Understand and Prepare FAFSA® Form Contributors

Описание: This video reflects updates to the 2026–27 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) process, including how to invite contributors to the FAFSA form.

If you plan to submit a FAFSA form, you should know that some of your family members may be identified as a contributor.

A contributor is anyone (you, your spouse, your biological or adoptive parent, or your parent’s spouse) who is required to provide information, provide consent and approval to have federal tax information transferred directly from the IRS into the FAFSA form, and sign the form. You can get prepared now by understanding how to invite your contributor to complete their sections of your FAFSA form.

Make sure your contributor(s) understand that they will need their own StudentAid.gov account and that providing their information on your FAFSA form doesn’t make them responsible for paying your education costs.

Pro tip: We strongly recommend that students start and complete their sections of the FAFSA form first to save time and prevent errors.

If you’re a dependent student, use the Who’s My FAFSA Parent? wizard to see which parent will be identified as a contributor: https://StudentAid.gov/fafsaparent

Learn more about the FAFSA process: https://StudentAid.gov/fillingout

Start your FAFSA form: https://fafsa.gov

Watch the entire playlist:    • Preparing for the FAFSA® Form  

0:23 FAFSA Contributors
1:06 Inviting Contributors
2:01 Contributor Tips