<p>While the federal method from the FAFSA and the institutional method calculate different EFCs, why is the EFC on the finaid package so much higher than both? (the finaid package efc is about 2x my FAFSA)</p>
<p>Not sure what a finaid package is.</p>
<p>If you're talking about the estimated EFC that's calculated using the calculator at FinAid-- my experience has been that it matches the FAFSA EFC down to the dollar.</p>
<p>So if that's what you're referring to, you didn't enter the same figures into FinAid that you entered into the FAFSA. Double check your figures.</p>
<p>Sorry, i'll explain again lol, i used finaid to mean financial aid package</p>
<p>I used the college's calculator to calculate my EFC according to the IM, which I found to be a lot lower than my real FAFSA EFC (probably due to different factors that were/were not taken into account). But, the total parent/student contribution (not including loans, workstudy) on my financial aid package from the college was 2x as much as my FAFSA EFC.</p>
<p>Oh-- gotcha.</p>
<p>That's not unusual. That's called the 'gap' -- the gap between what your need is, and what the college financial aid package covers (including grants, loans, work study).</p>
<p>So your EFC isn't higher. It's just that this particular college doesn't cover 100% of your family need. Some do, many don't.</p>
<p>You can look up the average % need met by various colleges at College Board.</p>
<p>sblake7, the college does meet 100% need...it's just that the need determined by the college (loans, workstudy, parent/student contrib.) is 2x as high as my FAFSA EFC, which (fafsa) doesn't even take into account of other factors (affecting my ability to pay) that I mentioned on the CSS</p>
<p>sigh, i'm just going to wait until April and see if i'll be lucky enough to compare other aid packages. thanks</p>
<p>The FAFSA is basically used to determine your EFC and your eligibility to receive federal funds (pell and stafford loans). </p>
<p>The FAFSA is requested by all schools and is mainly used by schools that calculate FA using the federal methodology. </p>
<p>The schools that require the CSS profile often distribute their own institutional funds and use an institutional/ concensus methodolody. Like EK stated used the Profile to get a more complete picture of your financial situation.</p>
<p>Differences between the IM and FM models include:</p>
<p>IM collects information on estimated academic year family income, medical expenses, elementary and secondary school tuition and unusual circumstances. FM omits these questions.</p>
<p>IM considers a fuller range of family asset information, while FM ignores assets of siblings, all assets of certain families with less than $50,000 of income, and both home and family farm equity.</p>
<p>FM defines income as the adjusted gross income on federal tax returns, plus various categories of untaxed income. IM includes in total income any paper depreciation, business, rental or capital losses which artificially reduce adjusted gross income.</p>
<p>FM does not assume a minimum student contribution to education; IM expects the student, as primary beneficiary of the education, to devote some time each year to earning money to pay for education.</p>
<p>FM ignores the noncustodial parent in cases of divorce or separation; IM expects parents to help pay for education, regardless of current marital status.</p>
<p>FM and IM apply different percentages to adjust the parental contribution when multiple siblings are simultaneously enrolled in college, and IM considers only siblings enrolled in undergraduate programs.</p>
<p>The IM expected family share represents a best estimate of a familys capacity (relative to other families) to absorb, over time, the costs of education. It is not an assessment of cash on hand, a value judgment about how much a family should be able to use current income, or a measure of liquidity. The final determinations of demonstrated need and awards rest with the University and are based upon a uniform and consistent treatment of family circumstances.</p>
<p>Except in the most extraordinary circumstances, Colleges classifies incoming students as dependent upon parents for institutional aid purposes, even though some students may meet the federal definition of independence.</p>
<p>Students enrolling as dependent students are considered dependent throughout their undergraduate years when need for institutional scholarships is determined.</p>
<p>For institutional aid purposes a student may not declare independence due to attainment of legal age, internal family arrangements, marriage or family disagreements.</p>
<p>Your COA (cost of attendance) is tuition, room board, books travel expenses and some misc. expenses associated with attending college.</p>
<p>I asked similar question before, in my case, IM calculated EFC is a lot lower than FAFSA EFC, I was wondering how the college would treat the difference, from your experience, it does not look good, they seems ignore the CSS profile. I will find out in April.</p>
<p>dyx -- you need to work with the college. Call and ask to talk to a financial aid counselor and ask them to go over the figures with you and ask how they calculated the need. They may or may not give you information that helps, but you can't know without asking. There are all sorts of things that could be involved -- for example, if parents are self employed, colleges often add back in some of the deductions that the parents have taken that reduced their taxable income (for example, depreciation or a home office deduction). </p>
<p>My daughter has just learned that she has probably been accepted to her first choice college and she is making arrangements to visit during her spring break. Even though she has not yet received her financial aid award, she plans to call tomorrow to make an appointment with their financial aid office so she will be able to go in and meet with them and try to get increased aid. (I don't know if it will do any good, but as a parent I sure appreciated hearing my kid tell me of those plans)</p>
<p>calmom, I plan on calling the college when I receive the official finaid package, which will most likely be the same as the estimate it sent me since I've already sent in all my forms. thanks again for all the input</p>