<p>I got EFC of 4450. FASFA claims that that figure is not the amount of money that my parents would be asked to pay. Still, I hear otherwise. </p>
<p>My question is: Is it dumb to say that my parents will be able to contribute, say, $9,000, when my EFC is 4450? For most of the schools that I apply to, the average of F/A is high 30Ks, meaning that most of the needy students pay 20K. So, what worrieds me is that if I write in 4,500 (my EFC), fin-aid officers might find it ridiculous and 'rejete' me... Will they? Should I inflate that 4450?</p>
<p>Any opinion is appreciated, PLEASE.</p>
<p>BUMPING.
Please I need some advice…</p>
<p>When you file the FAFSA, that information is automatically transmitted to the financial aid offices at the colleges and universities that you are applying to. There is no way that you can “inflate” it.</p>
<p>However, just because your FAFSA EFC is X, does not mean that X is all that College Y will expect you and your family to pay. Most colleges and universities do not meet full need, and there will be a gap between your aid package and your FAFSA EFC.</p>
<p>You need to sit down with your parents and find out what they can pay. It may be less than your EFC, it may be more. You also need to know how they feel about you taking on student debt, and what their expectations are for the amount of money you could earn in the summer vacations and during the school year. Once you have that figure (you could call it your Real Family Financial Contribution), you will be better able to determine which colleges and universities are truly affordable to you once you have received your admissions and financial aid offers.</p>
<p>What schools are you applying to? Most schools are need blind so it doesn’t matter what your EFC is…</p>
<p>EFC is just a number that schools use to determine what federal aid you can get…which isn’t much. </p>
<p>At many schools, your parents will be expected to pay more than their EFC.</p>
<p>Most schools cannot meet need.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I got EFC of 4450. FASFA claims that that figure is not the amount of money that my parents would be asked to pay.[//quote]</p>
<p>The FAFSA is primarily used to determine the eligibility for federally funded need based aid. With an EFC of $4450, you would get a small amount of the Pell grant (I believe less than $1000 a year) and a Stafford loan.</p>
<p>It is very good that your parents can contribute at least your EFC amount. Ask them if this is really accurate. </p>
<p>At MOST schools, the minimum your family will be paying is the EFC amount. Most schools do not meet full need. Those “averages” you are reading are just that…averages. They are not guarantees for every student who applies.</p>
<p>I hope that you have a variety of schools on your application list…and have included some that are affordable to your family with minumum aid. It’s nice to have choices when you are comparing the financial costs.</p>
<p>Regarding “inflating your EFC”…you can’t do that. You really can’t do anything about that. It computed based on what your family puts on the FAFSA and it is what it is. You can’t “change it” at all.</p>
<p>One way to get end up paying as close to your EFC is to apply to schools that claim to meet 100% of need. This information is available on the College Board website under college search. An even better way to reduce what you all have to pay (parents and student) is to apply to schools that have little to no loans in their financial aid package for the student. You can google the web to find this list. Merit aid will help, and if you may also be able to qualify for a Perkins loan or pell grant, again very low interest loans. Good luck!</p>
<p>All EFC does is qualify you for the PELL grant if you meet that thresh hold. Any state or other programs tied to the PELL , if offered by the college you choose are also possibilities for you. That’ really all the EFC guarantees you. </p>
<p>If the cost of your school defined by the ofiicial Cost Of Attendence (COA) exceeds your EFC and whatever PELL and other related grants you get, you are eligible to get subsidized student loans. Usually a low EFC puts you at the front of the line for other federal/state programs such as SEOG and/or some other that Stafford Loan programs, the one commonly available escapes me right now. If the school has work study funds, those may be offered as well.</p>
<p>I don’t know a single school that guarantees to meet 100% of need as defined by the federal EFC. Those schools that make such a commitment have their own forms and/or use CSS PROFILE which probes more deeply into family finances and determines need through their own definitions. You would still have to file FAFSA and you would be entitled to whatever the government will give you based on that EFC number, but your school may have other critera when it comes to dispensing their own funds. </p>
<p>Though the institutional need figures are usually less generous than the EFC, this isn’t always the case. A family we know was pleasantly surprised to find that a couple of schools that use PROFILE did come out with a larger need figure through their calculations, partly because they took into account private school tuition for their college student’s siblings. Though the schools did not guarantee to meet 100% of need, they were very generous to the point that it cost slightly less for their son to go to a private school over a state school. They got zip from PELL and state programs. They did get a little bit in subsidized loans. But the private school lay down a big fat merit within need loan that really made the difference. As far as the family is concerned, other than the subsidized loans, the government could keep their aid as it is not a good deal for them. They could get other loans at more favorable rates elsewhere other so only the subsidy made sense to them. Work study–pah, their son has found a number of jobs near campus that are just as good and offer a lot of hours. If he lives off campus next year and watches his living expenses, they will be able to swing it. The only cheaper alternative was to live at home and commute to a CUNY.</p>
<p>You could “inflate” the amount you can pay on the Profile as it asks what you can contribute towards your child’s education. You have to be careful with schools that meet 100% of need as some of them are not need blind and your chances of admission can be lower if you need a lot of fa.</p>
<p>The Pell amount for an EFC of 4450 is $1,176 a year going full time in both the fall and the spring.</p>