<p>My family income is 82k and our assets suck so like 250k there. The EFC is 20k run through a very simple report. </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Does that sound correct? And does it include R&B?</p></li>
<li><p>Is there others way to get money besides loans because I don't think that my parents are willing to spend 1/4 of the raw money on my college, especially since that same time my brother will be looking at High School and we live in Baltimore city so they want him to go to a private one</p></li>
<li><p>The EFC is general for all colleges right, because it could differ depending on endowment, etc. am i correct?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>The EFC is not what schools are bill you for so it really has nothing to do with R&B! It’s primarily used to determine you eligibility for federal, and sometimes state, aid and yes, it will be the same number for all schools. Your EFC is too high for any federal aid other than loans. Private schools may award you some need-based aid if you’re accepted, but of course that depends on the school and their aid policies and endowments. </p>
<p>Are you a junior or a senior this year? Are you likely to get big scholarships, based on your stats, from any of the schools on your list? Have you asked your parents how much they plan on contributing to your education each year? You have to know this in order to determine which schools are likely to be affordable to you!</p>
<p>Yeah I didn’t even know what that meant honestly. And I’m a Junior and idk where I’m going to college but I want to go to one with smart people and if I wanted that I would probably barely get in because I’m not that fabulous of an applicant =P</p>
<p>I guess I’ll just to to community college though because even though we are not poor my parents are bad with their spending so we can barely afford groceries weekly…</p>
<p>Your income isn’t low and your assets are actually pretty high.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>EFC is your family contribution…actually it is the MINIMUM that your family will be expected to contribute towards the TOTAL cost of attending your college this year. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>You can get a job. And if your grades are high enough and your SAT/ACT scores high enough, you could get a merit scholarship at some schools that award these.</p>
<p>The choice to send your brother to private high school will be viewed as a choice. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>NO the EFC is the same for all colleges that use the FAFSA only. The family contribution computed by the colleges using the Profile or a school form could be different. The school’s endowment has NOTHING to do with your family contribution but it could have an impact on the amount of aid a school has available to offer accepted students. In any event, your family contribution will not be covered by need based aid at any school.</p>
<p>Prep for the SAT and ACT tests and get a copy of your transcript from your guidance office, if you haven’t already. Plan to take the SAT a couple of times and start researching affordable schools and schools that offer scholarships…sometimes you don’t have to have super stats to get enough to make a difference. And talk to your parents…you need to know what their thoughts are. Their assets are higher than what many families have so it’s possible they will be able to help. If they’re willing to send your brother to a private HS, they obviously think that education is important.</p>
<p>No it’s just that there’s gang violence and drugs at the local city high school[s] or if that’s too overstated then it just isn’t a good community to be honest</p>
<p>And assets are like a house right? because it’s just our house that I’m talking about. I’m sorry that this is really stupid sounding but I never thought about the cost aspect of college.</p>
<p>In order to understand the Fafsa and its EFC, you need to be sure you understand what info you enter on the forms. </p>
<p>On the Fafsa, they don’t look at house value. It’s not included in assets. The money your parents may have in certain retirement funds is not counted- one of the best ways to start grasping this whole thing is to look at finaid.org. Also collegeboard.com has info.</p>
<p>Even if the Fafsa EFC doesn’t qualify you for certain fed money, you can likely still get a Stafford loan- $5500 for 1st year and more in other years. If your final “parent contribution” is a number they don’t have, they can think about “Parent Plus loans.” </p>
<p>When colleges determine what a family can pay, if they are using the CSS Profile, they will ask about your home equity- that’s the diff between what your parents still owe on the mortgage and what the house might be worth. Yes, they might think you could tap into that asset (eg, a home equity loan)- or mutual funds or savings accounts, etc. If that’s not reasonable for your family, you have that Plus Loan option.</p>
<p>But, the more you learn about finaid basics, they better you will understand how it works and what options are available. It’s great you ran the simple EFC calculator- congrats for taking that step; many adults don’t.
See what you can learn via finaid.org and/or collegeboard.com and then keep asking questions on CC.</p>
<p>With an $80,000 income, your FAFSA EFC will roughly be between $20,000 and $26,000 per year. The FAFSA does not include your primary residence as an asset.</p>
<p>The Profile schools do include home equity (the difference between the value of your house and any outstanding mortgage) to some degree. </p>
<p>As noted, you could get a Stafford loan by filing the FAFSA. </p>
<p>Agreed, have a discussion with your parents about college and how they hope to see this financed.</p>
<p>It’s a guestimate…for many middle income wage earners, the EFC is between 1/4 and 1/3 of your gross annual income (with the higher end being for those with more assets)…at least that has been our experience. Your mileage may vary…the best way to get a GUESTIMATE of your EFC is to use one of the online calculators.</p>
<p>Move away from the Quick EFC calculator and use the longer one on that site. For “FM” (federal methodology,) do not reflect the house in any asset figure. For the IM (Institutional Methodology- an approximation of the Profile,) when you tally assets, the house part is ONLY its equity- diff between what’s owed on the mortgage and what it might sell for. Eg, it could be worth $200,000, but the mortgage balance is $140,000- so you only factor in $60,000. </p>
<p>It’s not about monthly “housing costs.” Why don’t you let us know exactly how you came up with assets- savings, investments, house equity etc- and we’ll see if you added in something that doesn’t matter.</p>
<p>Let’s consider income, too. Is $82,000 the sum of your parents annual paychecks? Remember, the FAFSA looks at adjusted gross income (AGI), which is found on line 37 of the 1040 tax form. A gross income of $82,000 could well have an AGI of $60,000 or less, depending on exemptions and deductions taken.</p>
<p>My parents just told me 82k so it’s probably less. My mom said she’d fill one out using her tax stuff and everything so I’ll get back on that later.</p>