<p>I can't use an EFC calculator because I am looking on down the road a few years and I have no idea what to put for AGI and the worksheets.</p>
<p>I am in school full-time now while my hubby works, but I will have graduated and be in the workplace my oldest son's senior year. this will have the effect of doubling our income, so my guess is that out EFC will drastically change (it is $0 right now).</p>
<p>I am trying to get a general idea of how much our EFC might be when my son goes to school -- we will just plan to use that amount of our income for his schooling expenses and most likely continue to live at the same level as we are now.</p>
<p>Here are the stats:</p>
<p>4 in family -- parents, student and younger brother
Income from 2 parents -- $33,000 from one and $37,000 from the other
savings, investments, etc under $5000
we might possibly have bought a house at that time -- but equity would be minimal
no savings in student's name
student income under $2000</p>
<p>Any idea what we might be expected to pay for EFC?</p>
<p>thanks for the link -- I printed it off for future reference.</p>
<p>We will have minimal savings -- at least we hope we have some savings at that point, but we will put some in IRAs and the rest toward home equity (if we end up buying a house).</p>
<p>I will be reading up on more ways to maximize the EFC, but I am not too concerned about shifting savings or capital gains -- that is not going to come into play for us. </p>
<p>I am wondering more about what our out-of-pocket EFC will most likely look like.</p>
<p>We are thinking we will plan to spend ~$10,000 -- $13,000/year for my oldest when he goes to school and we will just make adjustments to our spending habits accordingly. As soon as my oldest is out of school, my youngest goes -- so we can just count on that amount each year, and adjust if income increases. I am going to be a teacher, so my income will increase very gradually.</p>
<p>hsmomstef, your stats on income and assets are almost exactly like mine (I had $67,000 Adj. gross. inc., $1,800 student income, $4000 parent assets) and my EFC was $8,901, so yours will most likely be around $8,990 with $3000 extra dollars per year.</p>
<p>thanks so much for the info -- it really helps to have a general idea!</p>
<p>I think alot of people are completely surprised by the amount of the EFC -- whether they make $70,000 or $170,000. By already having a general idea of what we will need to pay, we can make sure that it is already allocated (especially when it comes time to purchasing a house and calculating what we can afford as a house payment!)</p>
<p>Hsmomstef....just keep in mind that at most colleges, your EFC will not translate into financial aid that is the difference between your EFC and the Cost of Attendance. In other words...unless your child is lucky enough to get accepted into one of the schools that meets full need, you will likely be paying more than your EFC for college each year. Also, many schools include loans as part of the finaid package...not all finaid is free money (the kind that does not have to be paid back). You are wise to be a bit "forward thinking" about this money issue, but please be sure you have all the information re: costs and how your family will be able to manage them BEFORE your child sends applications. Each year on this forum, there are many kiddos posting who receive finaid packages that were less than they anticipated based on their EFC. It is very important that financial considerations be discussed with your student so that the student will know just what your family is able to contribute from YOUR point of view...and keeping your family finances in mind.</p>
<p>hsmomstef, I give you a lot of credit. You really know the value of education and are working hard to make sure your family can get a good one. I wish that Michigan had more people like you.</p>
<p>dsmo -- thanks for the kind thoughts -- my feelings on the subject have changed much over the past year on CC. I would previously been appalled by such a high EFC. Now I realize that it is our families responsibility to pay for college and we can make the choice to send him to an expensive college or the local community college.</p>
<p>thumper1 -- I do realize all of the other quirks to the financial aid situation. We would rather our son not have any loans, as he is planning on going on to graduate school and getting a doctorate. He may need to take out some loans then and we do not want him saddles with debt. I also know that even if 100% need is met and we pay the EFC, there are other expenses that will need to be made. </p>
<p>we are hoping that the schools he picks are either 100% need met or he receives merit aid. and he will have at least 1 financial safety he is happy with.</p>
<p>right now, I think my plans are to allocate ~$15,000 a year for his school expenses and make sure that the schools he applies to will work with that plan financially. We will not have any opportunity to have any savings since we are hoping to purchase a house and we have some older student loans from when my husband attended school that we will need to be paying on.</p>
<p>We have equity so perhaps that is why our EFC is double that while our income is about the same or a little lower.
Or it could just be that the PROFILE made us seem wealthier than we are?
Our income is about $65,000 two children- $14,500 EFC</p>
<p>thats a good idea- I don't know why it is so high- although if you go by 1/3 to 1/4 income, it seems about right.
Oh, another thing which probably drives it up is that D earns about $3,000 to $4,000 summers- which is used for school, and since it is summers, and not her school year work study money, then it goes right into available income.</p>