diff --git a/app/Http/Controllers/StudentsController.php b/app/Http/Controllers/StudentsController.php
index cc33bd36..ec11c474 100644
--- a/app/Http/Controllers/StudentsController.php
+++ b/app/Http/Controllers/StudentsController.php
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 namespace App\Http\Controllers;
 
 use App\Events\StudentViewed;
+use App\Http\Requests\StudentUpdateRequest;
 use App\Student;
 use App\StudentData;
 use App\User;
@@ -50,7 +51,7 @@ public function index(): View|ViewContract
     /**
      * Create a new student research application.
      */
-    public function create(Request $request): RedirectResponse
+    public function create(StudentUpdateRequest $request): RedirectResponse
     {
         $student = $request->user()->studentProfiles->first() ?? $this->store($request);
 
@@ -127,7 +128,7 @@ public function edit(Student $student): View|ViewContract
     /**
      * Update the specified student research application in the database.
      */
-    public function update(Request $request, Student $student): RedirectResponse
+    public function update(StudentUpdateRequest $request, Student $student): RedirectResponse
     {
         $updated = $student->update([
             'full_name' => $request->full_name,
diff --git a/app/Http/Requests/StudentUpdateRequest.php b/app/Http/Requests/StudentUpdateRequest.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6e7140f4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/Http/Requests/StudentUpdateRequest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,137 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace App\Http\Requests;
+
+use App\StudentData;
+use Illuminate\Foundation\Http\FormRequest;
+use Illuminate\Validation\Rule;
+use Illuminate\Support\Str;
+
+class StudentUpdateRequest extends FormRequest
+{
+
+    /**
+     * Get the validation rules that apply to the request.
+     *
+     * @return array<string, \Illuminate\Contracts\Validation\Rule|array|string>
+     */
+    public function rules(): array
+    {
+        return [
+            'full_name' => 'required|string',
+            'faculty.*' => [
+                'integer',
+                Rule::exists('profiles', 'id')->where('public', 1),
+            ],
+            'research_profile.major' => 'required',
+            'research_profile.brief_intro' => [
+                'required',
+                'string',
+                'max:280',
+            ],
+            'research_profile.intro' => [
+                'required',
+                'string',
+                'max:250',
+            ],
+            'research_profile.interest' => [
+                'required',
+                'string',
+                'max:200',
+            ],
+            'research_profile.semesters' => 'required|array|min:1',
+            'research_profile.schools' => 'required|array|min:1',
+            'research_profile.graduation_date' => 'required|date|after:today',
+            'research_profile.credit' => 'required|numeric|between:-1,1',
+        ];
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Get the error messages for the defined validation rules.
+     *
+     * @return array
+     */
+    public function messages()
+    {
+        return [
+            'faculty.*.exists' => 'The faculty member(s) selected could not be validated.',
+            'faculty.required' => 'You must selest at least one faculty member that you would like to work with',
+            'research_profile.major' => 'The major field is required',
+            'research_profile.semesters.required' => 'At least one semester is required',
+            'research_profile.schools.required' => 'At least one school is required',
+            'research_profile.graduation_date.after' => 'The graduation date must be in the future',
+            'research_profile.credit.between' => 'The credit value is invalid',
+        ];
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Get custom attributes for validator errors.
+     *
+     * @return array
+     */
+    public function attributes()
+    {
+        return [
+            'full_name' => 'display name',
+            'research_profile.semesters' => 'semesters',
+            'research_profile.schools' => 'school',
+            'research_profile.graduation_date' => 'graduation date',
+            'research_profile.credit' => 'credit',
+            'research_profile.brief_intro' => 'research opportunity reasons',
+            'research_profile.intro' => 'future goals',
+            'research_profile.interest' => 'interest',
+        ];
+    }
+
+    public function withValidator($validator)
+    {
+        $validator->after(function ($validator) {
+            $semesters = $this->input('research_profile.semesters', []);
+            $availability = $this->input('research_profile.availability', []);
+            $schools = $this->input('research_profile.schools', []);
+            $custom_questions = StudentData::customQuestions();
+            $school_custom_questions = $this->input('research_profile.school_custom_questions', []);
+            $languages = $this->input('research_profile.languages', []);
+            $lang_proficiency = $this->input('research_profile.lang_proficiency', []);
+            $languages_attr = StudentData::$languages;
+            $hours_available = [
+                'hours' => 'per week', 
+                'hours_weekdays' => 'per days', 
+                'hours_weekends' => 'for weekends', 
+                'hours_specific' => 'specific'
+            ];
+
+            foreach ($semesters as $semester) { // Validates the presence of the hours availability based on the semesters selection
+                $semester_key = Str::lower(Str::replace(' ', '-', $semester));
+                if (!isset($availability[$semester_key])) {
+                    $validator->errors()->add('availability.' . $semester_key, "The availability for $semester is required.");
+                } 
+                else {
+                    foreach ($hours_available as $hours => $frequency) {
+                        if (is_null($availability[$semester_key][$hours])) {
+                            $validator->errors()->add("availability.{$semester_key}.{$hours}", "The number of hours {$frequency} are required for $semester.");
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+
+            foreach ($languages as $language) { // Validates the presence of the language proficiency based on the language selection
+                if (!array_key_exists($language, $lang_proficiency) || is_null($lang_proficiency[$language])) {
+                    $validator->errors()->add("research_profile.lang_proficiency.{$language}", "The level of proficiency for $languages_attr[$language] is required.");
+                }
+            }
+
+            foreach ($schools as $key => $school) { // Validates the answers to the custom questions based on the school selection
+                if (!isset($school_custom_questions[$school])) {
+                    $validator->errors()->add("research_profile.school_custom_questions.{$school}", "The specific questions for $school are required.");
+                }
+                foreach ($custom_questions[$school] as $question) {
+                    if (!isset($school_custom_questions[$school][$question['name']])) {
+                        $validator->errors()->add("research_profile.school_custom_questions.{$school}", "The specific questions for $school are required.");
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+        });
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/resources/views/students/edit.blade.php b/resources/views/students/edit.blade.php
index 45772032..18794325 100644
--- a/resources/views/students/edit.blade.php
+++ b/resources/views/students/edit.blade.php
@@ -29,6 +29,16 @@
     <h1 class="mb-0">Student Research Application</h1>
     <h2 class="mt-0 text-muted">for {{ $student->full_name }}</h2>
 
+    @if ($errors->any())
+        <div class="alert alert-danger alert-dismissable" role="alert">
+            <button type="button" class="close" data-dismiss="alert" aria-label="Close"><span aria-hidden="true">&times;</span></button>
+            <p><strong>There are some errors. Please correct them and try again.</strong></p>
+            @foreach ($errors->all() as $error)
+                {{ $error }}<br>
+            @endforeach
+        </div>
+    @endif
+
     <div class="alert alert-success" role="alert">
         <p class="mb-0">Complete and submit your student research application below. This application will not be public, but will be made available to faculty researchers who may be looking for students. After submitting, you can always come back later to edit or withdraw your student research application.</p>
     </div>
diff --git a/resources/views/students/form.blade.php b/resources/views/students/form.blade.php
index 36f1a927..29ec852a 100644
--- a/resources/views/students/form.blade.php
+++ b/resources/views/students/form.blade.php
@@ -194,24 +194,24 @@
                     @case('text')              
                         <div class="col">
                             {!! Form::label("research_profile[{$question['name']}]", $question['label'], ['class' => 'form-label']) !!}
-                            {!! Form::text("research_profile[{$question['name']}]", $student->research_profile?->{$question['name']}, ['class' => 'form-control']) !!}
+                            {!! Form::text("research_profile[school_custom_questions][$school_shortname][{$question['name']}]", $student->research_profile?->{$question['name']}, ['class' => 'form-control']) !!}
                         </div>
                         @break
                     @case('textarea')
                         <div class="col">
                             {!! Form::label("research_profile[{$question['name']}]", $question['label'], ['class' => 'form-label']) !!}
-                            {!! Form::textarea("research_profile[{$question['name']}]", $student->research_profile?->{$question['name']}, ['class' => 'form-control']) !!}
+                            {!! Form::textarea("research_profile[school_custom_questions][$school_shortname][{$question['name']}]", $student->research_profile?->{$question['name']}, ['class' => 'form-control']) !!}
                         </div>
                         @break
                     @case('yes_no')
                         <strong class="col-lg-9">{!! $question['label'] !!}</strong>
                         <div class="col-lg-3">
                             <div class="form-check form-check-inline">
-                                {!! Form::radio("research_profile[{$question['name']}]", '1', $student->research_profile->{$question['name']} === '1', ['id' => "{$question['name']}_yes", 'class' => 'form-check-input']) !!}
+                                {!! Form::radio("research_profile[school_custom_questions][$school_shortname][{$question['name']}]", '1', $student->research_profile->{$question['name']} === '1', ['id' => "{$question['name']}_yes", 'class' => 'form-check-input']) !!}
                                 {!! Form::label("{$question['name']}_yes", "Yes", ['class' => 'form-check-label']) !!}
                             </div>
                             <div class="form-check form-check-inline">
-                                {!! Form::radio("research_profile[{$question['name']}]", '0', $student->research_profile->{$question['name']} === '0', ['id' => "{$question['name']}_no", 'class' => 'form-check-input']) !!}
+                                {!! Form::radio("research_profile[school_custom_questions][$school_shortname][{$question['name']}]", '0', $student->research_profile->{$question['name']} === '0', ['id' => "{$question['name']}_no", 'class' => 'form-check-input']) !!}
                                 {!! Form::label("{$question['name']}_no", "No", ['class' => 'form-check-label']) !!}
                             </div>
                         </div>