<p>How is it possible to have an EFC of 17000$ when my dad made 62000$ last year before taxes he has no assets no bank account nothing. Can someone explain that please</p>
<p>That sounds about right. At that income level…an estimate of your EFC would be 1/4 to 1/3 of your gross income (before taxes). A $62K income would yield an EFC of approximately $15,500 to $20,460.</p>
<p>Many people with assets have a low enough assets that they are protected from being counted by the FAFSA formula (there is an asset protection).</p>
<p>People are typically shocked when they first see their EFC, I know I was. The formula really expects a family to stretch themselves to pay for college and many families feel they can’t afford their EFC. How does your mother factor into this?</p>
<p>Is that from an EFC calculator or an actual FAFSA EFC? It does seem quite high, so if it’s from a calculator you may want to estimate on your own using worksheets. The EFC formula is clearly demonstrated, with worksheets and tables (use the ones marked A if you’re a dependent student) here:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/062810EFCFormulaGuideUpdate1011.pdf[/url]”>http://www.ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/062810EFCFormulaGuideUpdate1011.pdf</a></p>
<p>The EFC is an expected level of family responsibility - it doesn’t mean that the family should necessarily be able to spend that much from its annual income. In many (most?) cases, meeting the EFC will mean taking on some debt.</p>
<p>Thumper, I think it’s high because parents have an income protection allowance (which starts at $16k+ for a family of 2), allowances for federal and state taxes paid, social security (7.65%), and an employment expense allowance of $3500…all deducted from the AGI to arrive at the Adjusted Available Income, which is the number that the EFC is calculated from. The EFC calculation looks like this:</p>
<p>If parents’ AAI is— The parents’ contribution from AAI is—
Less than -$3,409 $750
-$3,409 to $14,500 22% of AAI
$14,501 to $18,200 $3,190 + 25% of AAI over $14,500
$18,201 to $21,900 $4,115 + 29% of AAI over $18,200
$21,901 to $25,600 $5,188 + 34% of AAI over $21,900
$25,601 to $29,300 $6,446 + 40% of AAI over $25,600
$29,301 or more $7,926 + 47% of AAI over $29,300</p>
<p>So, assuming an AGI of $62K and subtracting $16230 for income protection, $8K for fed/state taxes, $4743 for social security, and $3500 for employment expense allowances would produce an AAI of $32,473. That, in turn, should result in an EFC of around $9417.</p>
<p>There may be student contributions to the EFC as well as students have only a $4500 income protection allowance and no allowance for employment expense. The AAI for students gets assessed at 50%, so it can bump up the EFC fairly quickly.</p>
<p>I think it’s pretty high myself when after taxes my dad made 49777 and he still has to pay alimony to my mother which is 1000$ a month for the next 2 years. That takes his money down to 37777 That plus house payment seriously FAFSA expects my dad to give me 17000 out of 37777 That would put him down to 20777 that wouldn’t be enough to pay his house payment plus utilizes for a year</p>
<p>She doesn’t</p>
<p>So is this the EFC from your SAR? How many are in your father’s household and how many are college students? I would print out your data and double check every line of your FAFSA, with the instructions at hand, to make sure you entered it correctly…it’s easy to make a mistake and enter a parent number on a student line, enter gross instead of AGI, etc. Here’s a link to the FAFSA instructions, the line by line instructions start on page 30:</p>
<p><a href=“http://studentaid.ed.gov/students/attachments/siteresources/CompletingtheFAFSA10-11.pdf[/url]”>http://studentaid.ed.gov/students/attachments/siteresources/CompletingtheFAFSA10-11.pdf</a></p>
<p>Btw, alimony is normally deducted on the 1040 form, line 31, before AGI…did your dad take this deduction on his taxes?</p>
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<p>House payments for your primary residence do not factor into the FAFSA formula. Everyone has housing expenses whether rent or a mortgage.</p>
<p>After reading the above posts, make sure the figures you put into the EFC calculator are correct. </p>
<p>On other thought…is yours a family of two (you and your dad) or are there other family members as well? If just the two of you, this EFC might not be such a high estimate. Also, did you (the student) have income last year…and how much? Do you (the student) have any money in the bank?</p>
<p>Keep in mind the formula assumes college savings and that you will take out loans. If there is no college savings your aid does not go up at all because of that.</p>
<p>The EFC formula does not make any savings assumptions, it only calculates a percentage of actual savings reported (parents have an asset protection allowance, though students do not)…but the colleges will make that assumption! They assume that your EFC will be paid from past, present, and (in most cases) future income.</p>
<p>Take a breath.</p>
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<p>That’s not really what the EFC is. They don’t expect you to be able to pay your EFC necessarily, many families can’t. Remember, some colleges don’t even meet full need anyway, so you won’t necessarily be given the difference between your EFC and the cost of attendance.</p>
<p>Obviously, given the breakdown that you have provided us with, you can’t expect your dad to pay $17,000 per year. So the next step is to figure out what he can pay, what kind of loans he might be willing to take on, and what kind of loans you could take out yourself. That will help you figure out what kind of tuition you can pay, then find some schools where that might work.</p>
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<p>It sounds like your EFC may be wrong if Alimony was not deducted. Will your dad have to pay alimony for long? If not, then the EFC will rise in future years.</p>
<p>How much CAN your dad contribute each year towards college. If it’s less than whatever you EFC is, then you need to have a strategy when picking schools to apply to.</p>
<p>Find out how much your dad can contribute.</p>
<p>Can your mom contribute anything?</p>
<p>What schools are you interested in?</p>
<p>What is your home state?</p>
<p>What are your stats?</p>
<p>If your stats are good enough, then you should consider applying to some schools that will give you big merit scholarships.</p>
<p>It does seem high to me. I remember one of the CC members with a similar income having an EFC of about $12K. This is something you need to closely review to make sure no errors were made.</p>
<p>Still, it is pretty clear that you are not eligible for PELL grant money with that EFC or even one of $12K. The cost of your college and how it determines financial aid and how much it will give you is something that is up to your school. If you are looking at a local state school that uses FAFSA only to determine need, and if the Cost of Attendance (COA) as calculated by the school, not by you, is less than your EFC, all you can get are non subsidized Stafford loans, and your parents may apply for PLUS money, also loans. If you are considered a highly qualified, desirable student, you may get some scholarship money from the school.</p>
<p>If you are looking at a school that costs more than your EFC, you can borrow Stafford money on a subsidized basis–interest paid while in college. Once you get to your EFC level or to the subidy limit, you would have to go unsubsidized. Again, your parents may be eligible for loans through PLUS. If the school has work study money, you may apply for some of those funds as long as your EFC is below the COA. Again, the school might give you some of their own funds through their financial aid program. If the school uses FAFSA only, then their definition of need is your EFC. Some schools require additional information such as that in a PROFILE form and that need number might differ from your FAFSA EFC. </p>
<p>As others have said, the EFC is really irrelevant in terms of defining what your true need is, since that is determined by you and your parents’ finances. What can they afford to pay for your college? What resources do you have available? You need to get a good sense of what your family can reasonably afford in terms of college. If the answer is little or nothing, then you need to either look for schools where you might get a good merit package or apply to local state schools where the cost is low and you can commute from one of your parents’ homes.</p>