So, I have submitted the fafsa a while ago and was looking through various CC posts. It seems that many of the CC posts have efc’s and total incomes that are way different from mine. I’m not sure why this is, but am starting to think that maybe I made a mistake on the fafsa… Our efc is $39K with a total income of $168, of which only $114 is income… I thought the efc would be lower… Anyone care to comment? Thanks!!!
Why is total income 163, only 114 of which is income? That is nearly $50k difference.
<<<our efc="" is="" $39k="" with="" a="" total="" income="" of="" $168,="" which="" only="" $114="" income…="">>
Do you mean $168K total income? And $114k net income?
How much do you have in savings?
Do you have any investments? Investment income? (Profits from stocks, dividend, etc)
How much was put into retirement accounts for the year?
Is your income $168 or is it $168,000.
Please clarify.
Are your parents self employed?
If you only have an annual income of $168, how,are younpaying your living expenses?
ETA…if your total income is $168,000, I would expect yourmfafsa EFC to be HIGHER than $39,000.
@Irishcali --are you a parent or a student?
On your account you speak of having two other students at Notre Dame.
Is your EFC different now than it was previously from the other two?
I guess what I am wondering is what the correlation is between income/efc? Obviously, the higher the income, the higher the efc, but I was wondering what other factors might be involved and where the cut offs are? Anyone know?
Assets are also part of the EFC. Things that might not be income on taxes might be income on the FAFSA (like a 401k contribution in that tax year). Child support. Equity in a second home.
Cut offs? There are allowances for assets, but those will vary with the age of the parent.
There are threads here on CC and information readily available online providing detail on how the FAFSA EFC calculation is done. A little search effort will go a long way.
BelknapPoint-that wasn’t very helpful. Isn’t this a forum for questions? honestly…
Could you please clarify your family income?
If it is $168,000 then an EFC per fafsa of $39,000 is about right in my estimation.
Why do you think it’s wrong?
Excuse me? There is very specific information out there to answer your question. I was letting you know that. Sheesh.
I’ve asked a question…and others have asked the same one. Could you please clarify your family income.
There is NO WAY for anyone on this forum to help you without that information.
If you don’t want to share that info here…that is fine. If that is the case…do,a search for the info as @BelknapPoint has suggested, and plug the numbers in yourself.
My guess is that the OP means to say that EFC is $39K with a total income of $168K, of which only $114K is earned income.
The FAFSA separates out income from employment for accounting purposes, as the FAFSA formulas account for federal payroll deductions.
So OP is saying probably saying that parents earn $114K and the family has an additional $54K in income from other sources (such as investment income).
I haven’t played with EFC formulas for awhile, but I would expect EFC to be significantly higher with that level of income, especially as the high level of unearned income suggests the existence of substantial assets which would also need to be counted.
I agree…@calmom. The EFC per fafsa is NOT high, in my opinion. If anything…it is low.
To @Irishcali
What makes you think your EFC as calculated by Fafsa is too HIGH?
Will you have other students IN college at the same time? You indicate that you have had TWO other kiddos who attended Norte Dame, both accepted early action. What was your EFC with those kids? Also, ND does meet full need while the schools you are listing for the current HS senior do not.
@calmom the OP is the parent.
Another thought…when your first two kids were in college…were they there at the same time? In other words…did you have two kids enrolled in college simultaneously? If so, the EFC for each kiddo would be about 1/2 of what it is for only one in at the same time.
Will any of your other kids be in college while,the current HS senior is in college?
It looks like child number 4 will be the only one attending college fall 2017 as other kids will have graduated.
If your EFC is 39K for 1 kid (which I also think is kind of low) and your school does not meet 100% demonstrated need, you may be better served chasing merit at schools where your S may have a chance of getting a full (or close to full) tuition scholarship.
Income, assets and household size, number of students in college affect FAFSA EFC. Home equity can also be counted by schools that use CSS profile.
Any chance you could answer some of the questions posed to you on this thread?
If you did, you might get some better answers.
Thank you all for the helpful answers. I appreciate it.