Financial Aid for Siblings in College

[calmom]

Subsidize loans are subject to FAFSA guidelnes. FAFSA says,

A child who would be considered an independent student may also be counted in household size on a sibling’s FAFSA if he will receive more than half of his support from the parents during the academic year. He does not need to live in the home to be counted in household size. He also does not need to be a student nor to apply for financial aid to be counted in household size on the sibling’s FAFSA. But, if he will be enrolled at least half-time in an eligible college, he can also be counted in the number in college.

https://www.edvisors.com/ask/ask-the-edvisor/fafsa-household-size-indepedent-sibling-03-2015/

So in your case you met that 51% support qualification - that is an added qualifier not specified in the OP.

So the answer to the original question would be: “yes, a grad student may be counted if the parents are providing more than 51% of support for that student.”.

I’d note that the 51% support is not something that that can be assumes, since many grad students are receiving partial funding from fellowships, TA/RA positions, and/or employment.

Also, eligibility for federal aid (loans, work-study, Pell), may be very different from college grant aid. Private colleges may utilize a dual standard for calculating eligibility for federal aid vs. their own grant funding.