<p>I'm still not very sure on this whole EFC thing, and how much it affects grants and scholarships as opposed to loans. My EFC is 1280; how would that potentially affect the number of grants and scholarships I get, as opposed to having to take out pricey loans (which I will be paying entirely independently)?</p>
<p>(Sorry if this is a silly question. Just curious. ;])</p>
<p>Your FM EFC as determined by the FAFSA data tells the FAO what you are eligible to recieve from the federal loan and grant program as well as possible state grant eligibility. </p>
<p>Your award will include Pell and some SEOG grant money as well as subsidized Stafford and possibly some Perkins loans. How much more you get in grants and scholarships depends upon the college and where you are in the applicant pool in terms of desirabilty. </p>
<p>The IM at private schools varies considerably. At Harvard your IM EFC would be about $2000, but at Notre Dame it could be $35,000 after a modest amount of grant and loans were offered. (Unless you were a D1 athlete.)</p>
<p>It really depends on the school.</p>
<p>For those FAFSA only schools that have little institutional aid and award mainly federal aid your grants would be limited. In 2008-2009 a 1280 EFC would have for you a Pell grant of @ $3481. At many schools you probably would not get the SEOG grant with a 1280 EFC. SEOG is awarded to the ‘neediest’ students and schools decide themselves what constitutes neediest. A lot of schools only give the SEOG to students with 0 EFCs. You might also qualify for the ACG (academic competitiveness grant) if you meet the academic criteria for that. It is $750 for freshmen. That is about it for federal grants. The rest of federal aid is loans (Stafford and possibly Perkins) and work study.</p>
<p>At Schools that offer their own institutional aid and/or promise to meet full need without loans you may have more grant aid.</p>
<p>skullduggery…I would suggest that you run your figures through an EFC calculator using the IM (Institutional methodology). It will at least give you a “guestimate” of what you might receive for need based aid at schools that award institutional funds.</p>
<p>HOWEVER, as noted above, institutional funds are awarded by each school using their own formula to do so. This varies wildly from school to school.</p>
<p>Northeast…if the OPs FAFSA EFC is $1280, how do you figure that the IM would compute a $35,000 parent contribution from ND?</p>
<p>I was expecting your question, Thumper1. 
I picked that number for ND, because of its’ history in how they award aid. </p>
<p>Of course, financial aid leveraging plays into the equation too. My point, however is that Jesuit colleges are not very generous with need based grant aid.</p>
<p>Northeast…you are talking about two different NUMBERS. The calculated NEED vs the awarded financial aid. Schools that do not meet full need will often “gap” students, meaning their financial aid award does NOT meet full need. This does NOT reduce the students calculated NEED…not at all. In your example, you implied the Notre Dame would calculate NEED at $35K. That is simply not true (unless there was some unbelievable asset on the Profile that was not on the FAFSA). However, if schools do not meet full need, the dollar amount of the NEED isn’t what is reduced…it’s the dollar amount of the AID that is reduced.</p>
<p>Thumper1, you are drawing the wrong conclusion. I did not say that ND would calculate need to be $35,000. I apologize for not making myself clear. </p>
<p>What I am saying is that the student would be gapped. The ultimate family contribution could be in the neighborhood of $35,000. Their need is the same as it would be at Harvard, but ND would not fill it.</p>