inputted the numbers for my family’s EFC on several online calculators. Got between 10,000 - 16,000. My family makes 33,000 a year. As a family of four, we can barely get by on 33,000 and am confused how anyone would think how a family could do this??? Is something wrong?
Do the $10,000 to $16,000 numbers include the student contribution (federal direct loan of $5,500 plus student work earnings, usually expected up to $3,000 to $5,000 per year)? Or does it expect the parents to pay $10,000 to $16,000 and the student contribution on top of that?
Two years ago you, or someone using your account, posted that most schools being considered were full pay and that the family could afford it.
@swimmer8 on 8-16-2016:
When I had an EFC of 17k, my parent made 72k and I had additional internship earnings (maybe 6k at the time, may have been under the student income threshold, can’t remember).
@BelknapPoint @ucbalumnus
between getting into school, my father, who was once making 120k per year was fired and our family is living off of disability payments. No longer full pay. I’m calculating the EFC to see if I am eligible for a pell grant next year.
Do you have personal assets or do your parents have particularly valuable assets? That seems like the likely source - owning a house in a high cost area can really send your EFC up and as far as I know colleges count all of the student’s personal assets as available to be utilized for college costs.
Will your dad be able to get another job? You may be able to ask the school for special consideration since your circumstances have changed.
@CaMom13 I do have a checking account with a reasonable amount of money-- about 5,000 from working, and my family owns about a 250,000$ house. Other than that my family has no other assets (no stocks etc). Are those combined assets really enough to jack up my EFC?
@austinmshauri no, my dad is turning 64 this year and is going to wait until social security benefits kick in. I have already contacted the financial aid offices
Is your sibling in school? Your EFC can go down when more than one child is in college, but it can shoot up when one graduates.
@austinmshauri unfortunately my sister will start school when I graduate, so no help there. I’m hoping that I qualify for a pell grant next year, as at the college I go to promises free tuition for students that qualify
Your FAFSA is using your family income from 2 years ago, and your family is living on the $33k currently. You can file a change in circumstances form and ask for an override,which may get you the Pell grant.
However, if you are looking at a school costs $50k, and your EFC is $0, you get the $6k pell grant, the loan at $5500, and say need based FA of $15k+ (which is a lot, and you won’t get that from many of the OOS public schools), you’d still be looking at over $20k needed to go to the school. It’s not that schools expect you to pay that from your family’s $33k, it’s that that’s the price of the college. You are buying an education, and you can’t expect it to be free, just like you can’t expect a house or car or food to be free even if you really need it. Schools gap you, and it’s up to the student to find that money. Most kids just can’t, so they go to a different school where the Pell goes a lot farther to paying the tuition (it’s the same Pell at every school, whether the tuition is $6k or $40k).
Does your father received disability pay in addition to the $33,000, or is the $33,000 the total of all income (taxed and untaxed) that your family receives? Your EFC seems too high. Please post (or PM me, if you prefer):
Parent income from work; student income from work
Parent taxes paid; student taxes paid
Parent untaxed income; student untaxed income
Parent assets; student assets (just what was reported on the FAFSA)
It sounds like you’re a rising sophomore. Are you at an in state public or a private? How much were you paying last year and what can they afford for each of you going forward?
@swimmer8 - yes, those will both hurt you. Look for schools that do not include home equity in their FA calculation - some do and some do not. And perhaps you can/should spend your personal savings on things your family will need in advance of applying to college rather than being penalized for having some savings when your family’s situation is so tough. Redo the calculators without your savings and I think you’ll see your EFC fall.