<p>I was just wondering, because I know many people might live in some of the most expensive cities in the US like NYC, LA, San Francisco, and trying to survive in one of those with less than 50K is hard, I imagine, do they give you credit for living in an expensive city or would they not care, and still give you the same EFC, even if you lived in Kansas City, MO where things aren't as expensive</p>
<p>I believe either the FAFSA or the PROFILE does take location into account. Not sure which though.</p>
<p>they don't take into account the expense of living in cities, as far as I can tell, each state has an averaged cost of living</p>
<p>The FAFSA does not take the cost of living where you live into consideration.</p>
<p>So it is probably to everyones advantage to move to one of those squarish flattish states in the middle of the country cause not only is the cost of living cheaper but the colleges aren't bombarded with applicants from those states and will court you to add to their diversity!</p>
<p>The only way that the cost of living is taken into consideration is if the state taxes have any relationship with that. So, yes, Emeraldkity4, there is an advantage to live in an inexpensive area for a number of area. If you can find a job that pays a living wage. My H and I seriously considered moving to the shore where life is simpler, costs are less, and he could sail to his heart's content. The problem was accessability to good medical facilities and to high paying clients. He needs to be within an hour of a major city in order to make the type of money that supports our life plans, and it is just not doable in such an are for us.</p>
<p>That sucks.</p>
<p>The above poster who mentioned moving summed up what we did a year ago. With 5 kiddos, (2 now in college and 3 in high school) this made a whole lot of sense to us as a family. As a single parent family our resources were limited. We moved from Northern CA 2.5 years ago to Vegas, saved up more money staying with family and then moved to the south. Picked the state I did for cost-of-living, growth potential, close proximity to several tops universities, in-state status, variety and number of graduate schools and programs.</p>
<p>My oldest is a junior at a state uni, in-state (pre-vet at the school that has the vet school), and my oldest DS (freshman) has a scholarship to a nice LAC in the northern midwest. So far so good.</p>
<p>So we did make the "Grapes of Wrath" move and have enjoyed our new home and new opportunities. Even if someone had to pay full fare as an in-state student here, Carolina (UNC-CH) and NCU are $4228 for the year!! Incredible. Same price for both. Some of the other state schools are much, much less. And the room and board isn't bad either. But we live close enough to both and to Duke that they can live at home if the want and commute. This is what my oldest does. </p>
<p>Today was her first day back for the new semester and as a science major she has 19 units. But, and this is a big but, she needed to buy only ONE book and 2 lab manuals. All her other science classes, she has five with four labs, the instructors provided the manuals in class or books online as a pdf file. And two of the classes are O Chem and Micro. Never when we were living in CA were the opportunities so generous, never.</p>
<p>Not to mention before we left my PG&E bill was astronomical well past $400 plus in a small house with little heat. Here, our electric (no gas) was $78. I just can't get over it. And yes our EFC is the same whether we lived in the Bay area or here in our small rural sleepy town.</p>
<p>Most people would not do what we have, nor would I encourage it, but with 5 kiddos heading to college (2 there, and a 1 hs senior, 1 hs junior and 1 hs freshman) I just didn't want them to be in debt forever. I did however have each one take a student loan for $1000 to build credit. They have saved this or used it in case of emergencies, and have replaced it. Same with their checking accounts and visas. They carefully monitor them and pay them off every month. It has helped them with budgets and building their credit.</p>
<p>Just wanted to share.</p>
<p>Kat</p>