One school does not offer any federal financial aid and leaves a gap after subtraction Estimated Family Contribution from Cost of Attendance. The student applies for federal financial aid by FAFSA . It is the government who provides grants for students attending college. How can the school not offer federal financial aid if the student’s estimated family contribution cannot cover the Cost of Attendance? Does the payment of the Commitment Deposit affect one’s asking for federal financial aid? Can anyone explain the need-based financial aid process? Thank you for your answer.
Your questions are kind of all over the place. It would be helpful to know what college you’re talking about.
Federal financial aid is provided by the federal government. Your eligibility for it is determined by filling out the FAFSA. Each college administers the aid provided by the federal government. It is the college that will communicate with you about the federal aid you are eligible for (or not).
Paying a deposit would have no effect on federal aid. But why would you deposit if you don’t yet know how much aid you will get?
If the federal financial aid is offered, the gap may be covered.
The payment of commitment deposit may be necessary before the deadline. Asking for the financial aid could continue. Isn’t it correct?
Federal financial aid is for low income families. If your income is below something like $60k/year you might be eligible for a Pell Grant of maybe $2k/year. I think income has to be below $40k to get the whole $6k/year Pell Grant. Students can also take the ~$5500/year federal student loan. But that’s the total amount of federal aid. If you qualify for full Pell the total aid is ~$11,500/year, and almost half of it is loans.
The FAFSA EFC doesn’t have anything to do with how much you’ll have to pay a particular school. If there’s a gap between the cost of attendance and what the school determines your EFC to be, you’re the one responsible for paying for it.
It’s getting super close to decision time and it sounds like you don’t really understand how college financial aid works. If you’re debating borrowing $200k to pay for college it doesn’t sound like you have much money either. If you tell us what your situation is instead of just asking broad questions we can offer better advice.
What are your child’s options and the net costs of each (cost of attendance minus any grants)? How much can you pay per year without borrowing?
It’s April 18. When did your kid complete their financial aid application forms?
You have several threads about this issue. You have been told numerous times that schools are not under any obligation to fully fund the difference between your EFC and their cost of attendance…unless it is their policy to do so for ALL students.
You have mentioned OOS public universities, and the very vast majority of these do NOT guarantee to meet full need for all.
I’m not sure what you want to know. It seems like you don’t have the financial resources to fund the acceptances your student has received. If that is the case, I seriously doubt that NOW in mid-April you will receive any significant new aid.
Your student either needs to pick an affordable college from their list of acceptances, take a gap year, or attend an affordable community college.
You have been given a ton of advice about getting financial aid…but you don’t seem to be hearing any of it. Read the post above. The only guaranteed aid from the federal government is the $5500 federally funded direct loan. If your EFC is $0, your kid would get about $6000 in federally funded Pell Grant money. That’s it. That $11,500 would not fund attendance at an out of state public university, or at a private university. It would also not fund a residential public university in your state.
You would be expected to contribute…as a parent…the balance of the costs not funded by your kid’s financial aid package from the college.
I agree with all of the above.
Adding that there are some schools that don’t participate in federal financial aid programs. Many of these schools are religious four year schools. Some community colleges won’t offer the fed direct student loans. Are you talking about one of these schools?
I echo the above posters who have asked you to provide more details so that we can help you understand your specific situation, time is getting short.
I do not expect a large amount of financial aid but the issue is whether the school can offer nothing on the federal financial aid if there is a gap between the COA and EFC and the FASFA, CSS profile etc was already submitted at the time of submission of the application for admission. The federal financial aid is funded by the government and the Department of Education website states clearly using the formula Need based financial aid = COA - EFC. How can the school not offer the federal financial aid if there is a gap between the COA - EFC?
What federal financial aid do you think you are entitled to? Is your FAFSA EFC less than $6000? If not, the only thing you are entitled to receive from the federal government is a $5500 student loan.
For the umpteenth time to you…the federal government can not and will not tell colleges how to allocate their need based funds. That is not the federal government job. You seem to think that the federal government should be covering the difference between COA and EFC. This would mostly be done with institutional college based funds, not federally funded monies.
The MAX…max you can get from the federal government as a guarantee is what your are entitled to for a Pell Grant (your EFC would need to be $0 to get the full $6000) and a federally funded $5500 student loan for a freshman. That is IT.
Any additional monies would come from the colleges and the vast vast majority do not meet full need and DO leave students with a gap.
Most colleges do NOT pledge to meet the full need of all students. And Profile schools use the info on the Profile to determine your need based award anyway…not the FAFSA data.
What was YOUR FAFSA EFC? And what colleges are we talking about?
Of course there can be a gap.
Say the COA is $30k and the EFC is $20k. How would the school fill that gap with federal funds?
==Pell grant is only available to EFCs of less than $6000 or so, so Pell grant is out.
==SEOG if for the most needy students. EFC of $20k student usually doesn’t get that.
== There is the $5500 loan, and everyone is eligible for that.
==Finally, there is work study and the $20k EFC student might get that, but he has to earn the money.
That’s the federal aid. It doesn’t fill the gap, especially if the gap is even greater than $10k. The only thing you are guaranteed is that $5500 loan.
I think what you are looking for is grant aid from the school, and that’s not guaranteed from the federal government.
Can you lay out the number for us? COA. Less Institutional Grants. Net COA before loans.
Sounds like this school uses CSS Profile, so FAFSA EFC is meaningless when they calculate your need.
FAFSA is only used to gain access to Federal FA programs, as outlined in post #8…Pell grant. Federal Direct Student Loan. SEOG/Work study.
Federal aid “can” fund COA - EFC, but does not “have to” fund it.
There is one federal guaranteed grant that every school participating in federal aid must award … Pell. It is only awarded to those whose EFC qualifies them to receive it.
The other federal grant is SEOG, which is awarded from a pool of money the federal government awards to individual schools. The school must award it to their neediest students. At a large state school, that is often EFC=0, but at other schools it might be divided among all Pell-eligible students. Schools have to make a policy regarding how they award SEOG (and adhere to it), but the federal rule is that it has to go first to Pell-eligible students.
Federal loans are available from schools that offer federal loans. Not all schools that participate in federal aid programs offer federal loans, for various reasons. Some schools do offer federal loans, but they don’t automatically put them in the student’s award package. They are not required to do so. At those schools, students can get a federal loan (up to $5,500 freshman year) if they request it from the school’s financial aid office.
The final piece of the student federal aid puzzle is Federal Work Study. FWS, like SEOG, is given to the school as a pool of money the school spreads among its neediest students to allow them to work & earn money. The school is required to pay 25% vs. the federal 75% share. Depending on the financial needs of the school’s population, some less needy students “may” be awarded FWS.
Parents can borrow Parent PLUS Loans if the school participates in the federal loan program (as previously noted, they don’t have to). The parent has to pass a credit check … if not, a freshman can borrow an additional $2,000 in unsubsidized loans freshman year.
That is the extent of federal aid. If your student doesn’t qualify for Pell, there might not be anything other than loans. If the school doesn’t participate in the federal loan program, then there could be no federal aid.
And finally, there could be something wrong with the student’s financial aid application at the school that is holding up packaging of aid. In that case, a call to the financial aid office would be wise.
This poster is talking about at least some colleges that use the Profile. I can’t think of one school that guarantees to meet the FAFSA EFC which uses financials from the Profile.
I think there are a couple…but I don’t know them.
The point is…the federal government is under no obligation to fully fund COA minus EFC at an expensive Profile school. The vast amount of grant funding for those schools is from the schools…not the federal government.
Even if a student received a full Pell Grant, SEOG and the student Direct Loan, this would not fully fund the cost to attend a Profile school…or probably an OOS public university. Those schools cost way more than Pell plus SEOG plus Direct Loan. And the schools would need to give money. The amount the school gives from school funds is NOT governed by the federal government at all.
You’ve started a lot of threads like this that don’t give any real info. What school are you (or your student) thinking of attending? What is your EFC? If it’s more than 6K you’re not going to get any federal aid besides loans. Our EFC is ZERO and we still will need to come up with 6-25K/year (depending on school) even after getting full federal and state aid. That’s where the savings, working during school and loans come in to play for most people, and sometimes you just have to go with what you can afford. We had to cross several off our list once the financial aid came through. It sucked, but more money = more choices, and I make sure DS knows that when choosing a major as far as job prospects go. We ended up going with a 10K/year option.
Many of us on CC have had to tell our kids no for a school they wanted to attend. And all of them have ended up fine, despite that fact. Figure out what you can afford and leave the rest behind. It’s not the end of the world.
Let’s go with an example.
Instate public university costs $24,000 a year for tuition, fees, room and board (direct billed costs).
COA also includes estimates for personal expenses, books and travel, so it’s several thousand higher ($27,000) but the school will not bill the COA.
Student files FAFSA and has an EFC of $7,000.
That EFC is too high for Pell Grant.
The EFC qualifies the student for a $3,000 state grant.
The student gets a $2,000 scholarship from the school.
COA minus EFC minus any other scholarship or grant equals unmet financial need.
Unmet need is $15,000.
The student might be offered need based financial aid like for example $2,000 federal work study and/or a subsidized loan of up to $3,500.
Student can borrow another $2,000 of unsubsidized loan.
So remaining direct cost for student would be $24,000-$3,000-$2,000-$5,500= $13,500
$2,000 can be earned by the student with the federal work study job but is not available up front.
COA - EFC - aid, which is unmet need is $15,000
EFC is $7,000
Net cost is $13,500
So you don’t pay your EFC, and this school does not meet need.
Your net cost is the direct billed costs (tuition, fees, room, board) of a school minus aid received, such as scholarships and grants, as well as loans.
FASFA EFC comes into play to determine eligibility for Pell Grants, state grants, federal work study and subsidized loans.
Some schools give institutional grants based on FAFSA EFC, but they don’t usually meet need.
By now, your student should have received the financial aid packages from all colleges where they have been accepted (assuming you met the deadlines for applying for aid). So…what’s the problem here?
Is there a college in the acceptances where your out of pocket cost is affordable? If yes, that’s the choice. If NO, then you need to regroup because your kid isn’t going to get substantial more aid anywhere now.
Options.
- Take a gap year and apply next year to affordable colleges or ones where you are guaranteed merit aid that makes the school affordable.
- Your kid goes to a community college for a year...or two and gets all general education requirements completed...and lives at home. This will save you money.
- Go to a public university that is within commuting distance of your home so you don’t have room and board costs. This will be less costly than a residential dorm college.
- Have your kid go to a community college and get a two year degree in a marketable area...then she or he can get a job, work, and complete a bachelors later on.
Following your example but modi, let’s continue to clarify some issues.
Following your example, let’s continue.
Assuming COA: $24,000
Assuming EFC: $7,000
Assuming state and school scholarship: $5,000
Federal Direct Loan: $5,500 ($3,500 + $2,000)
So the remaining direct cost for a freshman will be $6,500 gap or $13,500 (including EFC).
Dot know whether there may have Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) and Federal Work-Study.
When asking for more financial aid, should one use $6,500 or $13,500 number? Please advise.
Hopefully you have an affordable safety.
I don’t think you’re going to get any more money. The $5500 federal student loan is considered self help. Colleges won’t give students a grant so they can graduate debt free. I’d expect to have to take that loan. And if a school calculated your EFC to be $7k, they aren’t going to give you money to reduce that either. If the school calculated your net cost to be $13,500, that’s what I’d expect to pay.
After the federal student loan the balance seems to be ~$7k/year. Can you pay that? If not, and you haven’t had a recent change in financial circumstances, then it sounds like the school isn’t affordable.
What other acceptances do you have? Are any in your budget?