<p>i really dont understand this EFC thing. last year our EFC was over 29k. our sons school cost less so we took a parent plus loan and our son has a stAFFord loan. this year our efc is about 13k and his school is about $25k so why did we not get any financial aid?</p>
<p>Does the school promise to meet 100% demonstrated need. </p>
<p>The vast majority of colleges do not. </p>
<p>Does the school require that you file the FAFSA only (which only determines if you are eligible for federal aid, Pell, SEOG, sub/unsubstafford loan) or do you have to file the CSS profile or institutional aid forms to determine eligibility for institutional aid.</p>
<p>Does the school even give institutional aid (other than merit).</p>
<p>Is your son eligible for merit aid as an upperclassmen</p>
<p>If your son’s school does not guarantee to meet the full need of all accepted students, they are under NO obligation to provide you with need based aid. It sounds like this is the case at your son’s school. Your son is eligible to take a Direct (Stafford) loan in the amount of $6500.</p>
<p>Were you offered financial aid in the form of loans and/or work-study?</p>
<p>Does your school guarantee to meet your full demonstrated need? </p>
<p>Is the $13K contribution FAFSA-determined or set by your college set? Colleges can and do expect higher contributions than FAFSA. Some colleges use the CSS PROFILE to get a more complete picture of your financial resources.</p>
<p>my sons school doesnt guarentee 100% need met. i do understand this but i thought since our efc was 13k and school is more than this we would receive some sort of aid from goverment or school. they did not offer work study nor any sub loans. i suppose federal aid is soley basedp on income?</p>
<p>also would anyone know if the parent plus loans are forgiveable under the teaching program where my son would teach in a needy area or would just his loans be forgiving?</p>
<p>Parent plus loans are the parent debt.
More information about forgiveness of loans for teachers.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p><a href=“http://studentaid.ed.gov/repay-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/charts/teacher[/url]”>http://studentaid.ed.gov/repay-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/charts/teacher</a></p>
<p>Federally funded grant aid is based on you FAFSA EFC. Your EFC of $13,000 is too high to qualify for federally funded grant money. Schools are given work study money and the school determines who will get these awards. Typically they are given to lower income students.</p>
<p>I worked at a state university. A family with a $13k EFC would only have received loans at that school. No institutional aid or work study — that EFC is several thousand dollars higher than the cut-off for those funds at this particular school. Not a happy truth, but a truth just the same. </p>
<p>I am surprised that there was no subsidized Direct Loan in the package. Is the school’s COA less than $13k? If not, there should be a sub loan. I am wondering - were you verified? If so, maybe the verified EFC is higher than the COA.</p>
<p>thank you for the information. i have a 2nd child that will be attending college in 4 yrs just when my oldest graduates. by the time my oldest graduates i will have over 80k in parent plus loans(my sons school is 25438.00 a yr and even with my sons stafford loan we have to borrow for the cost of school). does that debt count when my youngest applies for school and fills out the fasfa? i know my son needs to work harder to find scholarships but we have tried and applied for many. there is just so much competition out there as everyone is having a difficult time with the economy and the rising cost of college. My son is the first in my family and my husbands to go to college so we are hoping we find some relief so we are not in debt the rest of our lives and our youngest will also have an opportunity to attend college.</p>
<p>The college debts you are taking out for your first child will not be factors when calculating financial aid for your second child. Consumer debt, including parent loans, is not taken into consideration at all.</p>
<p>But…you do have some time to research options for your second child that will not require a lot of additional college debt for you. This might include schools where your second child will receive merit aid. It might be community college for two years and finishing at a four year school. You will need to keep a very open mind about colleges if finances are a significant issue.</p>
<p>If your son is going to be a soph this year, then it would be better if he took his classes at the local cc this year so you won’t have debt for this year… Then use this year to pay towards last year’s debt.</p>
<p>Borrowing $80k for college is too much for a family with a $13k EFC. </p>
<p>NO, colleges will NOT give you more aid for the second child because of the debt from the first child.</p>
<p>You may be setting yourself for a situation where you have too much debt from the first child, and there will not mony for the second child’s college costs. </p>
<p>You need to do some quick thinking. It won’t be fair if your oldest child gets to go away to school (on the backs of Plus loans), and then the younger child will have to commute to the local CC and commute to the local state school because you won’t want to take on more debt and you’re still making payments on existing debt.</p>
<p>Depending on income/assets and other debt you might also find yourself unable to borrow the same amount for your first child’s junior or senior year. Look for ways to decrease your debt along the way for the first child as well as looking ahead to see what the future looks like for the second child.</p>
<p>That is way too much money to borrow for a child’s education. I think your son needs to figure out a more affordable way to pay for college, starting with writing a lot of essay’s to get more scholarships.</p>
<p>IS your son living on campus? Perhaps he may need to transfer to your state school where he can commute from home, saving ~ 10-12k that you would be paying in room and board expenses.</p>
<p>20k of parent loan debt is too big, especially when EFC started at 29k. I’m guessing your payments on that 20k, which started in early spring, are running just under $250. If you borrow the same for 2nd year, next spring it’ll double. In theory, in four years, when #2 is picking colleges to apply to, you could be paying up to $1k/month. </p>
<p>Do you know why EFC dropped from 29 to 13, which is very steep for only one kid in college? Is this about self-employment, which is always a tricky finaid situation?</p>
<p>You need to contact the finaid office. My kids get work study on an EFC higher than 13k. My friend’s son didn’t get his Stafford noted on his original offer letter, but it was later corrected.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>Many schools do not have enough WS to award to those with EFCs beyond Pell awards. </p>
<p>This family does not sounds like it can really afford to send their kids away to college. </p>
<p>they are borrowing the entire cost of college…parents $20k, student the rest. This is crazy especially when there’s a younger child to educate. It will be grossly unfair if the parents borrow these high amounts so that Child #1 gets the “go away” experience, and then Child #2 will have to go to the local schools because the parents borrowed too much for Child #1.</p>
<p>I know it would be VERY hard to tell Child #1 that his school is unaffordable, but if it’s said in a way that Child #2 will get really screwed by this plan, then he might be able to better accept it. Do not fall for any promises that HE will pay for your Plus loans. Unless he graduates into some Wall Street high finance hot shot job, there is NO WAY he’d be able to pay for $100k in loans (yours and his). </p>
<p>If he is a rising soph, then he needs to commute to his local CC, work and save money, and then be in a better position for jr and sr years. And you can use this year to pay down the amount that you borrowed this year.</p>
<p>There are 3 different types of work study </p>
<p>The Federal Work-Study Program</p>
<p>Participation in the program is determined by the student’s financial need and is awarded as part of the financial aid package. Part of the monies paid to the student on federal work study is subsidized by the government. Earnings are not applied directly to the tuition bill, but are used by the student to cover costs such as books, personal items, and transportation. FWSP funds may only be used on campus with on-campus employers or with approved off-campus community service employers.</p>
<p>Employment</p>
<p>Is an alternative form of funding for students who do not qualify for work-study funds, usually for citizenship reasons. Regulation of the Employment program mirrors the FWSP in that a student must show a financial need to be eligible for such funding. </p>
<p>Non Work-Study: A student DOES NOT have to be awarded FWSP or EMPLOYMENT funding in order to work.These could be other jobs on campus (dining services, campus book store, etc). Salaries for these jobs are paid directly by the school.</p>
<p>While there are some jobs that are specifically earmarked for students who have FWS as part of their financial aid package, there are also work study positions on campus that all students can apply for.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This sounds like the harsh reality, unless you are sending your kids away to one of the military academies or to a college where they are getting a full ride (very hard to get). $80K parent loans to send Kid #1 to college is too much if you have Kid #2 coming up.</p>
<p>Since these are the first kids in the family to go to college, priority #1 should be to get both of the kids through college…the “total college experience” will have to wait for the next generation.</p>