<p>So I finished my FAFSA and my EFC was ~ 6500. This seems really low to me as my dad makes around 130k per year (my mom is stay-at-home). His adjusted gross income was ~35k. I am the only child attending college next year. </p>
<p>If it makes a difference, we're US citizens living in Australia, and pay our taxes here in Australia. My dad pays little to no amount in US tax.</p>
<p>So is it likely that we made a mistake? </p>
<p>is your dad self employed or a business owner?</p>
<p>“This seems really low to me as my dad makes around 130k per year (my mom is stay-at-home). His adjusted gross income was ~35k”</p>
<p>Is he self-employed?</p>
<p>Or did he subtract his taxes before determining AGI? </p>
<p>Where’d the money go between the 130k and the 35k?</p>
<p>BTW…if you apply to CSS schools, then likely they’re going to come up with a MUCH higher family contribution.</p>
<p>And FAFSA-only schools won’t meet need, so your family would have to pay more anyway.</p>
<p>I think there is a big allowance for money earned overseas, and these numbers sound about right as I think it is a $90k or so allowance.</p>
<p>Agreed - it is likely the foreign tax credit that did it. Even if the OP’s father entered a negative amount for AGI rather than 0, I believe the processor adjusts it to 0. OP, is there an asterisk (*) next to the EFC on your SAR?</p>
<p>Kelsmom…does that mean that the first $90k that an American living abroad earns is ignored for FAFSA EFC calculation? If so, that’s crazy.</p>
<p>It is something that has bothered me, but it’s true. Income and benefits not included in the EFC formula include the Foreign Tax Exclusion.</p>
<p>OP here,</p>
<p>My dad is a professor at a university here in Australia. I took all the numbers from his tax return. He claimed around 94k of Foreign Tax Exclusion. </p>
<p>I can’t access my SAR right now for some reason, but on my confirmation email there is no asterisk. </p>
<p>So does that mean our EFC is what is expected under our circumstances? </p>
<p>^^</p>
<p>That may be your FAFSA EFC, but don’t be misled into thinking that’s all you’ll pay.</p>
<p>Where have you applied?</p>
<p>Schools that only use FAFSA don’t meet need. </p>
<p>Schools that meet need with use CSS Profile and they won’t care about that exclusion. They’re going to use the whole income.</p>
<p>I see that you’ve applied to USC. That’s a CSS Profile school. They will use your dad’s $130k salary. They won’t care about any exclusion.</p>
<p>For the UC’s you’re OOS since you did not attend a Calif high school for 3 years and you didn’t graduate from a Calif high school.</p>
<p>The UCs will expect you to pay your EFC plus about $23k per year…minimum. So at a UC, you’ll be paying at least $28,000 per year.</p>
<p>Yup, I don’t expect to be only paying 6.5k per year anywhere, I was just worried if we had made a mistake on our profile. </p>
<p>I’ve applied to Harvard, Columbia, Stanford, UChicago, Duke, USC, NYU, Northeastern, Northwestern and WashU St. Louis, which are all CSS schools, so I’m expecting that I’ll need to pay ~50k per year if I get accepted into any of those schools.</p>
<p>Thanks for everybody’s help!</p>
<p>Oops double posted</p>
<p>Yes, it sounds like you completed everything correctly. You sound like you are on top of things. Best wishes!</p>