Hey guys! I live with my single mom who makes about 46,000 a year with no assets. My EFC is about 14,500. I don’t know where they are getting this number because after taxes, mortgage, property tax, insurance, and day to day necessities there is almost no money left. There is no wa she could be able to contribute almost 15,000 dollars towards my college, and since they have my EFC so I high I get no aid aside from loans. I was going to call and talk to a fafsa rep and also try to talk to my FA department of my school to appeal my aid amount, but does anyone have any idea how I could fix this HIGH EFC? Thank you!
That number may be right for a family of two. Your mother may have assets too, however small (contributes to a 401k, a savings account?) Single parents do not get a break on FAFSA, and in fact have a much lower asset protection allowance than a married couple.
Many of us were in this position, not getting any help with college aid from the government. If you have high gpa and test scores, you might get merit aid at some schools. You might have to choose a school close to home and commute, go to school part time and work full time, or figure out another way to pay as you go.
She has $0 in a 401k and no savings, so don’t think that increasing the EFC. I just know that we could never afford to pay 15,000 and still survive:/
Then look over your FAFSA and see if there is a mistake
Your EFC seems to be a little high
There’s got to be a mistake somewhere that is adding a 0 to your EFC.
Is your dad in the picture at all? The fact that you live with your mom may not offset dad’s income.
Most important question to the poster…is this your FAFSA EFC? Or is this $14,500 your net cost to the college.
Does your college require the CSS Profile?
Does your college meet full need for all accepted students?
@bjkmom if this kid is talking bout a FAFSA EFC, then it would not include a parent that the kiddo doesn’t live with. The dad’s income would not count, or be included on the FAFSA.
BUT if the mom receives child support or spousal support, that would need to be included.
To @dannyrhammmond look over your submitted FAFSA…print it out…and look at it. Here are some common errors to look for.
- Did you put a decimal point in the wrong place...making something like 10,000.00 become 100,000?
Or did you add an extra zero?
- Did you put parent income in the student section and the parent section?
- Did you put balances in any retirement accounts in the asset section?
- Any chance your mom really does have retirement accounts...and did an IRA or TSA rollover in 2016?
Now…what about these questions…
- Does your mom receive spousal or child support?
- What was YOUR income in 2016? Do you have any savings or assets?
And what to do.
- First check that FAFSA for errors.
- Contact your financial aid department. They will likely be able to tell you what the issue is.
Are you talking about a FAFSA EFC being $14,500…or is this what your college is expecting your family to pay after your aid is applied? Clarify that, please.
What’s total cost and how much aid are you getting on top of that 14.5 EFC?
And does the 14.5 include the student loan Or is it your cost after a loan?
Many Fafsa-only schools can’t afford to give more aid.
My mom gets 1,000 a month from my father, but would that increase my EFC to 14,500? @thumper1 14,500 is my FAFSA EFC and since it’s so high I get no grants I just get $2500 in subsidize loans and $2500 in regular loans.
Which school are you attending? Some count home equity and the noncustodial parent income too.
If the $12k your mom gets every year from your dad is on top of her $46k income, she takes in $58k/year. My son got almost no federal aid when our household income was at that level (as a married couple). Single people don’t seem to have the same level of income/asset protection that individual spouses have, so it wouldn’t surprise me that a single person with the same income gets $0 federal aid. The maximum Pell Grant (for a $0 EFC) is only $5900, so even if they drop your EFC to $0 you’ll still have a gap of $6k.
How much can your mom actually afford? Will your dad help pay for college or does he consider the $12k/year his contribution?
have you checked your FAFSA for errors yet? Have you looked at every single entry to make sure it’s accurate.
Come back with your answer to that.
You get no grants? The total cost is 20k, tuition, room and board, fees? You’re expected to pay 14.5 and take a 5.5 loan? Or you’re mixing up terms? You make this confusing by only giving info in bits.
What school, so we can understand policy
Total Cost of Attendance to you- ie, the full bill.
Total free money they give you, if any.
I have checked my fafsa a couple times for errors. My mom makes about 46k before child support. I’m going to western New Mexico university. I’m getting 0 in grants 5k in loans and the cost of attendance is roughly 30K. So even if I took the loans and my mom had 14.5k(which she doesn’t) I would still be left without about 10k to pay.
Yes
If COA is 30k and your total family contribution is 20k, it doesn’t make sense there’s 10k unaccounted for.
@dannyrhammmond I have no idea why you’re saying the COA for Western NM is $30K. It’s not.
Also, are you instate or OOS?
Tuition & fees for 15-credit hours (Instate) = $3,412.13/semester
Tuition & fees for 15 credit hours (OOS) = $ 7,615.62/semester
(Meal Plan) Mustang Mix Plus: $1,950/semester
(Dorm) shared 4-bedroom suite: $2,418/semester per student
OOS COA = $11,983.62/semester or $23,967.24/year
Instate COA = $7780.13/semester or $15,560.26/year
https://admissions.wnmu.edu/tuition/
https://reslife.wnmu.edu/halls/
If you’re instate, are you eligible for the NM Legislative Lottery Scholarship? If so, it will pay 50% of your tuition starting second semester.
There are OOS tuition waivers for students from AZ, CO and El Paso TX. Plus WNMU participates in WUE.
Are you eligible for any of those?
WNMU has tons of small scholarships–https://foundation.wnmu.edu/scholarship/info/
Did you apply for any of those?
Total cost of attendance per year at Western is 18K for in state, with tuition reduction after the 1st semester if you qualify academically for the lottery scholarship. It’s also part of the WUE consortium, which offers reduced tuition to out of state students who live in Western states. 30K sounds high to me. If you are out of state for NM and don’t qualify for WUE or other reduced tuition offers, it might make sense to seek a more cost effective alternative in your state of residence.