I am weighing my college options and still cannot figure out how to bridge the gap between the net cost of attendance and expected family contribution. Colleges start with the cost of tuition, room & board, textbooks, etc. subtract merit scholarships, subtract grants and pell, but the net is substantially higher than what my estimated family contribution is which is determined by filing out FASFA right?? Aren’t need blind schools supposed to cover the cost after the expected family contribution? Am I supposed to have my parents co-sign a loan for the difference? Would someone please explain.
No.
No.
Need blind is an admissions term, not a financial aid term. Some schools will provide aid that bridges the gap between your expected family contribution (EFC) and the school’s cost of attendance (COA). This practice is called “meets full need,” is only done by a relatively small number of schools, and the EFC is something the school calculates; it is not based on the FAFSA.
I’ve seen a number of posts lately from recently admitted students who have the mistaken belief that somehow the gap between their FAFSA EFC and a school’s COA will always be covered by some magical financial aid. Further proof for me that “Expected Family Contribution” is a horribly misleading name for the number that FAFSA spits out.
Agree with all of the above.
It would be helpful to know the schools you are talking about.
Do they meet full need? Most schools don’t. The ones that do typically require applicants to file CSS Profile in addition to FAFSA.
Did they require CSS profile? If so, they used a proprietary formula to calculate your family’s need. Your FAFSA EFC is irrelevant.
Were the financial aid packages close to what the schools’ net price calculators estimated for COA?
Do you have any affordable options?
EFC is the estimated Family contribution but it is the **minimum **you will be expected to pay
Need Blind schools do not consider your financial status during the admission process. It has nothing to do with getting financial aid.
Meet needs schools are schools which offer financial aid that equals the family’s demonstrated financial need.
Up to your parents if they are willing to fund your college costs by taking out the Parent plus loans. You as a student can only take out $27K/4 years in federal student loans.
If there is a cost gap, then it is up to you and family to determine how to pay for it.
NEED BLIND means that when you submit your application for admittance, the university does not look at your parents’ ability to pay for the school. They look at the person to see if the student is a good fit for the school. It does not mean that they will fund you. It means that they have you equal, in ability, when compared to others who apply. It doesn’t mean that you get a full ride.
NEED AWARE means that they DO look to see if you can pay the bill. If you can’t, they might not admit you because they don’t have the funds to cover your expenses. Students who can pay full costs have an advantage.
Meet need schools do not necessarily meet the family’s need as defined by the FAFSA EFC however. There is a $10k difference in what a meets need college provided us vs our EFC. The school determines your need in a different way.
Most colleges that meet full need also use the CSS Profile which delves into much greater detail about finances than the FAFSA. The FAFSA EFC is really not used when Profile schools calculate the need based aid they award you.
University of Chicago meets full need and uses the FAFSA and a very short Chicago form.
Princeton uses its own form which is similar to the Profile.
You should have all of your financial aid packages by now. Do any of the acceptances you have have a net cost that is affordable for your family? Really it’s April 20, and the likelihood of finding additional aid now is pretty low.
Can your family afford any of the acceptances you received?
What will your parents pay annually for your college costs? That’s your budget plus the aid you received.
If you’re a Pell eligible NYS resident, you should be looking at SUNY schools. Can you commute to any of them?
Yes, all financial aid packages are in and I misspoke when I mentioned need blind…I do realize that has to do with admission decisions. I guess I’m confused when a school says they meet the demonstrated need of admitted applicants via the FASFA and CSS but then when the financial aid package is received a gap still remains between EFC and net price. So if a gap remains between the EFC and net college cost, a student can take out a loan for a total of $27K for 4 years and whatever difference remains, parents have to take out a plus loan, assuming that is the means of funding the gap.
Yes, some meets full need schools use the Federal Direct Student Loan to meet full need.
I don’t know of any meet full need schools that use Parent Plus loans to meet full need, that would be misleading to say the least (but there could be schools that do that)…have you received an FA package like that from a meet full need school?
I have seen many schools that do not meet full need use Parent Plus loans of large amounts, say $20K+, to fill the gap. Obviously ridiculous, and taking out debt at the level usually does not make sense.
At a meets full need school, the aid package should be based on whatever the difference is between the school’s COA and the student’s EFC, *as the EFC is calculated by the school/i. The aid package will likely include some self-help elements, which means things like federal direct student loans and work study. The actual family contribution part can come from college savings, current income, and/or loans other than the federal direct student loans.
What school is this? Are you sure it’s a meet’s full need school? The FAFSA EFC is mainly just for determining federal aid. If the EFC is over 6K you pretty much don’t qualify for anything except loans from them. I agree that they really need to change the terminology for that because people commonly think that number is all they’re going to have to pay.
Does this college guarantee to meet the full need of all accepted students? I’m not clear on that.
The FAFSA EFC would really be meaningless for a Profile school except in terms of your eligibility for a Pell Grant. Was your FAFSA EFC below $6000? If not, you wouldn’t be Pell eligible.
The Profile looks far more in-depth at family financials than the FAFSA does. Things like home equity are considered.
You say there is a gap. Is there a gap between cost of attendance minus aid? Or is there a gap between what you thought your EFC would be with the FAFSA?
Any chance your parents are self employed or own a business?
And my opinion (especially in these tough financial times), if you need a loan in excess of the Direct Loan ($5500 for freshman year), the school is not affordable.
How much in loans are you anticipating your parents will need to take each year?
What’s your EFC and what grants did you get? If your parents have to take out loans to pay for a college it’s not affordable. You can start at a cc and transfer to a 4 year SUNY.
For colleges that claim to meet full need, unless they also have a no-loan policy (at least for families whose incomes are below certain level), loans, whether federal and/or institutional, will be included to meet the need as defined by the colleges. Student contributions in the form of work-study and summer earnings are always part of a financial aid package.