FAFSA for two kids resulted in two different EFC numbers. Huh?

Just completed the FAFSA for both my kids. Imported data from the first one (completed) to the second one. Completed the second one then checked the EFC. Numbers were over 1k different. Anyone have an inkling why? Thanks.

Do the kids have different amounts of assets? That would definitely cause the EFCs to differ.

do your kids report income? do they have assets?

how much does each kid earn or have saved?

Probably student income, and/or student assets.

Does one kid have more student income than the other? Does one have more savings than the other?

Yes, one has more in savings by about $150

Good catch. Same thing happened to me (about 1k off). One did earn more than the other over the summer resulting in more savings. Must be the issue.

$150 would likely make a $30 difference.

Can you print out the FAFSAs…both of them, and review the items you can see line by line, side by side. See if perhaps you added an extra zero, or misplaced a decimal point on the asset side. Since you used the DRT for both, that information should be the same.

Then, if your kids worked, look at both W2 forms to see the difference in income.

And lastly, did you parents do a retirement rollover in 2018? If so, maybe you properly indicated this on one student’s form and not the other one.

Did one have income over the income protection allowance, that contributed to their FAFSA EFC?

For 2020/21 that is $6,840 plus any federal, state, soc sec tax paid.

Student ssets are assessed at 20% so like Thumper1 said $150 difference would add $30.

Did one have federal work study income or taxable scholarships that they reported on their tax return, but can be excluded on the FAFSA?

So all data entered is the same for both from the parent side of things. No, my kids summer jobs didn’t pay that well for them to make over the income protection allowance (They wish!). No work study for either, yet. About a 10% difference in the two EFC’s between the two kids. Weird.

And you did not have a retirement rollover in 2018?

There should be that big a difference. I had two start at the same time. One had some savings. I think her EFC was about $100 higher than her sister’s, not $1000

You know…the mistake could be on either FAFSA.

Check check each entry. Look for a misplaced decimal point. $5000 in assets could easily become $50,000 if a additional zero was added by mistake or of a decimal point was misplaced.

And really if you had a retirement rollover, and didn’t indicate this properly on one FAFSA…that retirement rollover would have counted as income.

No retirement rollover. Data was automatically transferred/populated for parents from the first completed FAFSA to the second.

Then something wasn’t entered correctly for the kids. Check each line of both FAFSA forms line by line…side by side.

If parent income was imported, and no rollover was done in 2018…

Then you check…to make sure these are the same!

  1. Parent assets.
  2. Kid incomes and assets.
  3. Number of family members.
  4. Make sure assets are listed in the right place...that parent assets are not in the student section.

Check each line. Are these FAFSA forms identical…every single entry?

Thanks for the tips everyone. And yes, the data entered matches with the exception of the kids’ individual incomes, which only varies slightly, as noted above. No retirement rollover.

You said that one of your kids had $150 more in savings…but you never mentioned their actual incomes or the savings amounts.

What were those incomes…in 2018

ETA…you are talking about FAFSA EFC Numbers, right? Please keep in mind that the EFC is used primarily to calculate federally funded need based aid.

Have you run the net price calculators for your two students? Will they be attending or applying to the same colleges? The net price calculator really will give you a better sense of potential for aid than the FAFSA EFC (unless you are divorced, own a business, or own property other than your primary residence).

One more thought…did one of these students have a work study job and have earnings from that? If so, those earnings are completely excluded from the EFC formula.

If one of these students has money in the bank that is student financial aid money…that doesn’t count either.

No financial aid money in the bank. No work study for either.
Both are current college students so I am all to aware of their costs the past year ;). Both made little over the summer of 2018 ($1,050 and $1200, hence the $150 differential).

Figure the FAFSA EFC for parent income and assets. Then divide by two, then add to that the asset contribution of the student.

Since both had income lower than $6,840, that didn’t add to the EFC. One will add $240 and the other $210 from assets (20% of $1,200 or $1,050) to arrive at each individual EFC.

Something else must have happened to add $1,000 to the EFC of only one student.

Did they both indicate 2 students in college? Did they both indicate the same household size? Do they both have the same income from work for both parents?

If the parents had to list asset amount (over asset protection amount or state requires it, no simplified needs etc), are those amounts the same on both FAFSAs?