<p>EFC is a starting ballpark.</p>
<p>I really think that acronym needs to be changed to: EMFC = Expected MINIMUM Financial Contribution. </p>
<p>Or, at least changed to be less confusing to the parents whose first child is going to college.</p>
<p>OP, I have to say I’m impressed that you have a financial safety. This doesn’t even occur to most kids.</p>
<p>You can back out of your Wake Forest ED <em>IF</em> their aid package is insufficient. It’s not like they can force you to enroll, and then kick you out for not being able to pay. Just don’t sign anything until you see the aid package and then determine, with your parents, if it’s something you can do without incurring a ton of debt.</p>
<p>We just filled out the FAFSA tonight. I was shocked to see an EFC of $28,000. I consider us middle class and could not even come close to that EFC. I’d guess we could come up with maybe $500/month or $6K a year comfortably. We could MAYBE do $10,000/year, but that would be really stretching it. My D has applied to private school cosing $46K-$50K a year. To top it off, we had to reroof our house and put on new siding and windows. That wiped out our savings and home equity. Without the $70K we had to spend on those items, it would have been a different story, but $28K?? We wouldn’t have $2300/month left just after making the house payment, and the necessary bills. This amount seems like a cruel joke. Can we submit a letter stating the house repairs? I guess she’d better get some good scholarships, go to the only public school she has applied to, or take out massive loans.</p>
<p>Ugh Mustang. I’ll never forget the moment that I first laid eyeballs on our EFC. But one year later, my D is attending her expensive private school, so I’ll just toss out a few random thoughts which might help you survive the initial shock.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, it would be a waste of your time to write a letter about the repair costs. On the other hand, if you still had that $70K in the bank, your EFC would have been higher. And oddly, if her school figures home equity into its equation, the fact that yours is wiped out will work in your favor, or more accurately, make the burden less than it might have been. </p>
<p>Not all schools are created equal as far as financial aid. Have your D scour the landscape for schools which are known for being relatively generous with merit aid (there are several threads about that). She should also apply to some schools where her stats would put her well inside the top 25% of applicants.</p>
<p>Each school uses its own method for determining EFC. They begin with the FAFSA EFC, but apply their own formulas as well. In our case, the institutional method actually resulted in a slightly lower EFC than the federal method. Schools differ on this, but be aware that it’s possible.</p>
<p>Encourage her fall in love with a financial safety, or at least learn to like it. Just in case. Attending a public university is nothing to be disdained; they are wonderful things.</p>
<p>Remember that when she’s no longer living under your roof, your expenses will be lower. Make a quick calculation of how much gasoline and hot water she uses, how much you spend feeding her, how much you spend on her various activities and impulse buys, etc. Include any expensive ECs which you will no longer have to pay for.</p>
<p>Begin thinking of ways to streamline your lifestyle once she’s out of the house. Somehow it’s easier to spend less money on ourselves with her living elsewhere, and little economies add up. </p>
<p>Begin reconciling yourself to the idea that if she goes to the private school, even with a good aid package, some borrowing will probably be necessary. Research the options (federal loans, private student loans, parent loans, etc). Talk with her now about how those would be repaid. The way we’re doing it is: D will repay the federal loans that are part of her aid package, around $20K total, and we’ll repay the loans that are necessary to meet the EFC. That way, neither she nor we will be crippled with debt at the end of this. Of course, your family is different, but that’s just one example of how to spread the pain around.</p>
<p>Get yourself a copy of the Princeton Review’s “Paying for College Without Going Broke.”</p>
<p>Mustang2000, is your child a senior? If so, you never ran one of the EFC estimator calcs?</p>
<p>FAFSA assumes that your family has saved $ for 18 years for college. Cost of living and spending (such as home repair) are never taken into account. EFC usually comes in around 1/3 of your income. Again, you are expected to use savings not just current income. </p>
<p>If you do not have the savings you do NOT get a lower EFC to compensate. Your options are large loans (very bad idea), much cheaper school, or scholarships.</p>
<p>Mustang2000, is your child a senior? If so, you never ran one of the EFC estimator calcs?</p>
<p>Good question.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, if your child is a senior, then she doesn’t have much time to quickly apply to some cheaper schools. Did she apply to any financial safety schools?</p>
<p>When families use EFC calculators ahead of time to find out what their EFC is, then students can target their apps towards schools that best fit that EFC. I know others here with unaffordably high EFCs have targeted merit schools who give huge scholarships or have had their kids go to their financial safety schools.</p>
<hr>
<p>On the other hand, if you still had that $70K in the bank, your EFC would have been higher.</p>
<h2>Very true!</h2>
<p>Have your D scour the landscape for schools which are known for being relatively generous with merit aid (there are several threads about that). She should also apply to some schools where her stats would put her well inside the top 25% of applicants.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, if your D is a senior, then it’s too late to apply to most of the schools that give generous merit aid (such as full tuition or half tuition). Many had scholarships app deadlines in 2009. </p>
<p>If anyone knows of schools that give BIG merit that haven’t had their scholarship deadlines past, please post. 
(in this case, big merit has to be like full tuition)</p>
<hr>
<p>*Encourage her fall in love with a financial safety, or at least learn to like it. Just in case. Attending a public university is nothing to be disdained; they are wonderful things.
*</p>
<p>I agree! </p>
<p>If you’re certain that paying the EFC is not do-able (some families can’t/won’t take out big loans to cover an EFC), then you need to immediately talk to your D about “Plan B.”</p>
<p>If your D hasn’t applied to any safety schools, then quickly do so. </p>
<p>What state are you in?</p>
<hr>
<p>* Your options are large loans (very bad idea), much cheaper school, or scholarships. *</p>
<p>I agree. I especially agree with not taking big loans. Big loans on students cripple their adult lives, and big loans on parents can jeopardize their ability to prepare for retirement. Small loans are one thing, big loans are another.</p>
<hr>
<p>I hesitate to add this last part, but I feel that I must. If you think your D is going to get very upset that her schools are not affordable, then you may have to be a bit pro-active. You may have to approach her by taking responsibility for not running an EFC calculator first to find out what your likely EFC is. If you “man up” and sincerely apologize for not doing that, it will likely soften her reaction.</p>
<p>Mustang, so many on cc talk about financial safety schools. For some it might be an instate public school. In our state, with an EFC of 28k, a 4 year public at the instate price still comes close to 24,000, so that is hardly a solution, or a financial safety. If you have a B student or B+ student, it is hard, IMO, to find a “financial safety” school other than the local community college for 2 years. Many private schools may offer enough merit aid (or tuition discounting) to bring the 45-50k pricetag down to 25-35k (this has been our experience). I do not think that you will see anything more than 1,000 in grant money to bring the cost down further. The rest of the FA package will be work study, and loans. That possible 1k in grants is offered by some schools to every student who completes the fafsa.</p>
<p>One more tale of caution: My husband has a friend is very ill and can no longer work full time. He does a few small things from his home to put together a few hundred here and there. He is in his early 60s, put three kids through private colleges and he took out plus loans to make that happen. All 3 children are doing well financially. This father cannot pay his own living expenses and he is saddled with the plus loans. You’d think his kids would take them over, but they do not help with them.</p>
<p>Northeastmom, couldn’t you H’s friend declare a financial hardship or lower his payments with the Plus loans? I thought that was one of the thing that was possible.</p>
<p>milkandsugar, I did not know that one could do that. I will mention this to my husband. His friend does not discuss his illness openly (tries to hide how horrible his situation is). He has mentioned to my husband, the plus loans and how his kids do not help with them. Thank you for posting this. I will see if my DH can suggest this. He may have already lowered payments. I have no idea. Frankly, I don’t know how they are even living in their current home, but I do know that they have serious financial problems.</p>
<p><<have your=“” d=“” scour=“” the=“” landscape=“” for=“” schools=“” which=“” are=“” known=“” being=“” relatively=“” generous=“” with=“” merit=“” aid=“” (there=“” several=“” threads=“” about=“” that).=“” she=“” should=“” also=“” apply=“” to=“” some=“” where=“” her=“” stats=“” would=“” put=“” well=“” inside=“” top=“” 25%=“” of=“” applicants.=“”>.</have></p>
<p>If you have an EFC that is mid-range, such as 28,000-30,000 does getting merit help unless the merit exceeds the EFC? This is my first time going through this process so I am confused about this. It seems several schools will provide merit under $20k. If your EFC is greater than that, does it really matter?</p>
<p>* so many on cc talk about financial safety schools. For some it might be an instate public school. In our state, with an EFC of 28k, a 4 year public at the instate price still comes close to 24,000, so that is hardly a solution, or a financial safety.*</p>
<p>I think what people mean about publics being a financial safety is when the public school is close enough to commute or is a school with a lowish overall COA. </p>
<p>If a student can commute to a public, then usually the cost is about $8k - $16k per year (depending on the state and school).</p>
<p>Obviously, in a case like yours, “going away” to an instate public isn’t much of a financial safety. A public in your state would likely be a safety if it was close enough to commute to.</p>
<p>*He is in his early 60s, put three kids through private colleges and he took out plus loans to make that happen. All 3 children are doing well financially. </p>
<p>This father cannot pay his own living expenses and he is saddled with the plus loans. You’d think his kids would take them over, but they do not help with them. *</p>
<p>Very sad! He probably raised kids to think that it was their father’s duty to put them thru the school of their choice. Sad. </p>
<p>The story is important. Parents need to think about such things when contemplating big Plus loans.</p>
<p>susan, merit aid can help in the sense that it can close what might otherwise be left as unmet need. </p>
<p>Lets say that cost is 50k. Your efc is 30k. Your need is 20k (50-30=20). Your child may be awarded 3500 in a subsidized stafford and 2,000 in work study and 8,000 in grant money. You could still be left with 6500 in unmet need (this is a gap), since in this case the school’s package is offering to meet 13,500 (3500+2000+8000=13500) of your 20k need.</p>
<p>Lets say a school costs 50,000. The school offers your child 15k in merit aid. Now the school will cost 35000 before financial aid. You fill out the fafsa and see that your efc is 30k. Your need is now 5,000 (35000-30000=5000). The school can meet this with a Stafford loan of 3500 and 1500 in work study. You have no gap. You were offered 15,000 in grants (vs. 8000 in the example above). Hopefully your child will meet expectations of gpa to keep the 15k merit award in this scenario.</p>
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<p>Yes, if you live near public transit. If that does not exist, or is highly impractical, you will need to purchase a used car, pay car insurance, pay to fix a used car, and will have gas costs factored in. Those are then the added expenses of commuting. We would have that situation in our area. Oh, not to mention the charges for parking on campus, lol.</p>
<p>I agree that the state school is a financial safety if you live in a state like NC, where instate costs are 12k to LIVE AND STUDY on campus. If you have an efc of 20-30k, this is a safety for you. It is not the same situation in NJ, where COA runs in the low 20s.</p>
<p>*you will need to purchase a used car, pay car insurance, pay to fix a used car, and will have gas costs factored in. Those are then the added expenses of commuting. We would have that situation in our area. Oh, not to mention the charges for parking on campus, lol.
*</p>
<p>I agree that transportation can be an issue. </p>
<p>But for teens that already have cars (and would have them whether or not they go to college), then the cost of the car and the cost of insurance really don’t have much bearing (especially if parents were already providing these things). And, whether a child is in college or not, he’s going to “eat up” gas! LOL The best is if a student can go right from school to a part-time job and then “save” a bit on gas that would have been used anyway (to get to the job). </p>
<p>I know that COAs figure a big amount for transportation, but in reality, if a local public is within 10 miles, the cost is not nearly what is figured. </p>
<p>And, I agree, if you must “live and study” on campus, then some in-states are not financial safeties. To “live and study” at my kids’ public, it costs about $20k. That’s not a financial safety for some/many families. To commute to the local public, cost about $7k total.</p>
<p>Wow! Thanks to everyone for the friendly advice. There are a lot of knowledgable, helpful people on CC. I should add a few comments. I did run an estimator last summer and I believe it came to around $22,000, so it wasn’t a complete shock. Also, D is an excellent student so she will get some merit aid. She did apply to two public schools. One is an out of state school which we will visit next month. She has already received a fiull tuition scholarship there. I just have no idea of if she will like it or not. At an in state private school, she has an interview next month for a full tuition scholarship. The problem is that her favorite in state school is the one which costs $46,000 and their top scholarship is $16,000. We have not heard from that college yet. I don’t mind if she has some loans when she graduates of $20-$30K. Somehow it will all work out as we do have options. We have a college fund as well, it’s just that with the stock market doing so well the last 8 years (tongue firmly in cheek), it’s not as big as I would have liked. I just want her to be at a school she enjoys and not have to go somewhere because it is all we could afford. I’m not complaining as we do have options. Gone are the days where I paid for two years of my college education from money I had saved from a paper route I had for eight years! We just filled out the CSS Profile today and finished it in about two and a half hours!</p>
<p>Mustang, nice one @ PROFILE. It took me a week!</p>
<p>When I was in school at my state flagship, tuition was $188/quarter. <em>sigh</em></p>
<p>I had my info all in place and had already filled in the FAFSA, so that helped. I did find out though, that it may have been wiser to do the Profile first. My daughter did the typing and I gave her the info, so it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be.</p>
<p>PS-my first quarter tuition was $275, and by my fifth year, it was $495.</p>
<p>* I did run an estimator last summer and I believe it came to around $22,000, so it wasn’t a complete shock. </p>
<p>Also, D is an excellent student so she will get some merit aid. She did apply to two public schools. One is an out of state school which we will visit next month. She has already received a full tuition scholarship there. I just have no idea of if she will like it or not. </p>
<p>At an in state private school, she has an interview next month for a full tuition scholarship. </p>
<p>The problem is that her favorite in state school is the one which costs $46,000 and their top scholarship is $16,000. We have not heard from that college yet. </p>
<p>I don’t mind if she has some loans when she graduates of $20-$30K. Somehow it will all work out as we do have options. *</p>
<p>Thank goodness that she has the financial safety (at least) with the full tuition. I know that you don’t yet know if she’ll like it, but at least she’ll have “something”. :)</p>
<p>The problem with the school with the top scholarship of $16k is that it doesn’t do you any good. The school costs $46k and your EFC is $28k. </p>
<p>Therefore, your “need” is $18k. </p>
<p>That $18k “need” will be filled with that $16k scholarship. You will still have your $28k EFC to pay, and your D may have a $2k per year gap to pay.</p>