My EFC is $12,000 but my parents can only afford about $2000 a year. I’ve read about people negotiating financial aid with colleges, does anyone have experience with this? I would appreciate if anyone could provide any insight into negotiating financial aid packages.
I don’t have experience in negotiating financial aid. I do have experience negotiating a range of other things. A couple of points that are in general important:
Always remain calm and respectful. I understand that depending upon what you are negotiating this is not always easy, but it is always important.
Negotiating is in general easier if you have the ability to walk away. This means that you would be best to have other options. If you would prefer school “A”, then you would be better off to have reasonable choices “B” and “C” also available. Given your financial situation, it would be best not to get too hung up on any one particular school.
Are you able to explain the difference between your EFC and what your parents feel that they can afford?
According to your posting history a month ago you were inquiring about different schools. Are you currently a junior or a senior? At BU and GWU, schools you inquired about last month, many students are expected to pay more than their EFC. They are CSS profile schools and the FAFSA EFC is irrelevant.
@TomSrOfBoston I’m not trying to appeal now, I’m still a junior but I have calculated my EFC
It is what the school determines your parents can pay, not what they feel they can pay.
your time would be better spent finding colleges that you can afford to go to-i.e. colleges where you qualify for merit scholarships.
what are your standardized test scores and GPA? what state are your from?
negotiating for increased FA comes only when you have acceptances from 2 “peer” colleges, and even then, the increases are seldom above 1-2K.
so dont put the cart before the horse- find colleges where you have a good chance of acceptance AND where you can afford to go.
we can help, but we need lots of info first.
Your EFC is not as important as your net costs to attend a college. So…wait until the late summer when the Net Price Calculators are set for 2019-2020, and then run them for all the schools that you are interested in.
As an FYI, unless you have some extenuating circumstance, your family WILL be expected to pay the family contribution or net cost the college calculates it to be. “We can’t afford that much” is not an extenuating circumstance.
$12,000 is the minimum you will have to pay. It is likely to be more, and could be A LOT more. The EFC does not tell you what you have to pay. It is more like an index than a dollar amount.
@TomSrOfBoston @DadTwoGirls Is it true that the EFC may not be correct because my parents own a business?
I’ve read this but I’m not sure if that explains the difference
@thumper1 My parents own a business, is that something I should explain to colleges?
“My parents own a business,”
This will be reported to the colleges when you apply for need based financial aid. The alleged value of the business will be a factor, in addition to the income / revenue. Also, the NPCs tend to be significantly less accurate for students whose parents own a business (or a farm or rental property).
Sadly nearly all of the people that I have known who own a farm or rental property or a small business in the US have had to send their kids to in-state public schools, or to schools where a LOT of merit aid was possible. I think that it is probably worth applying to other schools, but be aware that affordability will be a significant factor for you.
Profile schools like BU may calculate your family contribution as higher because they may take away some of the deductions your parents are claiming.
Here’s a question for you: How do you know your EFC is $12,000? What are you basing that on? A net price calculator (NPC) for a particular school? Or did you do a Fafsa?
Yes, it is true that if your parents own a business, the NPC might not be accurate for SOME colleges. That’s because some of the tax deductions that your parents take for the business will be un-deducted – added back to their income-- for the purpose of determining the income upon which financial aid is based.
If your parents can only afford to pay $2,000 per year, THAT is the most important figure to keep in mind when searching for colleges, not your EFC. You need to find colleges that you can afford with the $2,000 your parents give you, plus the maximum student loan for freshman year ($5,500), plus whatever money you can earn in part-time jobs and summer jobs. If your EFC truly turns out to be $12k, you will not be eligible for the federal Pell grant.
Bottom line, three scenarios:
- You have about $7,500 to $12,000 (I’m estimating your own earnings) to work with.
- If you have the GPA and test scores to apply to highly competitive schools that meet full financial need, you can apply to a few of those schools and see what you get. But remember, “meets full need” means that they meet the need that THEY determine you have – the the need that you THINK you have.
- If you have the GPA and the test scores, you can apply to school where you can get substantial merit aid.
If you have the GPA and scores to do option #2 or #3, you still need to apply to colleges that fulfill option #1 just in case you don’t get accepted to any of the meets-full-needs schools or if they do not give you enough FA.
Finally, in answer to your question: No, you cannot NEGOTIATE financial aid. You can APPEAL the financial aid award the college has determined, but the appeal has to be based on real information about extenuating circumstances.
Yep…how DO you know an EFC for,the 2019-2020 academic year? And is this a FAFSA EFC because you have worked through the FAFSA formula by hand? Or is it a net price calculator you did for each college recently? The net price calculators are currently set up for the 2018-2019 academic year.
Both BU and GWU use the CSS Profile. This is far more in depth reporting of your financials than the FAFSA.
Regarding the family owned business, there are business deductions allowed by the IRS for tax purposes that are not allowed for financial aid purposes and those can be added back innas income.
If your family business is very small, the value is not noted on the FAFSA at all…BUT it is noted on the Profile.
You do NOT need to explain your family business to BU or GWU. This will be very clear on the Profile your family submits, as well as the tax return information you will be required to provide to them. And anyway…why is there to explain? Owning a business does not entitle you to more need based aid.
Neither BU nor GWU guarantee to meet full need for all accepted students, and their prices hover around $70,000 a year. You can expect your family contribution at both to be higher than your FAFSA EFC.
You need to figure out a budget. Your parents can contribute $2k, if you work summers you can earn $3k, and if you file the FAFSA you can take the ~$5500/year federal student loan. That gives you ~$10,500/year. If you work a little more or your parents contribute a little more, you may be able to cover room and board. That means you need a tuition grant to afford residential college. Are your stats high enough to qualify for one?
@thumper1 I used the FAFSA calculator, would it be much different for the next school year?
The FAFSA calculator will give you your FAFSA EFC, but as others and I have noted…that has little to do with your actual need based aid at most colleges…because the vast vast majority of colleges do not meet full need. That FAFSA EFC you got should be viewed as a MINIMUM you will be paying.
My son is a BU grad. When his sister was in college at the same time as him, his FAFSA EFC was about $20,000. That year, the cost of attendance was about $48,000 (2006-2007). He had a $10,000 merit award…and that was it…beside the Direct Loans. So…while his EFC was $20,000, we actually funded more than $30,000 that year. BU doesn’t guarantee to meet full need…and they don’t.
The EFC you get from the Fafsa calculator is not what you will pay for college. Not at any college. “Expected Family Contribution” is a very, very bad name for that number precisely because many people – you included – believe that EFC is your cost to go to college. It is not.
What EFC IS:
–It tells you if you are eligible for federal aid. Federal aid includes the Pell grant and federal loans. With a $12k EFC you are not eligible for a Pell grant. You are probably eligible for a subsidized student loan. The total amount of loans you can take freshman year is $5,500.
–In some states, EFC can determine aid you get from your state.
–For colleges that base FA ONLY on your submission of Fafsa, your EFC might get you a little more. Depends on the college. However, these colleges will not fund your entire need.
–For colleges that base FA on your submission of Fafsa AND CSS, your Fafsa EFC is a starting point for determining how much aid you’ll get. Much of the FA determination will be based on your CSS submission. You could possibly get most of your need funded at these schools. Your need is determined by the college, not by you.
What EFC is NOT:
–It is not what you will pay for college.
–It is not your college bill.
–It is not a binding contract.
–It is not a reason for demanding more aid.
–It likely is not the same every year.
Most families cannot afford to send their children to expensive colleges, so they either pick an instate option that is affordable, or, their children attend a CC for two years and then transfer, all while working and saving money and taking out student loans.