<p>Whoops, sorry kels. I misread the post :o</p>
<p>*that post-er refers to Profile EFC, which is roughly a 60/40 split rather than FAFSA’s 50/50 split. *</p>
<p>I think it’s really a 60/60 split…not a 60/40 for CSS schools that meet need. The total exceeds 100 because there is an expectation that the family should pay more (in total) when two are in school than when they only had one.</p>
<p>So, if a 'meets need" CSS school expects the family to pay $40k per year for one child, then it expects the family to pay 60% of that 40k for each of their kids if two are in college…so, $24k per child…or $48k for two kids per year.</p>
<p>^^That was our experience with two kids in college – EFC was 60-65% times two. The financial aid packages were also different (even though both used PROFILE) in terms of funds awarded and the types of funding.</p>
<p>I was trying to figure out the 60/40 split thing–do we get to pick which kid gets to pay the 40% :D. So, what we can expect is to pay MORE next fall then we did when we just had one in school, so our EFC is really more than what the FAFSA says it will be, correct?</p>
<p>SteveMA, if it’s a FAFSA school, it should be 50% EFC for each kiddo, though it may be a little different if one kid has more assets/income in his/her name. PROFILE schools – I’d budget 60%, though again, a kid’s assets/income will come into play.</p>
<p>This also assumes that your definition of “meets full need” is the same as the school’s. That is not always the case. Also doesn’t include gapping (in which the schools does not meet determined need).</p>
<p>CountingDown-that is where some of the confusion comes in–DS’s favorite is a CSS school, DD’s school is not. So, I’m hoping there is a box somewhere that I can check that says “I want DS to be on the 40% side of the split” :D-his school is a lot more expensive :D. I guess I don’t understand the logic that if you have two in school at a time you have more money lying around :D</p>
<p>The logic is that you have two in school and should have been saving for two. I personally think that is far more fair than the 50/50 split fafsa does. I don’t think you should be getting a huge break just for having kids so close together.</p>
<p>romanigypsyeyes–well, I didn’t have a lot of control over 2 eggs fertilizing at the same time 
Maybe I am reading this wrong but what I am gathering from this conversation is that I will be paying 60% of our EFC for both kids (or could possibly be paying that much), meaning I am paying 120% overall, vs 100% if I just had each child go through during separate years–so I am being PENALIZED for having two in college at the same time. Sure, savings comes into play, but there is still a finite number of dollars there. Even if you have kids going through college at separate times, you still have the savings for the other kids “in the bank” so to speak. Why should it make THAT much difference if the kids go at the same time vs going 4 years apart?</p>
<p>No. Your EFC only splits if you have two at the same time. For example, my sister and I are five years apart so we neither of us had the 50/50 efc split. There is some kind of discount for having extra dependents but not nearly half. My efc was zero so in my case it didn’t matter but otherwise, no breaks. </p>
<p>So no, no penalty. Break if you’re at a full needs school.</p>
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<p>I think you’re misinterpreting what’s being said. Let’s say your EFC for one kid would be $20K. If you have two kids going to college at the same time, you pay 60% of $20K ($12K) for each kid, which adds up to a total of $24K/year (120% of EFC) for 4 years, or a grand total of $96K. If instead you have 2 kids going to college sequentially, you pay 100% of EFC, or $20K per year, for each kid, for a total of $160K over 8 years–or 200% of a single EFC. By having them go simultaneously, you’re receiving a deep discount, 40% off. </p>
<p>You may get some small break in the EFC itself for having a child at home not attending college (i.e., your EFC is calculated on the basis of a family of 4 rather than a family of 3), but that’s a fairly trivial adjustment; they’re certainly not going to give you 40% off for that, even if, for example, you’re paying tuition at a private HS. And you get no break at all for having already sent a kid though college; at that point, the college grad is probably just deemed irrelevant for purposes of calculating the younger sibling’s EFC because it’s presumed they should be on their own (unless possibly they have a disability or medical condition that causes them to remain listed as their parents’ dependent).</p>
<p>So financially speaking, you’re much better off having two kids in college simultaneously, even though it might not feel that way as you struggle to put together two tuition payments. In principle, though, you could borrow against future earnings in the kids’ post-college years, or deplete other parental assets with time to rebuild them after the kids have completed college. But you’re certainly better off sending two kids through colleges for $96K than for $160K, however painful a squeeze it may be for those four years.</p>
<p>bclintonk–that is how I understood it before I read this post but somehow I got off that track. If DS gets into his lottery school, that could help the costs there then. DD’s numbers are way under our EFC because of the scholarships she has been awarded, not sure if that makes a difference or not. We are basically full pay anyway but with 2 at one time, we might see a little bit of a break at the meet’s need school.</p>
<p>Bclintonk, you said it much better than I ever would.</p>
<p>SteveMA, that is one of the great mysteries of a CSS/Profile school. You have to say on the Profile how much you expect to pay for the other child you have in school but what they do with that information you never know. I have to say that I held my breath every year until I received our FA award.</p>