<p>Next year, S1 will be a college sophmore and D1 will be a college freshman. We have filed FAFSA for both kiddos, and were required to file CSS Profile for just D1. We have completed all due dilligence with IDOC for son...but have not yet been able to link to IRS through FAFSA for either child.</p>
<p>Our FAFSA EFC varies slightly for each child... presumably due to our son's actual income from last summer's job being higher than our daughter's summer income.</p>
<p>Should we view these two EFC numbers independently as approximate payments to EACH college, or can we expect the two EFC's to be averaged, as a TOTAL out-of-pocket responsibility for our family? With no numbers yet from S1's college... and only institutional grant $$ and loans reported from D1's three top choices... I am not sure what to expect.</p>
<p>The FAFSA EFC is simply a number to determine what Federal financial aid you may qualify for. It does not determine what your family will be expected to pay…it is misleading. The CSS/Profile schools have their own ways of determining what your family will be expected to pay, and it can vary wildly from the FAFSA EFC. Profile schools gather more information than the FAFSA does for this reason. We have a FAFSA EFC of 6800 or so, and the best school offer we got aid from leaves us paying almost twice our EFC. Some schools expected us to come up with more than 3 times that amount, including one Profile school, and one that used it’s own Financial Aid forms along with FAFSA. Be prepared for a few surprises…good luck!</p>
<p>Son’s school gives need-based aid ONLY. Last year he got grant = approximately 25% COA. But our income went up for 2011.</p>
<p>We do not qualify for FEderal aid, other than loans.</p>
<p>Because both kids will be at private institutions… it sounds like we will pretty much be in the dark regarding aid offered by our son’s school, until they decide how to fill the EFC with grants & loans?</p>
<p>CSS schools don’t split EFC 50/50. They compute their own “family contribution” and then they split it 60/60 when there are two in school.</p>
<p>No, the EFCs will not be “averaged.” </p>
<p>Since it sounds like your D will not be attending a school that meets need, that school may require you to pay a LOT more than her EFC.</p>
<p>Does your son’s school promise to meet need?</p>
<p>Your EFC at your D’s school may be meaningless since you’re beyond Pell amounts and your EFC is high. If any aren’t CSS schools, that often suggests that those schools don’t meet need.</p>
<p>If your son received a grant of about 25% of a private, then thats about $13k. If your income has gone up (not a whole lot) and they consider that his sister will be in school, the amount next year could be about the same or a bit more.</p>
<p>What is the EFC for the D? What kind of schools did she apply to? When you say that she’s received institutional grants so far…do you mean need-based aid or merit scholarships?</p>
<p>Hopefully, Thumper will add to this with her experiences in having two kids at college at the same time. If you have two kids in colleges that guarantee to meet full need, you’ll do a lot better than with other combinations. If a school does not guarantee to meet full need to begin with, that you need more money is not likely to be met fully. Schools have their own formulas. Though the EFC will be halved, as Teachanmom states, that figure is rarely what is used and the need generated fully met. It is really just a guide for federal aid and for any other programs that also hitch their guidelines to it. It states whether you a PELL eligible and can get some subsidized loans is most of it. Those schools that solely use it as their financial aid indicator do not meet full need. </p>
<p>My neighbor has done well with 3 in college this year, but she has them in schools that use the same methodology, all Patriot League school, Colgate, Leihigh and Bucknell. She told me that the third going to Bucknell this past year, gave the family by far the best package (twins at the other two).</p>
<p>We are a single income familyof 6…with a couple 6th graders at home, too. </p>
<p>My husband’s 2011 income went up about 40% due to unusual circumstance (one-time payment due to prolonged uncertainty when his employer sold the company). We will be sending an explanation of this unusual circumstance shortly, along with the required sibling school verification forms. </p>
<p>I’m not counting on much more aid from my daughter’s top choices, than what has been communicated already: $5,000 - $9,000/yr x 4 years in misc grants (civic/religious) at her top 3 schools. </p>
<p>My uncertainty was with the opportunity for funds from my son’s college…which does commit to meeting 100% of need for first year students…with all student financial assistance renewable yearly, assuming that a student’s family continues to demonstrate calculated need.</p>
<p>It sounds like a crapshoot this year… with a chance for a little more from both institutions next time around, based on my husband’s historically reported income figures. Thanks for your help!</p>
<p>Sounds like the 40% income increase will be an issue. They may not take it all into acct with an explanation, but I doubt they will just ignore it. It’s like an inheritance payout…it exists and schools will expect some of it to be used for college.</p>
<p>It does sound like you’ll be “full pay” at the D’s schools except for the merit award (tuition discounting) offers that she’s been given. </p>
<p>As for your son’s school, you may not see much help at all. You may not even get the 25% grant.</p>
<p>I’m looking at it this way…It sounds like your son received about $14k from his private school which has a COA of about $55-60k. That suggests that the school determined that your “family contribution” was around $45k…which suggests an income of around $150k or so. With a 40% increase in income, that puts your income well above the $200k mark. </p>
<p>Frankly, I would be more concerned about paying for both kids when the income goes back down since the D’s school isn’t likely to give much more in the future. You could end up paying half your income in college costs.</p>
<p>We fully expect to apply my husband’s one-time retention bonus to college tuitions in the coming year. We also have some 529 funds and savings to make it happen (which were also declared assets this same time last year). Other than tuition (they both went to private HS) we live very modestly. We have asked the kids to take out $2,500 student loans each year as well, so they have some skin in the game… but no more than $10,000 debt by the time they graduate. </p>
<p>I can always return to work if I must. We’re not terribly concerned about our long-term viability, unless my husbnad’s new employer deems his position to be redundant - which is a possibility. Heck - that uncertainty could hold true for most anyone in this economy.</p>
<p>Our daughter does have a financial safety school on her list to chose from in the next couple weeks …where the straight up COA is about $27K. We have that option, if the numbers for her 3 top private school choices don’t add up long-term for our family. Thanks again, for your input.</p>
<p>Out of curiosity, I ran a Net Price Calculator at a full need school where my daughter may attend with and without our other college kid factoring I the equation. With two kids the grants were $25k, with one it went all the way down to $11k. </p>
<p>Your mileage will vary, but try the calculators to see what ifs.</p>
<p>It is tough when you have two in college at the same time, and you have to wait for the college student’s new aid package with no idea what to expect. I hope it works out well. It’s just impossible to predict with schools defining needs as they please instead of by formula, like FAFSA does.</p>