For contributors (i.e., parent) who do not have a Social Security Number (SSN)
This guide was developed to help parent(s) who do not have an SSN create an FSA ID for the 2025-2026 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). An FSA ID will be necessary for all individuals (students and their ) when completing the FAFSA. Parents will be referred to as “Contributors,” and they will be asked to provide information on an applicant’s FAFSA. If a student and their contributor(s) already have an FSA ID, they will not need to create a new FSA ID, however, additional verification steps may need to be completed for the 2025-2026 FAFSA.
Contributors that have previously signed the FAFSA by printing and mailing in the ‘Parent Signature page’ will now need to create an FSA ID to complete the 2025-2026 FAFSA. You can create an FSA ID regardless of if you have an SSN or not. To create the FSA ID, follow the steps below for contributors who do not have an SSN. A separate guide is available for students and/or contributors who have an SSN. Please note that there is an identity verification process when creating an FSA ID. Information gathered from the identity verification process is solely used to confirm your identity and will not be shared with other agencies.
Note: A contributor can be the biological or legally adoptive parent, a parent’s spouse/partner, or student’s spouse/partner. This will be contingent on the student’s and .
Please be aware of the following requirements:
- Contributors will need an active and reliable email address which will need to be verified, so it is important that you use an email account that can be accessed easily.
- It is recommended that the FSA ID be created a few days before you start the 2024-2025 FAFSA, as it takes 1-3 days for the identity verification process.
- Contributors who do not have an SSN will not be able to create an FSA ID until the 2025-2026 FAFSA launches (the 2025-2026 FAFSA is currently open).
- Contributors who do not have an SSN will need to answer a set of verification questions to confirm their identity. This eliminates signature pages for parents. You will only have one opportunity to answer these questions correctly, so please take your time and answer carefully. If you answer any questions incorrectly, you will need to complete additional steps to verify your identity (see Step 9 below). If you answer all questions correctly, you will be able to complete your portion of the FAFSA the same day.
- Once students and contributors successfully create an FSA ID, you can complete and submit the FAFSA the same day, however, a FAFSA Submission Summary will not be provided until the FSA ID is verified. This means that the Student Aid Index (SAI) will not be immediately calculated, and a Pell estimate will not be provided.
- The SAI is what will be used in place of the formerly used Expected Family Contribution (EFC) to determine how much federal aid the student is eligible to receive.
- Parents who are not married but living together or married but file taxes separately, will both need to have an FSA ID. The FAFSA will require both contributors to sign-in separately to submit their information because they filed taxes separately.