<p>How does college tuition math change once a family has two kids in college?</p>
<p>For instance, assume a family has EFC of $45,000 and Child 1 is attending a university with a cost of attendance of $50,000. Family is paying the university $45,000 per year and taking a $5,000 loan.</p>
<p>Now Child 2 enrolls at a different $50,000 per year college while Child 1 is still in school.</p>
<p>Family EFC is still $45,000 but now total cost is $100,000. How is it determined what the family pays to each school?</p>
<p>Each school only looks at the EFC of the student that is attending their institution. However remember that the expensive school generally require much more financial information in addition to FAFSA so their expectation from the family may be completely different from the FAFSA EFC. Such schools only use the FAFSA EFC for federal aid eligibility and use their own ‘EFC’ (they do not actually produce an EFC) for institutional aid. The FAFSA EFC does not ever mean that that is necessarily all you will pay - it is merely a number used to calculate eligibility for federal aid, which is very limited, and sometimes State aid. FAFSA only schools may also use it to calculate their own institutional aid but most FAFSA only schools do not promise to meet full need.</p>
<p>For the FAFSA EFC the parent part of the EFC is divided equally between the ‘number in college’ by the EFC formula. If the 2 students have no income and assets then the EFC would be all based on parent income and assets so the 45,000 would be divided by 2 giving each student a FAFSA EFC of 22,500. The schools will then use that students EFC of 22,500 for calculating federal aid eligibility (which would be minimal - loans and maybe WS with a 22,500 EFC). If the students have any assets or income that impact the EFC then the part of the EFC generated by each students assets/income would stay with that student - only the parent part is divided between them. </p>
<p>But that is for the FAFSA EFC. Most (all?) schools that cost in the $50k range are going to also require CSS or their own financial aid forms. Every school uses the information provided on CSS differently and how they use it is not transparent to the student/parent so may come up with completely different institutional 'EFC’s for each student . Often (though not always) they are higher than the FAFSA EFC as they may take into account things that FAFSA does not, such a the value of the primary home. According to many posts on CC an institution may not halve it’s institutional ‘EFC’ when there is more than one in school but may reduce it by some other figure such as a third or something completely different. </p>
<p>Unless the schools promise to meet full need without loans and come up with the same institutional EFC as the FAFSA EFC, the 22,500 + 22,500 FAFSA EFCs does not necessarily mean you will only be paying $45,000. Expected Family Contribution is really a misnomer.</p>
<p>Your goal in this situation is to have both kids at schools that meet 100% of need for all students. When this is the case, you only have to pay the $45K or maybe just a small amount more.</p>
<p>If both children are attending the same school, does that have any bearing on the school’s financial packages for both children? The EFC confuses the crap out of me sometimes.</p>