Child support you receive for your children shows up on the FAFSA, and the current form counts it in a different place than many parents expect. This piece explains where it goes, who reports it, and what to do when payments are late, irregular or paid by you.
Where it goes on the form
On the current FAFSA, child support you receive is reported as an asset, alongside savings and investments, and not as income. The form's instructions say which period to count, so read them on the screen rather than guessing. Report the support you receive for all the children in your household.
Because it sits with assets, child support feeds into the Student Aid Index in a different way than wages do. Each school can explain how it affects your own offer, so ask the aid office once your FAFSA Submission Summary arrives.
Who reports it
A student parent who files as independent reports the support they receive for their own children. If you are married, your spouse's information goes on the form too.
Some student parents are still dependent, for example a younger student whose child lives mostly on the student's own parents' income. In that case the form asks about the parent who must report, and support that parent receives is reported in their section. Read the dependency questions first, since they decide whose answers count.
Read the dependency questions first, since they decide whose answers count.
Late, irregular or stopped payments
Court orders and real payments often differ. Report what the instructions ask for, and keep records of what actually arrived, such as bank statements or a payment history from your state child support agency. Schools that select you for verification may ask for those papers.
If support has stopped since the period the form looks at, write to the aid office and ask about professional judgment. The office decides whether to adjust anything, and it will want proof of the change. Your state child support agency can also help set up or enforce an order.
When you are the one paying
A student who pays child support for a child living elsewhere has less money for school than the form may show. The FAFSA itself does not give much room for that, but the aid office can review it as a special circumstance. Bring the court order and proof of the payments you have made.
Steps to take
- Read the FAFSA instructions on child support received
- Gather a payment history from your state agency
- Check the assets section on your Submission Summary
- Write to the aid office if payments have stopped
Who decides
Your school's financial aid office and your state child support agency
Child support you receive goes on the current FAFSA as an asset, and the aid office can review support that stopped or support you pay.