<p>EFC
Profile:
fm 1975
im 475</p>
<p>4caster
28,425
3,495</p>
<p>4 caster is based on 52K private tuition and 17K state tuition</p>
<p>I have double checked everything that I entered. Am I misreading this?</p>
<p>I am a bit confused. Do you mean FAFSA4Caster? That is just for the FAFSA EFC and would not produce an institutional EFC. Plus I am not sure where the private tuition and state tuition come into play. The FAFSA EFC takes into account your income and assets. The EFC will be the same whether your school’s tuition is $52k or $17K.</p>
<p>Thanks for the response. I am really confused too. D and I are trying to get things together for an ED.</p>
<p>Yes the FSFSA4caster. Looks like the site is down right now. I will look again and repost. </p>
<p>What I wondered is if that would be the amount of aid we would receive?</p>
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</p>
<p>These online financial aid calculators give you an ESTIMATED family contribution. ONLY the colleges determine your exact family contribution. And only a completed FAFSA will give you an exact EFC.</p>
<p>The EFC computed by the FAFSA should be viewed as the MINIMUM you will be paying for college. THE MINIMUM. Most schools do NOT meet full financial need. In other words, most schools do not award you the full Cost of attendance MINUS your EFC. They leave a gap. In addition, your financial aid can include loans.</p>
<p>Does the ED school have its own financial aid calculator online? This will give you a BETTER estimate than using one of the generic online finaid calculators. OR will the school give you an early read of your estimated financial aid? </p>
<p>It sounds like financial aid is a significant consideration. If the school meets full need, and you can PAY your EFC, then applying ED might be possible.</p>
<p>BUT the thing is…you will have only that ED financial aid offer to consider. You won’t know whether other schools might end up being more affordable to you. And you won’t be able to compare financial aid offers when considering whether to accept the ED offer (and aid). </p>
<p>Perhaps if you are willing to share the ED school, others here will be able to tell you about the financial aid possibilities at that particular school. </p>
<p>I will say…if the school does NOT meet full need, I would not suggest applying ED.</p>
<p>All I would expect the FAFSA4caster to do (I have never used it as it was not around when we were first in this process) is calculate an estimated FAFSA EFC for you. The FAFSA EFC is your Expected Family Contribution based on your income and asset information. However as far as federal aid is concerned it is really only used to determine your eligibility for federal aid. For federal grant aid your FAFSA EFC would have to be below around 5200 to be eligible for the main federal grant, the Pell grant. An EFC below 5200 requires pretty low income and assets. </p>
<p>Even though the term EFC stands for Expected Family Contribution it is really a complete misnomer as federal aid nowhere near covers the cost of even a 4 year State U. </p>
<p>If your FAFSA EFC is 28,000 then you will probably not be eligible for any federal aid other than loans. But I don’t really understand where the different FAFSA numbers you posted are coming from. FAFSA would only produce one EFC, not two.</p>
<p>*
What I wondered is if that would be the amount of aid we would receive? *</p>
<p>What school is this? Some don’t meet need.</p>
<p>EFC
Profile:
fm 1975
im 475</p>
<p>4caster
28,425
3,495</p>
<p>4 caster is based on 52K private tuition and 17K state tuition</p>
<p>Something seems very wrong with your numbers.</p>
<p>Your FAFSA EFC would be the same no matter how expensive or cheap the school is.</p>
<p>The same with institution aid. The estimate doesn’t change based on school price.</p>
<p>Try using this to get a quick FAFSA EFC …
Quick EFC
<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid;
<p>Does your child have a non-custodial parent?</p>
<p>I think Mom2 means “institutional methodology” not “aid”. The online calculators do not compute aid at all…ever. They give an ESTIMATE of what your family contribution will be. The federal methodology is a FAFSA ESTIMATE. The institutional methodology is for schools that disburse instiitutional funds. BUT keep in mind that schools disbursing their OWN money have wildly varying formulas to do so.</p>
<p>It is VERY possible that the IM (institutional methodology) could yield a higher family contribution than the FM (federal). Many schools using IM consider things like income and assets of non-custodial parent and spouse if there is one (if the parents are divorced), home equity of primary residence (%age of home equity varies from school to school), and even things like business income if the family owns their own business (e.g. FAFSA does not consider business assets of companies that have less than 100 employees…but IM schools just might).</p>
<p>BUT in no way do these online calculators factor in the cost of the SCHOOLS…there are 3000 colleges…it would be impossible to do so.</p>
<p>AND remember, financial aid is awarded by each COLLEGE, not by the FAFSA or Profile folks. FAFSA and Profile are financial aid application forms that provide the schools with information when determining eligibility for need based aid. The FAFSA is primarily used to award federally funded aid. The Profile is used for institutional aid.</p>
<p>With a FAFSA EFC in the $20K range, your student would be eligible for Stafford loans, but not any federally funded grant money. The student MIGHT be eligible for work study depending on the cost of the school and the awarding policies of the school (WS money is given to the schools and they determine how it is awarded).</p>
<p>Yes…oops…meant “institutional methodology.” Thanks for catching that, Thumper!</p>
<p>Just a thought: I wonder if woodblocks is using the real FAFSA 4Caster site and College Board for Profile, or if he/she has stumbled on one of those for-profit sites?</p>
<p>Just in case, here is the FAFSA.ed.gov 4Caster site: [FAFSA4caster</a> - Federal Student Aid](<a href=“http://www.fafsa4caster.ed.gov/F4CApp/index/index.jsf]FAFSA4caster”>http://www.fafsa4caster.ed.gov/F4CApp/index/index.jsf) Be sure you only use the FAFSA .** ed **. gov site!</p>
<p>and the College Board CSS/Profile IM calculator: [Financial</a> Aid EasyPlanner - Step 3: EFC Calculator Student Status](<a href=“http://apps.collegeboard.com/fincalc/ep/step3-2.jsp]Financial”>http://apps.collegeboard.com/fincalc/ep/step3-2.jsp) Remember to choose** IM **as your formula and that each school will calculate it their own way - so it is just an estimate. (For FM, use the FAFSA.ed.gov site, not College Board.</p>
<p>the finaid.org is outdated and unreliable since the data hasn’t been updated for at least 2 years. I would use 4Caster instead</p>
<p>OK at the Fafsa site it gave me the EFC of 2536. </p>
<p>I don’t know if I did not see that before or not. I am pretty stressed at this point so I was probably jumping around. I guess that second number or 2800 is an out of pocket of what I can expect to pay?</p>
<p>The link that Collegemom gave was 1800 for EFC. </p>
<p>D is looking at ed at wellesley. But will is also looking at backups. Emerson is one. Any insight on these is good.</p>
<p>I will look back over all the feedback given sofar. Thanks.</p>
<p>woodblock, you aren’t being particularly clear.</p>
<p>Wellesley meets full need. BUT they don’t use the FAFSA EFC to determine your family contribution or your need. They use their OWN formula. Wellesley is a Profile school. You will have to complete the Profile as well as the FAFSA to get aid at Wellesley. Wellesley will take the info from the FAFSA and that will determine federally funded aid. If your EFC is $2800 or so (not clear what you are talking about in the above posts)…your daughter would receive a PORTION of the Pell grant, a Stafford loan (probably subsidized), possibly a Perkins Loan, possibly Work Study.Wellesley would take the info from the Profile and use THAT info to determine your family contribution as it pertains to awarding Wellesley’s institutional money. If Wellesley has a financial aid calculator on their website, use that. It will give you an estimate of what you MIGHT be expected to contribute annually.</p>
<p>But the bigger question…do you have an amount that you CAN contribute to your child’s college education? If so, keep that number in mind. If your family contribution is that amount or less, fine. If not, how will you make up the amount of the family contribution?</p>
<p>Wellesley is a generous school but I think they still package loans in their financial aid awards. And they award no merit aid, only need based aid.</p>
<p>Is there some reason why she is applying ED rather than regular decision? With that ED acceptance (if she gets it), there won’t be any other financial aid offers to compare with…no way to see if this cost is really going to be the one that will work best for your family. Even with schools that meet full need, financial aid awards can vary by THOUSANDS of dollars.</p>
<p>
Not necessarily. It depends on the school and their FA policies. </p>
<p>If a school only offers federal aid (many State Us only offer federal aid or have very limited institutional aid) then as far as federal aid is concerned a 2800 EFC would get you about $2750 in Pell grant. Other than that the only federal money would probably be loans and possibly work study. The maximum Stafford loan for a freshman is $5500. The rest would be parent loans. If stats are good then hopefully merit based scholarships would be a possibility.</p>
<p>If it is a school that offers generous institutional aid then you may get more in the way of grants.</p>
<p>Woodblocks, in my experience the aid at Wellesley is fantastic, but my Wellesley EFC (via CSS profile) is higher than my FAFSA EFC. My family feels that the EFC is very reasonable. The students who aren’t happy with Wellesley financial aid in my experience are the ones who make just over the limit for Wellesley’s financial aid to kick in, but paying over $50k per year is still a lot of money. Do the numbers align with this chart: [Project</a> on Student Debt: What’s the Bottom Line?](<a href=“http://www.projectonstudentdebt.org/ncoa_chart.php?]Project”>http://www.projectonstudentdebt.org/ncoa_chart.php?) Your actual Wellesley EFC will be different because it’s based on other things besides income, but it’s a good start.</p>
<p>Wellesley has no student loans if parents income is under $60k. OP you might find this link useful too: [Wellesley</a> College - Admission & Financial Aid - FAQ: Enhanced Loan Policy](<a href=“http://web.wellesley.edu/web/Dept/SFS/FAQs/newloan.psml#eligible]Wellesley”>http://web.wellesley.edu/web/Dept/SFS/FAQs/newloan.psml#eligible)</p>
<p>Wellesley notes that the FAFSA EFC may not be identical to wellesley EFC here: [Wellesley</a> College - Admission & Financial Aid - Calculators](<a href=“http://web.wellesley.edu:80/web/Dept/SFS/calculators.psml]Wellesley”>http://web.wellesley.edu:80/web/Dept/SFS/calculators.psml)</p>
<p>All students have a student contribution. </p>
<p>The total cost of attendance is an estimate. Costs can be reduced by buying used textbooks, keeping your D on your health insurance plan (instead of enrolling on Wellesley’s), traveling home only for the major vacations, etc.)</p>
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<p>Woodblocks – do NOT apply ED if financial aid is an important consideration. You should be using those calculators as an element of your own financial planning, not to assume that ANY college is going to meet the need reflected in those calculators. </p>
<p>Wellesley has a program that allows RD applicants to get an early indication as to whether they are in the running for admission – it is called “early evaluation” and is a promise that if your d. submits her application by the deadline (Jan 1), then in early February she will get a report back as to whether admission is likely. This isn’t the same as being told for sure – but it should help with the stress of the admissions process.</p>
<p>If you think you are confused now, you will be even more confused if your daughter gets into Wellesley ED and you are confronted with a financial aid award and trying to make sense of it. What if Wellesley offers your daughter a large grant, but it still leaves you on the hook for thousands of dollars more than you thought you would have to pay? You’ve already seen EFC figures all over the map – how would you know in December whether the award you get from Wellesley is fair, or whether you are likely to get better elsewhere?</p>
<p>Have your d. opt for the early evaluation plan, and apply to other colleges as well, including some that offer merit as well as need-based aid.</p>
<p>Let me back up and be a little more specific. 4caster EFC is 2536</p>
<p>At the bottom it says:
Remaining Need (out-of pocket or other resources are needed to pay this amount) $28,540</p>
<p>We don’t have much at all to contribute to her education. So we figure the difference will need to be made up with loans. We are in New England and looked at all the need-blind schools around thinking this would be a great way to go. </p>
<p>Thanks for all this info on Wellesley. She really seemed to fall in love with the school so she decided ED. People we have talked to have said they had no regrets going there.</p>
<p>Any more input on this would be helpful. I feel really stupid. I do my own taxes every year so I thought how bad could financial aid be but this is like rocket science.</p>
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</p>
<p>I think you may be confusing two different things.</p>
<p>NEED BLIND- This means the school does NOT consider your financial need when they are considering your admissions application. </p>
<p>MEETS FULL NEED- This means that a school guarantees to meet the full need beyond what THEY compute to be the family contribution.</p>
<p>Wellesley meets full need. I don’t know if they are need blind or not.</p>
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<p>I honestly have no idea what this number means. If your EFC is about $2500…your need would be the Cost of Attendance MINUS that $2500. If the school costs $52000 (about what Wellesley costs per year these days), your need would be $49,500. Your child would qualify for a portion of the Pell grant (about $2700), and the Stafford loan of $5500, leaving 41300 as the remaining need. If Wellesley meets your full need, they would give you aid that would cover the $41300 (minus perhaps a student contribution).</p>
<p>I have no idea what that $28540 number means.</p>
<p>It is very possible that Wellesley could be affordable to you as a low income family.</p>
<p>However, you do need to remember…Wellesley uses the PROFILE, not just the FAFSA. The Profile looks at more assets than the FAFSA does (as mentioned before, if you are divorced, your former spouse’s information is asked for, home equity if you happen to own a home, etc). </p>
<p>As noted above, if your total family income is below $60,000 a year, you would have no loans in your package from Wellesley. Is your income that low (you don’t have to tell us, but you need to consider this)?</p>
<p>Wellesley is not bound by that 4caster number. That is NOT what Wellesley will use when determining “need”. </p>
<p>Wellesley will come to its own, independent, determination of need. </p>
<p>If your daughter applies to Wellesley ED and gets in, then you will have to accept whatever Wellesley offers, or else your daughter will have to turn Wellesley down. There is no going back and you will have no information whatsoever to determine whether or not you can manage whatever Wellesley has offered.</p>
<p>If your daughter has any chance whatsoever of getting into Wellesley, then she also has excellent chances of getting into dozens of other colleges, including many that will offer her merit aid. </p>
<p>If she applies to Wellesley in the regular admission cycle, she is free to apply to as many other colleges as she wants. In the spring she will be able to choose from a set of colleges that admitted her, with full information as to financial aid. </p>
<p>“Early Decision” means your daughter gives up her right to wait until May 1 to make a decision as to her school. “Early Decision” means that your d. has to make a final decision, yes or no, in December – months before she would otherwise have to decide. </p>
<p>Forget about what the calculators show for a minute – what are YOU willing to pay for your daughter’s college? Do you have any idea of what YOUR bottom line is – the point that you will say to your daughter “sorry” and tell her that she has to turn down Wellesley? You need to tell your daughter that number – NOW – BEFORE she applies. </p>
<p>You are talking about a college that admits 35% of its applicants. If your daughter is well-qualified, then there’s a pretty good chance that she is going to get in – and again, Wellesley will be happy to tell her exactly what her chances are in February. The part I don’t understand is why anyone in their right mind would apply ED to Wellesley if they need financial aid, especially if they are new to the process and don’t have a sophisticated understanding of how the financial aid system works. What do you think you get from that? Wellesley tells you on their web site that there is NO admission advantage to doing that. See [Wellesley</a> College - Admission & Financial Aid - Decision Plans](<a href=“http://web.wellesley.edu/web/Admission/Apply/decisionplans.psml]Wellesley”>http://web.wellesley.edu/web/Admission/Apply/decisionplans.psml)</p>
<p>*We are in New England and looked at all the need-blind schools around thinking this would be a great way to go. *</p>
<p>Uh oh…“need blind” doesn’t mean ANYTHING in regards to AID.</p>
<p>Nearly ALL schools are “need blind”. that just means that they will admit a student w/o considering whether the student can afford it or not. It does NOT mean that they will help you pay for the school.</p>
<p>What you need are schools that “meet 100% of need with little or small loans”.</p>
<p>We don’t have much at all to contribute to her education. So we figure the difference will need to be made up with loans.</p>
<p>Who will take out those loans? You? Your child? At many schools, your child’s FA package will ALREADY have loans in it. </p>
<p>If your EFC is that low, then that means that your income/assets are lowish. If so, how would you qualify for 4 years worth of loans if you are gapped??? How could you afford to pay them back?</p>
<p>BTW…if your FAFSA EFC is that low and you only will have one in college, would you say that your income is about $42,000 per year?</p>
<p>Do NOT let your D fall in love with ANY school. Encourage her to keep an open mind.</p>