<p>Sybbie: Your 35% rule is incorrect, according to my EFC. I have around $30,000 in the bank, and my EFC is $25,000.</p>
<p>llf:</p>
<p>Student assets are only one of four things that contribute to the EFC. The others are Student income, Parental assets, and Parental income.</p>
<p>If you're the student and you have 30K in the bank in your name, your 30K is contributing $10,500 to your EFC (30K X 35%). The other $14,500 comes from Parental income, Parental assets, or perhaps (but unlikely) your income.</p>
<p>See some of the other threads that discuss how the FAFSA formula works, it's to your advantage to understand so you can try to structure your finances in the best possible light to increase your aid.</p>
<p>Since college is for 4 years (minimum) I think that it's a bit wierd that FAFSA expects 1/3 of a college fund to be spent each year.<br>
Granted each year it's 1/3 of a declining balance, but it seems wierd.</p>
<p>If a person has $40K in a college fund and spends 1/3 the first year ($13,600), then only $26,400 is left. </p>
<p>Then the second year, 1/3 of the balance is to be used ($8,976), which leaves $17,424. </p>
<p>The third year, 1/3 of the balance is to be used ($5,924), which leaves $11,500 for the last year. (I am not including interest because college costs go up each year, so any interest earned is cancelled by cost increases.)</p>
<p>So FAFSA's plan would be:
1st year: $13,600
2nd year $ 8,976
3rd year: $ 5,924
4th year $ 11, 500</p>
<p>I know that people probably wouldn't spend this way; they probably would level load their allocation. It's just that the 1/3 rule is just wierd. I would think that if a freshman has $40K in their college fund, then FAFSA would speciify that 1/4 be spent the first year 10K; 1/3 be spent the second year 10K; 1/2 be spent the third year 10K; and the balance be spent the forth year $10K. The percent should decline as each year passes.</p>
<p>It's 35%, which changes your numbers slightly.</p>
<p>Your suggestion is that the % increase each year, not decline (25%, then 33%, then 50%).</p>
<p>I guess the thinking is that not all the assets the student has are earmarked for college, although certainly most are.</p>
<p>sb: thanks for cleaning up my math. :)</p>
<p>
[quote]
Sybbie: Your 35% rule is incorrect, according to my EFC. I have around $30,000 in the bank, and my EFC is $25,000.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Ok,</p>
<p>But if you read my post, I did preface it with the words for example and
If you have....</p>
<p>I was just providing you with an example for demonstration purposes.</p>
<p>While you may not have the amount of $ the percentage of $ based on the amount of money in your name is still correct</p>
<p>"Remember FAFSA is ultimately a government handout, Welfare. Would your want your politicians to change the methodology? Remember the Republicans are in power. "</p>
<p>What is that supposed to mean?</p>
<p>"Sybbie: Your 35% rule is incorrect, according to my EFC. I have around $30,000 in the bank, and my EFC is $25,000."</p>
<p>If you had 10,000 in January and MADE 20,000 in income this year, you will have to contribute 50% of earnings (less a small allowance) AND 35% of the assets. This would be about 9,000 on the income and 10,500 on the assets.</p>
<p>Xiggi: I wondered about that statement, too. </p>
<p>It doesnt' matter which political party is in power; people did not get more from the FAFSA system under the Dems.</p>
<p>Mine was only $2,301...</p>
<p>If you think you made a mistake, go online to <a href="http://www.fafsa.ed.gov%5B/url%5D">http://www.fafsa.ed.gov</a> and on the bottom right-hand side there should be a "Make Corrections to a Submitted FAFSA" button.</p>
<p>Go ahead and review the information!</p>
<p>Xiggi: I don't have a job, so therefore I didn't have any personal income last year. The only income for my family is my mom's, which they don't take as high a percentage of. That $30,000 has been sitting in the bank for several years untouched.</p>
<p>okay i may be steppin on toes here but not all of the money you get from gov is a hand out. unsub loans are loans not a hand out and they have intrest incurring from the day of the loan it is not like you do not have to pay intrest for four or five years and i dont think it is fair if you have to take money from your retirement for emergency repairs on your home and it is now income that your child has to now suffer along with you for having extra income that you actually did not make but had to fix home. there has to be a better way for gov to help with cost of college.</p>
<p>Ok, the political party cut was not warranted because the current political party may have made the system more expensive to the Government, hence the future taxpayer.</p>
<p>FAFSA will never be right for anyone. You either make/saved too much or you don't make/saved enough. The government cannot do everything for you. If you don't believe in the philosophy, ask yourself, "what will you do or not do for future Children of the now 18 year olds?"</p>
<p>I am curious. Do foreigners applying to US colleges fill out a FAFSA and get tax-payer money? ???? If so, why????</p>
<p>colleges may require all students to fill out FAFSA to help determine need-but for international students need will be met by institutional aid.
( not all need- not all colleges- not all students)
[quote]
International Students and the FAFSA
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is used by US citizens and permanent residents to apply for financial aid from the US federal and state governments. Colleges and universities also use the information submitted on the FAFSA for computing need-based awards. International students are not eligible for the US government aid programs (Pell Grant, SEOG Grant, Stafford Loan, Perkins Loan, PLUS Loan, and Federal Work-Study). However, many schools will ask international students to submit a FAFSA so that they may use the data for assessing financial need.</p>
<p>Before filing a FAFSA, international students should ask the schools to which they are applying what procedure they should use to apply for institutional aid.</p>
<p>Some schools require students to file a FAFSA as part of their application for institutional aid. However, if a international student submits a FAFSA without supplying a Social Security Number (SSN) or Alien Registration Number (ARN), the FAFSA will be rejected and the data will not be processed. Even if the international student supplies a SSN, the FAFSA will be rejected when they check option 3 ("No, neither of the above.") in the answer to question 15-16 ("Are you a U.S. citizen?").</p>
<p>At first glance, it seems that there is no way to work around this problem. The FAFSA is not intended to be used by schools for processing institutional aid applications submitted by international students. Only US citizens and eligible noncitizens may receive federal student financial aid. US citizens have SSNs, eligible noncitizens have ARNs, and international students have neither. According to the 1992 reauthorization of the Higher Education Act of 1965, every applicant must have a social security number in order to apply for federal student financial aid. Since the primary purpose of the FAFSA is to apply for federal student financial aid, a FAFSA submitted without a social security number will be rejected.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, it turns out that since a social security number is not considered proof of US citizenship, some international students may be able to apply for and receive a social security number. (This may depend on the type of visa; it isn't clear.) If a international student receives a social security number, the card is stamped so that there is no mistaking it for citizenship. They can then use this number to complete their FAFSA. (They can also use the social security number to open a bank account or get a driver's license.)</p>
<p>When a international student with a social security number submits a FAFSA, they should supply their social security number in the answer to question 8, and check option 3 ("No, neither of the above.") in the answer to question 15-16 ("Are you a U.S. citizen?") to indicate that they are not eligible for federal student financial aid.</p>
<p>Even though the FAFSA will still be rejected, according to a contact at the US Department of Education, the data is still there and can be drawn down by the financial aid office and used to make institutional awards.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I have an EFC of 00405. What exactly does that mean? The lower the number, the better, right? I'm confused...</p>
<p>Lower the better. $405, your Estimated Family Contribution, is a calculation of what your family can afford to spend each year on your total college expenses.</p>
<p>Colleges will offer an aid package that will fill much of the difference between the EFC and the total cost of college (including books, tuition, room & board). Aid packages include grants, scholarships, loans, and work study programs.</p>
<p>"Xiggi: I don't have a job, so therefore I didn't have any personal income last year. The only income for my family is my mom's, which they don't take as high a percentage of. That $30,000 has been sitting in the bank for several years untouched."</p>
<p>LF, all I can say is that your assets are assessed at 35% and your income at 50%. This means that the difference between the $10,500 of student contribution and your total EFC must come from the parents' side, namely from your mom's income and your parents' assets. In your case, it seems that the IM or CA method used by private school might work out better than the Federal Method. Play with a few of the online calculators and see what happens.</p>
<p>how do you know the amount you will be recieving by filling out fafsa?</p>
<p>It has an estimate at the end once you submit it.</p>