<p>Hi all, I am new here to this forum. My son is a high school senior and got a acceptance letter from ECU today. I am concerned about financial aid. We have completed the application for financial aid with FAFSA. We got the EFC score and it is 07589. Can anyone tell me what this score means. Is there a score chart somewhere showing how much financial aid my husband and I are responsible for? Thanks, Audrey</p>
<p>Welcome to CC!</p>
<p>EFC=Expected Family Contribution= the dollar amount your family, ie parents and student will be expected to pay toward college. So, 07589 equals $7589 per year for that student. Mostly determines students eligibility for FEDERAL grants and loans.
There are many experts here on CC who will jump in with much more complete answers…</p>
<p>Did you complete an EFC calculator? The actual FAFSA form for Fall 2012 isn’t even available until Jan 1, 2012…</p>
<p>It is likely that you will be asked to AT LEAST pay $7589 for this first year of college. Keep in mind that ECU does not meet the full financial need of all accepted students. As with others…the FAFSA for students starting in Fall 2012 is not yet available for filing. Did you do the 2011-2012 FAFSA? If so, that is for the CURRENT school year. You will have to submit the 2012-2013 FAFSA which will be come available for filing on Jan 1, 2012.</p>
<p>In any event…if your family contribution is in the $7000 range, it is too high for federally funded grant money (Pell Grant…EFC has to be below $5500). Your son will get a $5500 Stafford loan in his name. It is possible that your state has some financial aid that he would be eligible for…check that possibility.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for the information musicmom and thumper1. So, My husband and I will be responsible for the $7589 for his first year of college, if it doesnt change when we submit the 2012-2013 FAFSA application. I guess we jumped ahead a bit by applying too early. I’m glad I have an idea of what the EFC will be. ECU doesnt meet the full financial needs of all accepted students…what does that mean? We might have to pay more than the $7589 for his first year of college there? I’m so nervous about all this. My family has limited funds and I have MS and have high medical insurance costs, expenses. Would my having a disability matter/help when applying for financial aid? Thank you!</p>
<p>The term EFC is a bit deceptive. At schools that do not promise to meet full need (and most do not), you will probably have to pay more than the EFC. </p>
<p>The EFC determines eligibility for federal aid, state aid, and institutional aid (if the school offers any). An EFC of over 7000 is too high for you to be eligible for federal grant aid. So as far as federal aid is concerned, you are looking at loans only. State will depend on the state (our state offers a very small need based grant to people with an EFC less than 1300, other states such as Ca have more generous policies). And the school aid will depend completely on the school and if they offer institutional aid (our state Us do not).</p>
<p>If you have high un reimbursed medical expenses you can ask the school for a special circumstances adjustment to reflect that. We had on my daughter’s first year of college - I think we had a little over $12k in expenses and it reduced out EFC by about 2000 ish (that will vary by family).</p>
<p>The colleges will look at the EFC score and will let me know how much we have to pay and how much aid they will give my son, right? I guess it varies from college to college. Looks like ECU is more expensive than NCSU but my son hasnt heard from NCSU yet. I’m back to square one not really knowing what my family will be responsible for. Loans stink! A $5500 Stafford loan is from the government? Are the interests rates low?</p>
<p>Yes, the school will tell you what aid they will offer you (including federal aid).</p>
<p>Yes Stafford is a federal loan. Currently the stafford loan rate for the 2012-2013 school year is scheduled to be 6.8%. This year the subsidized rate was 3.4% but it is scheduled to revert back to 6.8% (same as the unsub loans) next year, and there is no indication that they plan to change that. Most of the recent changes to FA have not been in students’ favor, so it is difficult to anticipate what they will do.</p>
<p>Parent PLUS loans are 7.9%.</p>
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<p>At LEAST this amount.</p>
<p>It is possible that the school will consider a special circumstances consideration for any non-reimbursed medical costs you have had. You would need to contact the financial aid office about this. Having a disability in and of itself might not impact the awarding of need based aid. BUT if you have significant unreimbursed medical expenses from 2011, then this might qualify for a special circumstances consideration whereby the financial aid officer can adjust your family contribution (this is not required and all schools do not do these…they are handled on a case by case basis).</p>
<p>What you need to figure out is how much you CAN contribute to your son’s college costs per year. Then go from there. The Stafford loan is a student loan that is in your child’s name only…not yours. Many students use these to help pay college costs.</p>
<p>Would your son’s grades and SAT/ACT scores put him in the running for any merit scholarships at any of the colleges? You would not get these in addition to need based aid, but some states have very generous merit awards for high performing students.</p>
<p>EFC = Expected Family Contribution= …**this does NOT mean the amount your family will be expected to pay toward college. **</p>
<p>EFC is a misnomer. It isn’t really Estimated Family Contribution. Colleges don’t have to do ANYTHING with that number except see if you qualify for any federal aid, which isn’t much. </p>
<p>since your EFC is too high for Pell Grants, it’s entirely possible that a school will expect you to pay all costs and only give your child a student loan of 5500…and maybe 2000 in work-study, but w-s usually just goes for day to day expenses since it gets paid out incrementally in paychecks as you do your job. </p>
<p>Most schools do not have much aid to give. :(</p>
<p>And, schools consider the family as the one who have the primary responsibility to pay for college.</p>
<p>Since you don’t know how much your family will really be expected to pay…</p>
<p>1) Make sure that your child applies to a state school that he can commute to as a safety. “Going away” to school is a luxury which many cannot afford. </p>
<p>2) If his stats are high enough, have him apply to a few schools that will give him large merit scholarships. Look for schools that give large merit and where your son’s stats are well within the top quartile for the school.</p>
<p>3) Have him apply to some privates that want more males and where his stats are good…what is his GPA and TEST scores. </p>
<p>4) Figure out how much your family can pay. A 7500 EFC is over 600 per month. Let your son know now how much you can pay.</p>
<p>The Stafford loan is in your child’s name and doesn’t help you pay your “family contribution” at most schools. Most schools will put loans in to help “meet need.”</p>
<p>My son has a GPA of 3.12 right now. He says he will bring it up this semester. He is still in his first quarter in his senior year so he has time to bring it up. My cousins son started his first year at NCSU last year with a full 4yr scholarship so he must have had top scores!!</p>
<p>This all sounds depressing like college is out of reach for my son 
I hope he doesnt have to end up going to the local community 2 yr college.</p>
<p>My son has a GPA of 3.12 right now</p>
<p>Is that his cumulative GPA? If so, it would be hard to bring it up much at this point.</p>
<p>What are his test scores?</p>
<p>Unfortunately a 3.12 GPA is probably not going to get much, if any, merit aid.</p>
<p>Starting off for 2 years at a CC is a great way to cut down on costs and on debt. I know several people who have done so and gone on finish up their bachelors at a 4 year school.</p>
<p>Figure out how much your family can pay. A 7500 EFC is over 600 per month. Let your son know now how much you can pay.</p>
<p>How did you figure out a 75OO EFC is over 600 per month? I didnt think the $7500 is the amount we would be paying for college. Is there a chart? My home should be paid for in Nov of 2012 so I have planned to use the $500 mortgage payment for college.</p>
<p>*This all sounds depressing like college is out of reach for my son I hope he doesnt have to end up going to the local community 2 yr college. *</p>
<p>Is there a state public 4 year that he can commute to? </p>
<p>If not, then he may need to start at a CC if that’s what’s affordable. Most kids do not get to “go away” to college…that is a myth. Most families can not afford the costs and there isn’t enough FA to help with the costs.</p>
<p>What was his ACT or SAT (include his SAT breakdown)</p>
<p>How did you figure out a 75OO EFC is over 600 per month? Is there a chart?</p>
<p>you don’t need a chart. 7500 divided by 12 months equals $625 per month. </p>
<p>Of course, you may be expected to pay more than your EFC.</p>
<p>It looks like a year of tuition, fees, room and board is <$14K. <a href=“http://www.ecu.edu/cs-admin/financial_serv/customcf/Fees_Main_Campus_Fall_2011.pdf[/url]”>http://www.ecu.edu/cs-admin/financial_serv/customcf/Fees_Main_Campus_Fall_2011.pdf</a> Mom2CK has a good question. Is there a public U within commuting distance? If you live near ECU that would be <$5500, the Stafford loan amount.</p>
<p>We have an EFC close to yours. My D is a freshman in college and we are paying 1 and 1/2 times the EFC and she received a generous grant, Merit scholarship, and Stafford loan and work-study. Some of the colleges she was accepted to expected us to pay 3 times the EFC…obviously, we ended up choosing the most affordable school that could also offer the education she was looking for (she is in the honors program). Since you will have your home paid off, that could really help you afford school if your son sticks to schools that don’t consider equity.</p>