2 oldest kids going off to college this fall and we noted that when filling out FAFSA. When it says our EFC is 25k, is that PER child? or total?
If it is total, how can a school give the correct financial aid without knowing the cost of the other Childs school? I hope my question makes sense…
I want to ask a few schools for more money and don’t really understand how FAFSA works.
Thanks in advance!
Per child. But schools that only use FAFSA to distribute institutional need-based aid are not at all likely to be generous or come close to filling any gap between the Cost of Attendance and the student’s EFC.
Your total EFC is $50,000. They split it evenly based on your post.
There are cases where the formula shifts it to one or the other based on things like one living at home and commuting or other things entered.
Remember if one decides to delay a year, then the EFC becomes $50,000 for the one.
Your children will get financial aid packages from the colleges they applied to with various combinations of need based aid, merit, student loans, work study, parent loans, etc…it is hard to compare apples to apples.
If any colleges meet 100% need they will have their own formula and it may or may not get you to $25,000 that they expect you to pay.
If the college is instate and the total cost is $19,000 you would most likely get no need based aid. You would pay $19,000.
If the college is a private college that meets 100% of need and costs $65,000 per year, the financial aid package may be about $40,000. Remember that $40,000 could be made up of a $5000 student loan, $3000 in summer job contributions from student, $12,000 in need based scholarships, and a $20,000 parent plus loan. So you are really expected to pay $25,000 plus take out a $20,000 loan for a total of $45,000 plus interest out of pocket.
Some financial aid packages do not include loans in the need based packages others do.
@Pathnottaken, thanks for the breakdown! 
It’s per kid.
Most colleges don’t care what you are paying for another kid in college…but there are a few who ask.
Some colleges do ask you to 'affirm (sometimes just send the info of where they go to school) that you have a second or third child in school, but the amount you spend for that other tuition may not be asked for, and the school may not care. FAFSA is really only for federal funds, but a few schools do award their own money based only on the FAFSA numbers.
I was asked where child #2 went to school but not what the cost was to me. That was good as #2 was on a full scholarship. Still got the FAFSA 50/50 split so it benefited child #1
As an FYI…that 50/50 EFC split for FAFSA is ending as of the 2023-2024 academic year I believe (@kelsmom do I have the year right).
Yes, that’s correct.