, you’ll answer certain questions on the form which will help determine who needs to be a contributor on your application.
There are a few cases in which figuring out who your contributors are may be slightly tricky. One such instance is if your parents are divorced. In this instance, the parent who provided more financial support over the past twelve months will be identified as a contributor on your FAFSA®. If both parents provided equal financial support, the parent with the greater income and assets will be identified as a contributor. In some instances, if your divorced parent contributor on your FAFSA® is remarried, their spouse will also be a contributor. It’s important to know that this may not be the only instance where your parent’s spouse or partner will need to be listed as a contributor.
Another instance to be mindful of is if you're married and file taxes jointly with your spouse. In this case, you'll report your spouse's information on the FAFSA®, but they won't be identified as a contributor. If you're married and file taxes separately, your spouse will be considered a contributor on your FAFSA®.
How to add contributors to the FAFSA®
To invite contributors to your FAFSA®, you’ll be asked to provide the following:
- Their first and last name
- Their Social Security number (if they have one)
- Their date of birth
- Their email address
Once a contributor is added, they’ll be alerted via email and can then complete their FAFSA® portion.
Common FAQs about contributors and the FAFSA®
Do I need to provide information on my contributors to the FAFSA®?
Unless you’re an independent student who isn’t married or a student who’s married and filing taxes jointly with your spouse, you’ll likely need to provide information about additional contributors beyond yourself on your FAFSA®. The questions provided by the FAFSA® can help guide you in determining who your contributors are.
Do contributors need to create a Studentaid.gov account with a separate FAFSA® log-in?
Once invites are sent to your contributors, they’ll need to create a unique Federal Student Aid (FSA) log-in if they don’t already have one. It’s important to note that contributors can’t share log-ins – every FAFSA® contributor needs their own.
Are my parents considered contributors on the FAFSA®?
Biological or adoptive parents, parents who are divorced or remarried, and their spouses, may be considered contributors if you’re a dependent. It’s important to note that grandparents, foster parents, siblings, and other relatives aren’t considered contributors unless they are your legal guardians.
As covered above, figuring out which parent is your contributor may feel confusing. If your parents aren’t married and don’t live together, but you have one parent who provided you with more financial support in the past year, then the parent who provided you with more financial support in the past year will be the contributor on your FAFSA®. In some instances, if this parent is remarried, their spouse will also be a contributor.
If your parents aren’t married and don’t live together, and neither of them provided more financial support to you in the past year, the parent with the greater income and assets will be a contributor. If that parent is remarried, their spouse will also, in some cases, be a contributor.
Is my spouse a contributor on my FAFSA® form?
If you’re an independent student who’s married, and you and your spouse didn’t file taxes together for the tax year you’re supplying to the FAFSA®, then your spouse will be a contributor. If you’re an independent student who’s married and you and your spouse file taxes jointly, then you’ll supply your spouse’s income on the FAFSA® but don’t need to include them as a contributor. If you and your spouse are legally separated, your spouse won’t be a contributor.
Will my FAFSA® contributors handle paying my loans?
Adding contributors to your FAFSA® doesn’t make them responsible for any federal student aid you receive, such as federal student loans.
Final thoughts
While the changes to the 2024-25 FAFSA® form may make completing it feel confusing at first, know that you can contact the Federal Student Aid Information Center with questions about eligibility for federal student aid. You can also contact your school’s financial aid office or other academic advisors for help.