<p>I must be missing something somewhere when filling out my D's FAFSA. It seems that I have seen mention on here that you put on the FAFSA how much debt you have and how much you owe on your home. However, I can't seem to find anything like that on the actual FAFSA. I did an online chat to ask this question and was told you don't get credit for debt or home value vs home equity. We have been trying to save for college and have about 1/2 of a 4 year degree saved. However, we still owe more on our home than we originally paid for it, although the value has increased. We did some stupid things finanically in the past and are working on rectifying this situation. Our EFC is $54,000, it doesn't even cost that much for two years at my D's university. The only financial aid she was offered was an unsubsidized loan. Can anyone give me any clarity on this or am I just missing something?</p>
<p>FAFSA does not ask for debt on your home and market value of your home. </p>
<p>If your D applied to a private school that uses the CSS PROFILE (on the collegeboard website) then PROFILE asks those questions: debt owed on the home, market value of the home. </p>
<p>An EFC of $54,000 exceeds the cost of many private schools and a few public ones as well for one year. Sounds like you have a very substantial income.</p>
<p>FAFSA doesn’t count home equity or debt. Debt is considered to be a “personal choice”. However, if the debt is from large medical bills (very large ones) then you might be able to get some adjustment, but probably not enough to get your EFC down to below the cost of this school.</p>
<p>Is the college savings in your name or your child’s? Having it in the child’s name may be what is causing your EFC to be so high.</p>
<p>*Our EFC is $54,000, it doesn’t even cost that much for two years at my D’s university. The only financial aid she was offered was an unsubsidized loan. Can anyone give me any clarity on this or am I just missing something? *</p>
<p>It sounds like your D will be going to a state school. Your EFC is higher than the cost, so that just means that you’ll be expected to pay the full cost of the school (probably about $20k per year). Your D can borrow 5500, which would mean that you would pay about $15k. And, you can have your D work over the summer and contribute some of that money.</p>
<p>Is your EFC driven mostly by income or by a college savings acct in your child’s name or both? </p>
<p>if the college savings is in your child’s name, then use as much as you can for the first year. However, it still sounds like your income is high enough that your EFC would still be higher than the school’s cost.</p>
<p>What is the cost breakdown of the school?</p>
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<p>As others have noted…your debt and how much you owe on your primary residence are items NOT included at all (ever) on the FAFSA.</p>
<p>If your EFC per FAFSA is in the $54K range, that would place your annual income estimate somewhere in the $150,000 range per year. With that amount of income and a cost of attendance that is half of the EFC, you would not be eligible for any need based financial aid.</p>
<p>Your student, however, can take a $5500 Stafford loan in their name.</p>
<p>I don’t know how they expect someone to use 1/3 of their income to pay for college. It doesn’t make any sense to me.</p>
<p>Here is the formula itself. Print it out, and work through it on paper to see which factors in your personal financial situation most affect your child’s results: <a href=“http://www.ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/101310EFCFormulaGuide1112.pdf[/url]”>http://www.ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/101310EFCFormulaGuide1112.pdf</a></p>
<p>They don’t expect you to pay 1/3 of your income for college. They expect that you would have realized that you were going to have a kid in college and save up for it. They expect the family contribution to come from savings, current income and loans. With an EFC of $54K, it means you have substantial income and can’t expect others to pay for your kid to go to college.</p>
<p>We have done our best to save but the years have gone by so quickly and we don’t have enough for all 4 years. I don’t think we have that high of income, have tried to put away what we can for school. We don’t live extravegently by any stretch of the imagination. What is the maximum loan for sophomores, juniors and seniors? My son has special needs and so at least I know he will not be going to a traditional college but I don’t know how parents come up with the cash to pay it all. She would only get $5500 in loans this year. That is still $15000 a year to come up with. Do they base it on gross or net income?</p>
<p>I don’t expect anyone to pay for my child’s college, just don’t know how I’m expected to come up with $20,000 per year or more. Our income only increased recently.</p>
<p>Your Adjusted Gross Income is what is used on the FAFSA. </p>
<p>Stafford loans…$5500 freshman, $6500 soph, $7500 junior, $7500 senior.</p>
<p>MOST families do not have a college savings for their kids. You are a step ahead in that regard. And it is a help to you. The assumption is that you will pay for college using past income (savings), current income (your current salary), and future income (loans). A combination of the three with someone with an EFC of $57,000 for a school that is $25,000 seems like it should be a possibility.</p>