Email from government: Financial aid officer at my school has adjusted my EFC?

Paying for College
1

<p>I got the following email the other day:</p>

<p>(Emphasis added by me.)

[quote]

To: Uuu
From: Federal Student aid</p>

<p>Dear UUU,</p>

<p>Your Correction to your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) has been processed and the data will be made available to the school(s) listed on your corrected FAFSA. The financial aid office at your school will contact you if additional information is required.</p>

<p>The Financial Aid Administrator (FAA) at your school has made corrections to your application. If you think you need to make additional corrections, please contact your FAA before doing so. </p>

<p>Your Student Aid Report (SAR), which contains a summary of your FAFSA information, is now available for you online. Review your SAR as soon as possible to see if any additional information or corrections may be needed.</p>

<p>Use the link below to view your SAR. You can select the link or copy the entire link and paste it into the address or location line of your Web browser. Make sure you copy and paste the entire link; it may appear on multiple lines.
(link)

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I followed the link and found that my EFC had decreased mysteriously from a few grand to $0. I was unable to find any record of which school's financial aid officer made an adjustment to my FAFSA (I will transfer to Cornell this Fall, but for now I attend a community college- which school was it?), nor was I able to figure out what details they may have "adjusted" (could they have just assigned an EFC of zero for me, or would they have had to change the value of one of the numbers I originally entered into the FAFSA to achieve a zero result?)</p>

<p>What is going on? Why didn't my school tell me they were adjusting my FAFSA? Why might they have decided to adjust it? Does anyone know how I can find out more information about who adjusted my FAFSA and how it has been adjusted?</p>

2

<p>I had the same thing happen to me. If you were up for verification, the papers you sent in could have changed your EFC. I’m not exactly sure what was changed on mine, but I don’t really question it because my EFC dropped and I received more aid. Lol.</p>

3

<p>I do verifications and adjust the elements that go into the EFC on a daily basis. Sometimes the EFC goes up, sometimes it goes down. I don’t tell the student that I did it … I note it on the computer system in case the student calls & asks, though. It is VERY common that changes are needed during verification. Students make lots of mistakes - usually without meaning to do so. Be glad it was in your favor! You can always call the school you plan to attend & ask if they have the change on file. It is possible you may have been eligible for an automatic 0 EFC but did not receive federal benefits & said your parents were not eligible to file a 1040A or 1040EZ. Then the aid administrator might have determined that they WERE eligible to file the A/EZ, even if they filed a 1040. That update could have changed your EFC to 0. Things like this are relatively common. Again, be glad you were on the good side of the change.</p>

4

<p>It happens all the time. Congratulations, it was in your favor. Smile.</p>

5

<p>i had my verification done and i got the email as well</p>