EFC- Per Year or over 4 years?

<p>My mom is asking this one---On the FAFSA Web Submission Confiration page, does the EFC mean per year, or it is over the 4 years? If it is per year, why would the number (49K) be more than any of the colleges on my list????? Thanx for any input</p>

<p>the EFC is for the year that is submitted- in this case the figures are from 2005, which are used for the 2006-2007 school year.</p>

<p>The EFC is your expected family contribution- the amount that you are expected to pay for student tuition and expenses. NOT the amount that it is easy to pay, or even what you could pay without borrowing, but the amount that will be required in many cases to pay before aid from school kicks in. Merit aid is seperate, and EFC should not affect merit based aid, although some awards do want applicants to file FAFSA anyway.</p>

<p>If your family has expenses that are not documented in the FAFSA ( like relative medical care) then schools are generally open to reviewing your file.</p>

<p>If your EFC is higher than the cost of attendance that means that it is estimated that your family can pay the full cost.</p>

<p>I'm scared of finding out our EFC! EEk!</p>