<p>Ok, so im a junior, and my sister is gonna graduate from undergrad this year. Then she plans on taking a year off from school, and then continuing again. The schools that i look at will count it as if my family has 2 kids in college as long as my parents contribution will be known for my sisters education, which it will, so that isnt an issue.</p>
<p>Cuz my EFC is prolly around 40k, and so if we have 2 kids in college then itll drop prolly to around 25k to most schools, which would be nice.</p>
<p>But does the fact that my sister wont be in college when i apply mean that id be the only kid in college and therefore would have to pay like 40k for my first year in college?</p>
<p>At many colleges once your sister graduates, she will be considered an independent student for FA purposes and her attending grad school will not be a factor in calculating your EFC once you are the only one attending undergrad. Unless she is attending Med/law school there will most likely not be an EFC from your parents. </p>
<p>If your sister is not in college and your EFC is 40K, then it will be 40K for just you. There are no guarantees that even when your sister decides to return to school as a grad student, that your EFC is going to change.</p>
<p>Your best bet would be to ask your schools how they would handle this situation.</p>
<p>wait, so even if my sister's grad school education is, lets say 30k, and my parents pay for all of it since she has no source of income. would my efc change in that situation, or is the fact that my sister is in grad school and not undergrad just invalidate her for some reason?</p>
<p>cuz from what i read on some websites, you include grad students in the number of children if the parent contribution is known or something like that. but that in itself is kinda vague. can anyone further explain this to me?</p>
<p>I posted this on the other thread...but here goes again.</p>
<p>Whether your grad school sister will "count" as a family member who is also attending college...is up to the individual college. Some schools continue to count siblings when in grad school and others do not.</p>
<p>E.g. DD goes to a school. Her brother has been a grad student for these last two years. HER school does count him as a student when calculating financial aid. Another school to which she applied told her right up front that they would NOT count him once he graduated from undergrad.</p>
<p>Clarification too...DS is a full dependent for the parents even though he is independent for financial aid. We still declare him on our taxes, etc. This is NOT the same criteria as independence for financial aid...but it is one thing our daughter's school considered.</p>
<p>SO...bottom line...call the college(s) and ask. They will tell you themselves...and call each school as the policies vary by school.</p>
<p>Yup, thumper1 is correct. The school I work at will not count the grad sibling as a dependent in the parent's household for an undergrad student's FAFSA (although we "can" consider it if the sibling is in a med or law school that requires the parent info for their financial aid process).</p>