<p>Just like last year, my EFC was once again zero. The only issue is that I still was held accountable for about $5000(A little under a third of my total annual tuition costs for two semesters) for the past two semesters. Not to mention a good portion of the money I got from FAFSA was in the form of loans.</p>
<p>I don't understand how the government can tell me that I am expected to pay nothing, and then a public school still charges me a few thousand...is FAFSA really that messed up, or is my school seriously cheating me out of money I should be getting. </p>
<p>Sorry to those of you who may feel I'm being ungrateful. My mom's currently unemployed and shes my only custodial parent. Money is tight.</p>
<p>Your EFC is used to determine how much aid you can receive before Federal Aid is reduced. So, if school costs $15,000, and your EFC is $5,000, then you can received UP TO $10,000 in TOTAL aid before your Federal Aid is reduced.</p>
<p>However, that doesn't mean that $10,000 of aid is available (or $15,000 in your case). The difference between your net cost to attend and your EFC is called "unmet need". You can seek out other scholarships to go towards that unmet need.</p>
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I don't understand how the government can tell me that I am expected to pay nothing,
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<p>Not quite right. They are not telling you that you are "expected" to pay nothing. They are telling you are "eligible" to pay nothing with no adjustment in Federal Aid.</p>
<p>Just because you are eligible to receive doesn't mean there is anything available for you.</p>
<p>In addition, College Work Study is part of Federal Aid. That is work you can perform that goes towards your $15,000 cost to attend. Is any part of your $5,000 you are "held accoutnable for" College Work Study?</p>
<p>With an EFC of zero, you were eligible to receive</p>
<p>The full Pell grant (about 4700 last year is going up this year)
Ohio grant (about 5400)
Perkins loan (1500 I think)
subsidized stafford loan (2500 for freshman, 3500 I think for sophomores)
SEOG (limited funding varies from 200- ??? also first come first serve based on when your financial aid application went in)
ACG (750 for freshman, 1300 for sophomores - based on a rigourous high school curriculum as decided by your state)
Work study - amount varies</p>
<p>If you received all (or most - maybe not SEOG or ACG) then you received everything you were entitled to. MaNY PuBLic schools do not have large endowments and cannot meet full need (ie no institutional grants- they will gap) Sometimes it really is cheaper to go to a private.</p>
<p>WHen you say that $5000 a semester is a third of your tuition, I assume you mean total cost of attendance including room and board??? Federal aid is intended to make it possible for everyone to get a college education. I agree it certainly doesn't always do a good job of it. However, with the amounts listed above for a zero EFC, most students would be able to attend a public or a CC as a commuter student. Federal aid doesn't necessarily mean covering the cost to live away from home.</p>
<p>I think Perkins loans can vary widely from school to school. They can be UP TO 4K, but it's up to each school to decide the amount.</p>
<p>The max subsidized stafford for this school year was 3500, 4500 for freshman and sophomore plus an additional 2K as UNsubsidized (for 2007-2008) the limits were lower</p>
<p>an EFC of 0 doesn't guarantee that college will be free</p>
<p>An EFC of zero ONLY ENTITLES you to the Pell and subsidized Stafford loans. The rest depends on the college and your state. All FAFSA does is calculate that EFC; it does not dispense funds or give you anything. </p>
<p>Very few colleges guarantee to meet full cost. Most of those schools are private institutions.</p>
<p>They are not telling you that you are "expected" to pay nothing. They are telling you are "eligible" to pay nothing with no adjustment in Federal Aid."</p>
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I don't understand how the government can tell me that I am expected to pay nothing, and then a public school still charges me a few thousand...is FAFSA really that messed up, or is my school seriously cheating me out of money I should be getting.
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No your school is not cheating you out of anything at all. Federal aid is very limited (but *very *welcome) and is really set to cover the cheapest option. The EFC is only a figure the school can use to see what federal aid you may be eligible for, but Federal aid will nowhere near cover the cost of most flagship State schools. As State schools do not tend to have their own institutional aid available, there will be a gap. The cost of your school you have choose to attend will dictate how large that gap may be. </p>
<p>As a for instance - My kids have 0 EFCs. One is at a very small junior college that has a very low COA of @ $10,500. His federal aid, including maximum Stafford loans almost covers the COA, with the maximum Pell of $4731, SEOG $200, and subsidized loans of $4500. He works for the difference. My daughter is at a large flagship state U. Her COA is double my sons. Federal aid would not cover the full COA even if she had the maximum in loans. She receives the same Pell of $4731, a higher SEOG (her schools maximum is higher) $2,000, and the ACG of $650 (son does not qualify for that academically). She also has the maximum (for her school) WS of $3400. Her loans would be nearly $10,000 a year but fortunately she has good merit scholarships so between those, WS, what she earns in the summer and what we can contribute (husband is retired and has lots of health problems) she has only @ $4000 cumulatively in loans for the first 2 years. Without the merit money she would have probably gone to the junior college for 2 years or one of the cheaper State Us for 4 years to save taking out too much in loans. Sometimes you have to make tough choices about where you can afford to go. My son could not have gone to the same school as her without a very large amount of loans ($40k+ cumulatively) as he did not qualify for the merit aid she did.</p>
<p>Their individual options ended up being quite different despite the same EFCs. The aid makes those individual options possible for them, for which we are very grateful.</p>