<p>Okay so, according to the financial aid policies of many of the colleges to which I'm applying, I have an EFC of 0. My parents' income is <60k. </p>
<p>In the case of....say, Dartmouth, where I've gotten a likely letter, what does this exactly mean? I know they have a no loan policy, but I cannot imagine getting a free ride just because I have a relatively low income in regards to the average Dartmouth student. How/What would I have to pay?</p>
<p>[Ivy</a> League Financial Aid Policies](<a href=“http://www.admissionsconsultants.com/college/ivy_league_financial_aid.asp]Ivy”>http://www.admissionsconsultants.com/college/ivy_league_financial_aid.asp)</p>
<p>This was really good info. It seems not all Ivy Leagues give that… Also, how is your EFC 0? EFC is calculated by the FAFSA and the FAFSA alone.</p>
<p>Not clear about how you calculated EFC. </p>
<p>This number should be coming to you via email after you file Fafsa, or after you estimate it using their calculator. </p>
<p>I have not seen many EFC’s=0, and believe me, an AGI of <60,000 doesn’t mean a lot of help will come your way.
EFC for your income (and this is a loose ballpark, as it depends on a lot of additional things including how many kids are in college, property, etc.) may be around 20% of AGI, so around $12,000.
Your school financial offer, on the other hand, doesn’t depend on that, not entirely. For some, not at all. Did you apply to schools -listed on this board- known for giving lots of aid, or meeting 100% of financial need?</p>
<p>Full ride? Why is getting full financial need met a ‘full ride?’ To me, a full ride implies a scholarship or merit based on your credentials relative to others at the same college, regardless of ability to pay. It annoys me when financial aid is mixed in with scholarship … they are different for different reasons. As far as I know, Ivies don’t give scholarships, but good for you if you do get full need met, I can’t argue with that.</p>
<p>Whoah, I thought Dartmouth, Yale, and the like expected no parental contribution for families with incomes less than 60,000? Am I wrong in that assumption? It’s listed on their websites… I was wondering what other sources money would be expected to come from…</p>
<p>Your parents will not likely have a “parent contribution” unless they have lots of assets…do they?</p>
<p>However, ** YOU <a href=“the%20student”>/b</a> will likely have a student contribution…that could be a $2500 contribution from a summer job. </p>
<p>Also, you may have work-study of about $2500.</p>
<p>So, while your parents may not have a contribution, you probably will.</p>
<p>the reason that YOU will likely have a contribution is because there are certain things that schools don’t seem to really want to pay for…like “personal expenses” and “travel” and maybe books. So, they often expect the student to cover a few thousand with summer work income and work-study.</p>
<p>They have little assets, so that shouldn’t be a problem. So, I’ll have a student contribution and a work-study? That shouldn’t be too bad.</p>
<p>You will get <em>no</em> money if you do not file a FAFSA. It’s a prerequisite. When you file, it immediately gives you your EFC. And wouldn’t it be nice if the EFC was all that we parents had to pay :(. After the FAFSA the privates that give a lot of aid will require the CSS profile (don’t forget the IDOC). This is where you have to declare all. Our EFC was $3500 and, at a no loan/full need met top school, the school is giving $45,000 and the family is expected to pay $12,500.</p>
<p>I can speak from experience that if your parents AGI is <$65,000 they will not have a contribution if you get accepted to Yale (that’s the hard part). You, will have a $1500 student contribution and $3000 summer contribution. For sophomore thru senior years assuming your parents AGI doesn’t change, your student contribution will go up to $2750 in addition to the $3000 summer contribution. How you choose to pay that is up to you. Some have the money to pay it but others will either get a campus job or take out a Stafford loan to make up the difference.</p>
<p>Folks…this OP is talking about the financial aid policies of a very generous private university. </p>
<p>Students with incomes such as the one this family have do indeed get very generous financial aid at
Dartmouth. The OP probably should not have referred to the “efc” as that is the FAFSA number. But the fact is he/she will receive very generous financial aid IF all of the forms have been filed including the FAFSA and Profile.</p>
<p>Congrats on your likely letter. For Dartmouth financial aid , you must file both the FAFSA, the CSS profile and submit your information through the IDOC.</p>
<p>The financial aid policy is as follows:</p>
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<p>If your family makes less than 60k, what this means is that you will get a scholarship that will cover your tuition only (currently $43,872). </p>
<p>However, cost of attendance is $61,398 (direct billed expenses over the cost of tuition will be 14,214) Your financial aid documents will be used to determine the parent and student contributions. While Dartmouth will not put any loans in your financial aid package, it does not mean that you will essentially get a “free ride.” </p>
<p>If your parents cannot pay their EFC out of pocket, you and/or they may have to take out loans. If you do not make your student contribution from summer earnings (~$3,000), you may have to take out loans to cover your expenses (books, misc. expenses, travel). If your parents do not have adequate health insurance, you may end up getting a loan to cover half of the cost.</p>
<p>I can tell you from our experience (D is a Dartmouth grad), the policy is now similar to what it was when my D attended. While there were no loans in the financial aid policy, she graduated with a small loan from her study abroad (~3000, which her grandparents paid as a graduation gift, so she ended up being debt free when she applied to grad school). However, I still had to pay my EFC and she still had a student contribution from summer earnings that was her responsibility.</p>
<p>We’ve filled out all of those documents. And, to the above poster, I just checked back on the Dartmouth website and you’re right. About a month ago when I checked, the policy was different. It explicitly stated that there was no family contribution (did not specify tuition), so I hope Dartmouth’s financial aid hasn’t changed for the worse.</p>
<p>But, in reference to Yale, I would be able to pay that $4500 however I choose, correct?</p>
<p>But, in reference to Yale, I would be able to pay that $4500 however I choose, correct?</p>
<p>==========</p>
<p>???</p>
<p>What do you mean? What $4500? Are you talking about the student summer contribution and work study? First of all, I just gave estimates. I don’t know what any school will give you for summer contribution or W-S.</p>
<p>And, what do you mean by saying “pay however you choose”? You’re not “paying” anyone for “personal expenses” or travel costs. You don’t give that money to the school. That is YOUR money to spend as needed.</p>
<p>
Yes, in reference to Yale you can make up the student contribution in any way you choose. The following document is a good resource to read, especially page 8.</p>
<p><a href=“Welcome | Student Financial and Administrative Services”>Welcome | Student Financial and Administrative Services;
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</p>
<p>I think you misread the policy. In the past couple of years, families with income under 75k received free tuition and no loans in their FA packages, there have been no-loan policies but it has been a really long time since they had a policy where there was no family contribution.</p>
<p>Who covers the cost of room and board? The aid from the school is just for tuition, correct? So the student contribution (summer etc) goes toward tuition and in addition the student funds their own room and board? The quote above states that Dartmouth will not require them to borrow money to pay for their education. I’m not clear if the room/board is part of paying for their education. Personally, I could understand room being covered if they live to far to commute, but the meal plan should be the student’s responsibility. Someone in the student’s family wold have to feed him whether he went to college or not…</p>
<p>nj: colleges like Dartmouth include room/board in their “meet need” financial aid packages.</p>
<p>NU: you should be aware that if you do receive a substantial financial aid package, you will have to pay taxes on the portion that covers room/board. Your taxes can be substantial, in the neighborhood of $1,000 per year. I’m telling you this now so you can save it up or have it withheld from your pay.</p>
<p>Good luck - it looks like you are doing very well for a kid coming from parents who are high school dropouts. They did a good job raising you and you should be proud of them and proud of yourself.</p>
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<p>Dartmouth will look at the family’s income and assets from the FAFSA and the Profile. They will come up with an EFC.</p>
<p>They will apply the same methodology ; Cost of attendance (room, board, fees, books, tavel, misc. expenses) - EFC = demonstrated need. </p>
<p>In this means that outside of tuition (which should be covered if OP meets the income threshold) </p>
<p>his COA 17,526 - EFC will = the demonstrated need (which Dartmouth will meet with out loans). </p>
<p>However, as I stated a couple of times, if OP/his family do not have the money for their EFC then OP/his family may have to take out loans.</p>
<p>I’m in a really similar situation. My family’s AGI for 2011 was about 18,800, which gives me an EFC of 0. However, Rensselaer still expects my family to pay around $19,000, when they don’t even make that much…(not including loans). </p>
<p>But I got a likely from Cornell a few days ago. Hopefully their numbers are better…</p>
<p>RPI does not meet need while Cornell does. You should get a better FA offer, however your EFC comes from FAFSA while both schools require the CSS Profile.</p>