<p>FAFSA is not required for UCs. My family has several kids in the UC system and none has ever done a FAFSA. However, if you want Regents consideration, you might need to do one.</p>
<p>'rentof2–sorry didn’t mean to make it sound like I was that critical…which is why I used my own family to illustrate that the fafsa can be manipulated. my ex is a doctor and has tried to get child support reduced twice by showing the courts he made no money to speak of (easy enough to do when your own business) so I know the process can be manipulated. </p>
<p>And of course, any school is entitled to give whatever they want to whoever they want. I was just pointing out that the process seems to favor those with more debt and less savings. and given the title of this thread, all I was doing was venting my frustration a bit. I feel the same way about people who don’t save anything all their lives and then complain about having to live only on their social security. </p>
<p>and I didn’t mean to sound like college would be a hardship. My son will be getting a state scholarship for merit and because I planned ahead, I can send him to the state school without incurring any debt.</p>
<p>Venting is good. But I don’t see how debt is favored in FA calculations. (I mean, maybe you mean business liabilities or something in the case of your ex – that may well be true.) Consumer debt is not part of the FAFSA formula. FAFSA is based most heavily on income, and then to a lesser extent on assets.</p>
<p>There may well be latitude in framing their finances for people with their own business, but even still, it’s not like FAFSA makes all that much money available even to the most needy. It’s pretty much structured to help the lowest income kids though community college or a state school to which they can commute.</p>
<p>wtztu, brava to you for planning for your son’s education. Many students from families which frittered their money away living the high life will end up with debt coming out of college. Your son will be in a much better position.</p>
<p>no debt isn’t, but if you didn’t have debt then maybe you’d have savings. I realize the amount calculated out of savings isn’t that high. And again, the private schools can give their money to whoever they want–but the amount they decide to give can be based on the financials. </p>
<p>I’m not complaining about the cost of college. Before I had a child I thought long and hard about my ability to provide for him on all levels, including financially. I started saving for college before he was born.</p>
<p>as mom2collegekids pointed out it can be frustrating at times to see others who were irresponsible get aid. That’s all I’m saying–it’s frustrating sometimes!</p>
<p>thanks Erin’s Dad…you are right–my son will be better off.
and I hasten to add that I am not suggesting a good student be denied aid because of irresponsible parents. It’s just that when people choose to spend their money on expensive toys and vacations when they know college is coming, it’s frustrating.</p>
<p>well, time to do something else—Olympic curling is on–it’s strangely addicting!</p>
<p>“Depending on # of dependents, FAFSA EFC seems to be around 1/4 or so of current income. With income of say $200,000, that could mean an EFC of $50,000, but if your income was $50,000 then EFC would be closer to $12,500 ( & at some schools, no loans at all).”</p>
<p>(someone’s post a few pages back ^)</p>
<p>I just looked at my EFC for this year, and it says $84624… my dad only makes about $120,000 a year, and I have two other siblings, so I really don’t understand how this can be. I just looked at last year’s, and it was $73131, which isn’t a whole lot better. But it really struck me enough this year to think about it… how can FAFSA expect anyone to actually pay that much for college in one year, especially when it’s well over half the parent’s income?</p>
<p>EFC isn’t only based on income. If your dad/parents have substantial assets (savings/investments) then that will also increase EFC. Does your dad own any property other than your home?</p>
<p>Also, what about you? do you have an income? Do you have any assets?</p>
<p>Complaining about my Too High EFC:</p>
<p>H part owner of a small business that made $ last year–good news, I know. However he & other 2 partners take a straight salary out of the business and any additional profits are reinvested in the business (for example, recently they purchased new equipment costing $500,000!). His income according to taxes (hence FASFA) is about double what he actually brings home. Our EFC, consequently, is quite high this year.</p>
<p>My EFC is 3800ish. </p>
<p>I co-own a house with my mother, who makes about 30000 a year, and contributes not at all to my schooling. I am 25. </p>
<p>I am told by Brown and Cornell that I must fill out the CSS non-custodial parent profile and that I will not be treated as an independant. My father and his wife (who also contribute zero cents to my funds) cleared about 110K last year. So my family income (adding 16k of my own) to their eyes is about 156K, giving me, I assume, zero financial aid and zero hope of attending. Hurray for the league diversity and financial aid!</p>
<p>^^^^</p>
<p>Wait…are you saying that your EFC is only $3800. That is low for what you are saying. It doesn’t sound like they are really considering your parents’ incomes. You earn $16k of your own. It doesn’t sound unreasonable for FAFSA to expect you to contribute about 25% to your own education. </p>
<p>If schools were really considering your family’s income to be $156k, you would have a much larger amount that your family would be expected to contribute using institutional methods.</p>
<p>BTW…since you’re 25, what age does Cornell and Brown consider a student to be independent? Are you an undergrad or grad student?</p>
<p>^^^
What does league diversity have to do with anything?</p>
<p>katr15ina – you certainly won’t have to pay $84624 per year for college. Most private school tuitions are under $50,000 per year.</p>
<p>Beren – you’re 25 and you won’t be considered as an independent?</p>
<p>I meant Ivy League. They put out the message that no matter your means, if you can get in, they will meet your need. And by the way, my FAFSA EFC is fair, it’s the CSS profile that’s outrageous. </p>
<p>I don’t know their exact numbers, but both schools told me they did not consider me an independant yet. (I am for FAFSA).</p>
<p>Haven’t lived with my dad for 7 years, and he doesn’t think he should contribute to school. He also has some home equity I forgot about, so his contribution would be even higher. Shall I just ring him up, Hey dad, I know we don’t talk much but how about selling your house and giving me sixty thousand bucks?</p>
<p>Ultimately though, I will probably go to UW Seattle and have few complaints.</p>
<p>“EFC isn’t only based on income. If your dad/parents have substantial assets (savings/investments) then that will also increase EFC. Does your dad own any property other than your home?” – My parents have owned this tiny house in Lousiana for years that they rent out, and yes they have some savings. But I just don’t understand why FAFSA does it that way. How do they expect a family to actually have $84624 available a year? Sell the house and use up all the savings? A number that high just doesn’t make any sense to me, especially when there’s no college that actually costs that much.</p>
<p>“Also, what about you? do you have an income? Do you have any assets?” – Ha, hardly. I made less than $4000 last year, and most of that was from the summer. I don’t manage to get many hours of work in around all my classes. </p>
<p>“katr15ina – you certainly won’t have to pay $84624 per year for college. Most private school tuitions are under $50,000 per year.” – Yes, of course. While I still bemoan the fact that my out-of-state public school tuition is many times more expensive than what the in-state kids pay, of course the tuition is way less than that. And it seems kind of weird to me that FAFSA has EFC’s more than $50,000, since there’s not going to be any school that costs more than that. It kind of reminds me of giving someone 250 years in prison… somewhat unnecessary, but emphasizes the fact that you are so far from getting out of jail / getting need-based financial aid that it’s not even funny.</p>
<p>Actually, there are colleges that cost more than $50,000 a year.</p>
<p>And it seems kind of weird to me that FAFSA has EFC’s more than $50,000, since there’s not going to be any school that costs more than that</p>
<p>Having an EFC that is higher than one child’s tuition tells a parents that when they have 2 in college at the same time, they won’t get much/if any aid. </p>
<p>That was our case. When I did an EFC calculator, I saw that our EFC would be too high even with 2 kids in college, I knew we’d never get any aid. See, when you have 2 in school at the same time, your EFC is split, so if your EFC for one child is - say - 99,999, then you know that when you have 2 kids in college, it will be at least $50k each.</p>
<p>Beren: *I meant Ivy League. They put out the message that no matter your means, if you can get in, they will meet your need. And by the way, my FAFSA EFC is fair, it’s the CSS profile that’s outrageous.</p>
<p>I don’t know their exact numbers, but both schools told me they did not consider me an independant yet. (I am for FAFSA).*</p>
<p>Since you are 25 years old, AND have an NCP that you have no contact with, you really need to appeal to those ivies for an NCP waiver. There seems to be some mistake, unless you’re applying for med school or law school.</p>
<p>EFC is only one number that the colleges consider. If you apply for financial aid at a school, they will request your signed tax return plus your year end W2. That way, they can see if you put the correct numbers into the EFC and can see exactly how much income you really have. Of course, that only works for people who work for someone and get paid “above board”. This doesn’t account for those “ethically challenged” people who don’t declare all their income. And, as I tell my D, there are lots of schools that don’t cost $50,000. Learn to love them. She will hopefully thank me when she graduates without loans and can pursue her career goal of being an underpaid special ed teacher. Then I can retire without loans. Maybe not the American way of managing money, but it is our family’s “pay go” way.</p>
<p>I have limited contact with my dad, but he still won’t pay anything. Ivies said that the NCP waiver is only for “extraordinary circumstances.”</p>