<p>I finished the FAFSA, and my EFC was 58,000!!!
Is there any point in applying for aid? </p>
<p>Also do any schools require you to submit FAFSA before you are elligble for Merit based scholarships?</p>
<p>Any advice would be great!</p>
<p>bump.
I really want to know if I can reduce the burden on my parents. b/c we dont understand why our EFC is so high.</p>
<p>You can check you numbers to make sure the EFC is correct. THere are merit awards that require FAFSA. You need to check through your schools' web and other info to see if any of them have such awards. </p>
<p>You may want your app on file just in case a situation should arise where your family qualifies for aid. Some schools will not immediately consider aid for those who did not apply freshman year, or put them in line behind those who did.</p>
<p>you might want to submit your FAFSA anyway, because some prestigious schools award merit money, because they cant give you need money. Even if your EFC is 58K, i'm sure schools will give you money. Its a free form so it wont hurt to submit it anyway, as long as the schools are need-blind.</p>
<p>Even if you have a high EFC depending upon the federal methodolgy, you still, 95% of the cases submit the FAFSA. Your question leaves a lot of questions unaswered. With an EFC of $58,000 you may have an income of over $220,000 and be a family of four. Let's say circumstances change such as a younger sibling in college or loss of income. The elite colleges (the ones with the money) tell me that if the family has not filed at least a FAFSA in the freshman year, the chances of getting college based grants in later years are slim to none...and "Slim just left the room". </p>
<p>Having said that however, I also would not be surprised if you made an error in your calculations. Particurlarly if your income does not resemble the above income profile.</p>
<p>You may still want to submit the FAFSA. Even with a high EFC, you will be eligible for unsubsidized Federal loans, which can provide a good alternative for financing a portion of the costs.</p>
<p>unsubsidized with 50+k? =/</p>
<p>Sure. Unsubsidized loans, you pay the interest. Subsidized are better, but not likely with an EFC of 58,000.</p>
<p>well since this is fairly anonymous I might as well give my combined income. around 170K. It is a family of 4. </p>
<p>I realize that FAFSA is free but the problem is that CSS costs about $18 per school. I've applied to so many schools, so I hope to get some scholarships.
Does this EFC sound a little high?
My brother will be going to college at about the time I get out of undergrad - not exactly friendly on my parents budget especially if im going to schools with 45k+ sticker price.</p>
<p>Don't forget that the fafsa also takes assets into consideration. If you have savings it will definitely raise your efc a lot.</p>
<p>I'm betting that with the income you've stated, that the EFC is correct. Ridiculous, but correct.</p>
<p>Sorry, it does not sound high for your income. But like they said above, depends on the schools, some award merit only if you fill out the finaid forms (and some do not require the forms at all). I would advise filling them out, you never know and it is only 18/school.
It will be easier next year!</p>
<p>Is a parent a business owner or are your parent's assets over thier asset protectional allowance? I know, "what's that?" you say. It is an amount the the FM and IM methodologies do not consider in thier calculations. i.e. If the oldest parent is 46 in your family, your APA could be around $45,000 for the FM and possibly higher for the IM. So, if your parent's liquid savings, or equity in the second home (if any) is over that APA by $40,000 your FM EFC from assets is $2240. Not a big deal, in the grand scheme of things. That is why it is always to save as much as you can from birth...in parent's name.
Hopefully you have researched all of your colleges in your junior year and determined what, if any, merit (non-need) scholarships they offer. Do you qualify for any? Merit is not offered at the Ivy or, dare I say it, the "small ivies", but there are still wonderful colleges that will recognize your achievement and not penalize your parent's. Hope they are on your list.</p>
<p>By the way, when you brother enters college he may have a better package than you if you continue on to grad school. You may still count as a "family member" and sibling in college on your siblings forms. Good luck with those college based scholarships. Once in college, keep looking for creative ways to lower the burden on your family. Too numberous to mention here.</p>
<p>$170,00 for a family of 4 is a lot of money. It probably puts your family in the top 5% of American households in terms of income. In other words, you'd be considered upper class based on your income, and it's unrealistic to expect to qualify for need-based aid.</p>
<p>are you joking me, your rich. Stop complaining. Please.</p>
<p>My net family income is 35K for 4 people. Thats a lot less than what your family makes. my EFC is around $1500 and that just so happens to be very close to what my mother can actually spare. The EFC calculations are very accurate if ya ask me.</p>
<p>If it so happens and this is more then likely true, tyhat your high EFC is not something that your family can pay, then the result is,that you and your family are living beyond your means. You will need to give up some of the luxury to afford the school. If my family can afford to support 2 college students and another 2 family members on 35K a year, you and your family can easily afford the college in full of your choice and live what I live on 3x over.</p>
<p>I would still apply for it, because well it helps make the fafsa algorithms more accurate and well ya dont have anything to loose by doing so.</p>
<p>^^^lol...OP, I can assure you that my problems are still greater.</p>
<p>We're in a similar situation: We currently have a fairly high household income (200,000+) but this is a rather recent development. We live in a very high-cost part of the country (enormous housing costs and higher property taxes than anywhere else in the U.S.) and, though we are not self-employed, we are pretty much responsible for our own retirement -- which at this point won't be possible for a long time.
As of September, we'll have two kids in college.
We're planning to complete the FAFSA, but I suspect we're in that odd place where we won't qualify for aid, but we really can't comfortably afford $60,000 a year.
Anyone have any experience with this?</p>
<p>precisely my position. My families income went that high only one or two years ago.</p>
<p>This thread was not created as a complaint. I'm looking for some advice.</p>
<p>Nope. We pay approx. $15,000 a year for DD's Univ. on combined salaries (AGI) of less than $90,000. Minus taxes - we pay about $25% of our income to the university, and we are happy to be able to afford that. We have no savings to speak of - but we ain't broke yet. It still seems like you richer folks should be able to afford the bill paying full-fare. ;) Ditch the cable TV, cancel maid service, stop eating out and shopping for expensive clothes, get rid of cars for your teenagers, trips to Europe, professional haircutting, manicures, pedicures, dog grooming, wash your own car, pack your lunch, ex the dry cleaning - voila! You just saved enough money to pay for college. :)</p>
<p>Yikes! Some gremlin has been switching the keys on my keyboard. In my haste I did not read what I wrote to check spelling. </p>
<p>In any case, with two in college, you may qualify for need based aid at colleges in the $49,000/year range. At one time (10 years or more back) some colleges would consider your demographic and higher living costs if you appealed and they wanted your child bad enough. That's called "financial aid leveraging" using their (anything they want to do, they can do) professional judgement. Now, they will say it was a lifestyle choice and "we regret to inform you that ...."</p>