I’m quite confused about how this whole financial aid thing works. So my parents make around $180,000, but they haven’t saved anything for college. And I’m an identical triplet, so there’s 3 in school at the same time. After doing the FAFSA forecaster (I think), my mom said that our EFC was 8,000. So does that mean that my school, if it met full demonstrated aid, would only leave me with 8,000 to take out in loans? However, the Net Price Calculator is around 20,000. So what’s going on here??? I’m looking to apply early decision at Dickinson College, where they claim to meet about 98% of need, plus they have merit scholarships. When we went there, my mom talked to a financial aid guy and he said that you can deny the early decision if your family can’t afford it though, but I’d still be nervous. So, I guess, can someone please explain to me why my EFC is so low but the net price calculator is much more?? Thanks!
The net price calculator on each school website is far more reliable in terms of net price than the fafsa4caster. Remember, the fafsa really only determines eligibility for federally funded aid. Some schools do use that info to award their institutional aid.
BUT schools using the FAFSA as their only financial aid application form do NOT guarantee to meet your full need. (University of Chicago is the closest, but even they school have some additional questions they ask).
So…use the net price calculator. That is a far better predictor of your estimated net cost at a particular college.
The net price calculator looks at all of the information that the specific college uses to,determine need based aid awards. The FAFSA does not do that. So when you use the net price calculator, your financials are used to come up with the estimated net cost of THAT school…using THAT school’s formula.
i believe Dickinson, for example, requires the CSS Profile. This asks for primary home equity. That can count in the equation. If your parents own real estate other than your primary residence, this can affect the net price. If your parents are self employed, this can affect the net price.
You are misreading what Dickinson means. They don’t guarantee to meet 98% of YOUR need. They just don’t.
I understand that they don’t guarantee to meet 98% of MY need 
A family FAFSA EFC of $24k total for the 3 of you with that income is far too low. Should be more like $50-60k or even higher. I think your mom did something wrong.
But as Thumper is saying, schools with the best need based aid, ask for much more detailed financial information via the profile or their own form and determine your need based on that. Your $20k net cost using the NPC x 3 is a more realistic family total at all but the most generous, best endowed, hardest to get into schools.
How many other siblings do you have to be included in your family size?
Also, if your family owns a business or either parent is self-employed or your family has rental properties, the NPCs won’t be as accurate.
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my mom said that our EFC was 8,000. S
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that must be an error. With that income, EFC for one child would be about $60k+, so EFC for 3 in college would be $20k per triplet.
However, most schools do NOT meet need. And most schools ALREADY put in FULL LOANS so you can’t borrow to cover your parents’ EFC.
Ask your parents how much they’ll pay for each triplet, per year.
USE the NPCs…and if your parents take business deductions or own other properties, then the results won’t be accurate.
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So does that mean that my school, if it met full demonstrated aid, would only leave me with 8,000 to take out in loans?
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NO. First of all, your mom made some mistake or that forecaster is very wrong.
Secondly, there will already be full student loans in your FA pkg going towards need, so you can’t borrow to cover your “family contribution.”
Once income is over $100k, then EFC is about 1/3 of income for one child in college. Then divide by 3 for 3 kids. But EFC can be HIGHER if there are other factors.
i think mom may have mistaken the EFC($24k) and divided by 3 to get the 8k instead of realizing that their EFC is most likely 24k per kid, which would be more inline with a 180k income
^^^
sybbie is likely right
To further explain for the OP, an EFC from FAFSA is for an individual student. The EFC has two parts, the parent portion and the student portion. The forecaster asks for number in college and will divide the parent portion of that student’s EFC by 3. But the resulting EFC from fafsa and the forecaster is only for the one student. Assuming similar income and assets for the 3 triplets, the “family EFC” would be about 3 times the individual EFCs.