<p>volcom90. I am guessing 90 is your birth year (and you might even be a skater). Anyway, that makes you a dependent student for financial aid. Your income, your mom's income, and both of your assets will be taken into consideration for financial aid ... checking, savings, CDs, money markets, anything but actual retirement accounts. Is there a large sum in an account that you use for living expenses? That could be keeping you from being eligible for a Pell grant. But you do say that your mom received "the full $4400." Do you mean Pell? If so, you certainly should also be eligible. It is independent of the cost of the school. You may have made a mistake filling out your FAFSA, because the EFC is high for the income (unless the assets are high, as I mentioned) ... and because your mom got a Pell (I am assuming). Compare your FAFSA numbers line by line with your mom's, if possible.</p>
<p>Do you have a college savings account in your name? That could also be the difference.</p>
<p>^ Also at some schools merit aid can be more generous than need-based aid. Many schools offering merit aid do not commit to meeting 100% of demonstrated financial need.</p>
<p>^^^^^ The list in post #11 is a good start but it is two years out-of-date and not necessarily comprehensive. For example, Bryn Mawr is not on the list, even though they explicitly commit to meeting 100% of demonstrated need (and in fact 75% of their students receive some form of financial aid, including 58% who receive grant aid from the college). Also, some state schools commit to meeting 100% of demonstrated need for state residents, but not for OOS students; these schools do not appear on the US News list.</p>
<p>Your mom earned $11K and you earned $7 k and your EFC is $19K? That does not make sense unless you have HUGE assets AND you needed to file a long form 1040. I hope Swimcats responds...because with your mom's income being THAT low...if you filed a 1040 A or 1040 EZ (both you and your mom)...wouldn't that qualify for simplified needs whereby assets would not be reported?</p>
<p>Do you have some huge asset someplace...very large savings, second real estate you own, a family business or something? This does not add up right.</p>
<p>In most cases, the EFC is NOT more than the combined incomes from the previous year!!</p>
<p>volcom - are you an independent student (over 24?, have a child, married etc) or a dependent student.</p>
<p>If you are an independent student you would not have to report your Mom's income. Your EFC would be based just on your income and assets. Your income is low enough that I would expect your EFC to be close to 0 unless you have some assets. For a student there is no asset protection but your assets would have to be close to $100,000 to generate an EFC of close to 20k.</p>
<p>If you are a dependent student you would have to report your Mom's income and assets and your income and assets. But if your Mom's income is $11k and she filed a 1040a or 1040ez (or anyone in the family qualified for certain means tested benefits) you should qualify for the automatic 0 EFC.</p>
<p>Go through your entries to FAFSA line by line and make sure you have not made any mistakes. A $19k EFC sounds wrong for your income unless there is something else playing a part. Post back if you have any questions.</p>
<p>Volcom - Your Mom's income protection would over $12K with 2 students in the household and if she received full pell herself, her situation is not the contributing factor. It sounds like an error was made in your FAFSA filing or you have alot of assets in your own name. Even so, double check the qualifications for simplified needs or automatic zero as it sounds like you may qualify. I suggest printing this document and putting actual number on paper, then compare them to what you entered previously: </p>
<p><a href="http://ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/attachments/0809EFCFormulaGuide.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/attachments/0809EFCFormulaGuide.pdf</a></p>