<p>efc is now known and it's about 15k.
can someone tell me why it's so high if parents' income is just under 80k/year.
this doesn't seem right to me. plus, there isn't much more to offer in savings accounts and all that other stuff. seems unreasonable.</p>
<p>I hate to be the one to tell you this, but an EFC of 15,000 is the correct calculation for a family of 3 in California with an income of 79,000 and 100,000 in investments. I assumed what I could from your message and plugged it in to the calculator at finaid.org </p>
<p>$15,000 is the amount the American People expect your family to contribute to your education, the will of the people having been expressed by Congress through the Dept. of Education by way of the FAFSA formula.</p>
<p>to reiterate other threads
EFC is not meant to be what you easily can pay out of current income.
EFC is a combination of what you can borrow , take out of savings, current income, and summer earnings of the student.</p>
<p>Some students have found that the PROFILE which private schools sometimes use, indicate additional expenses, which allow the schools that meet 100% need to make larger fiancial aid offers.
If your EFC- ( and it sounds like it is) is about the cost of an instate public school & room and board, you may find that a private school offers a better aid package.
However, not all private schools meet 100% of need- many gap- or they meet need with loans and not grants, instead of a combination of loans,grants and work study.
You might want to read one of the many threads on others shock on discovering their EFC- but yours sounds accurate.
Welcome to the club ;)</p>