Want to make sure I understand some of the numbers. My son got into a school that meets 100% need. Here are some numbers from the award letter:
COA = $60,252
Loan package = $30,295 (consists of Need based aid, Perkins loan, Subsidized and Unsubsidized direct loan, work study).
Given these two numbers and the fact that they meet 100% of need, can I conclude that EFC = $60,252 - $30,295 (which equals $29,957)?
I understand the SAR from the FAFSA is not necessarily used by a school the uses the Profile, but the SAR indicates a EFC of $24,259. Is the $5,700 difference between the SAR EFC and the one I computed above due to the school computing it’s own EFC using the FAFSA and Profile?
Congrats to your son for his acceptance. While you don’t identify the school, the list of meets full needs schools is limited, and there are many many more kids who wish to attend them than can be accepted.
This is a common question with a lot of “meet full needs” schools - they are the ones that determine what your needs are, on their formula.
First, have you compared the aid package with the NPC estimates? How does it compare? Is your family situation one where the NPC estimates generally aren’t very good?
To me, a $5700 difference is much more significant than I would expect, and certainly one that I would call the schools’ FA office for an explanation. Around now, several of these schools are getting the “no-thanks” letters from kids who decide to go elsewhere, so some of them are in a position to negotiate, or at least review/reconsider your package.
For a college that costs north of $60,000 a year…$5700 difference in aid is not huge. This could be almost anything…primary home equity, student contribution, some deductions that were added back in if self employed.
The $5,700 difference is due to the school computing its own EFC using Profile.
thumper1 is absolutely correct… a jump of $5,700 from a FAFSA EFC of $24,259 to an institutional EFC of $29,957 at a meets-full-need school is not at all unusual, given all the factors Profile considers that FAFSA does not, most critically primary home equity (assuming this Profile school uses primary home equity in its FA calculations; not all do).
Thank you. I guess it wouldn’t hurt to call them next week and ask about the difference. I doubt they will give us any more money, but it’s worth a shot.
No…it’s cost of attendance minus grants minus student loans and work study. Student loans and work study are need based aid financial aid awards…even for FAFSA only schools!
But you could have an EFC of $0, even at a profile school, and the school expects some family and student contribution. It gets a little more blurred when the EFC is not $0 and the school expects the family to pay the EFC plus some other amount.
I’d ask, just so you know where their numbers are coming from. You might be able to change things around for next year.
That would not be a 100% meet needs school (which is what the OP asked about).
OP, your understanding is correct. However, I think you meant to say “FA package” not “Loan package” since there are more than loans listed and that by “need based aid” you meant school grant aid (since everything in FA is need based aid).
The differenceof 5K between the SAR and the school’s EFC is reasonable. I’ve found it to be more like 10k.
You can certainly ask for an explanation of the school’s calculation of your student’s aid package, just so you know how they arrived at that figure.
But your own conclusion is correct - institutional EFC is rarely the same as FAFSA EFC, except in the case of the family with (1) no ability to pay or (2) unlimited ability to pay. A family falling anywhere between those two extremes is likely to see a difference.
^i was referring to OP’s post. I assumed since no merit was mentioned that all of it was need based. Besides, the point was that the grant was part of need based aid (the other items listed being part of it too).
Financial aid is classified into two varieties, based on the criteria through which the financial aid is awarded: merit-based or Need-based. Aid consists of grants and scholarships, low-interest government-subsidized loans, work-study, and education tax benefits.
Grants and scholarships are often called “gift aid” because they are free money—financial aid that doesn’t have to be repaid. Grants are often need-based, while scholarships are usually merit-based.
There are four main types of financial aid for college students including grants, scholarships, loans, and work-study funds.
Scholarships
Like grants, scholarships do not require repayment. They are typically offered by individual institutions and private organizations and can be awarded based on a number of factors, such as academic performance, athletic ability, religious affiliation, and race, among others. In order to apply for a scholarship, you will often be asked to write an essay.*
Both my daughters got letters from the admissions office for merit aid, and then a second letter from the FA office for other aid (and one a third letter from athletics). It the end it all gets combined on the billing statement, but at least initially it was separate and each office didn’t know what the other was awarding. The FA office sort of takes charge of coordinating all aid, but it really only can change a need based award. If there is a problem with a merit aid award, the question has to go back to the source of the award and FA can’t do anything about it. If there is a question about her athletic award, that has to go back to the athletic department.
When we talk FA, yes merit is financial, it’s money. But in context, we can separate funds given based on need versus based on meeting some merit standard.
Loans may depend on a need assessment, they may lower the present invoice, but they aren’t free money. The piper will need to be paid.
I think OP confused things by speaking of Fafsa SAR and “EFC,” and a loan package. There’s no mention he ran the NPC.