<p>
[quote]
Based on the information we have on record for you, your EFC is 26313. You are not eligible for a Federal Pell Grant but you may be eligible for other aid. Your
school will use your EFC to determine your financial aid eligibility for other federal grants, loans, and work study, and possible funding from your state and school.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>my college apps teacher said that we would most likely get something if we apply for the FAFSA, even if that means a loan...</p>
<p>lol!</p>
<p>so what are your stories.. did you get the happy news you wanted or the sad, despairing news you dreaded?!?!</p>
<p>Your teacher was right. You will get a Stafford loan of $5500 just for completing the FAFSA.</p>
<p>You don’t apply “for” the FAFSA. The FAFSA is a financial aid application form that you complete. Eligibility for federally funded aid is calculated based on the information you put on the form. Some schools also use this information to award their own aid. FAFSA doesn’t give you anything…it’s just a form.</p>
<p>We’re in a similar situation. Our EFC is 32937!! That is just crazy! We are definitely having FAFSA sadness here, and hoping that my daughter can get some merit $ to lower that. Good luck to you and keep your fingers crossed that you get some merit $, too! I keep telling myself this will all work out in the end :)</p>
<p>You might want to be sitting down when you get FA packages if you applied to any schools that use the CSSProfile. It often mkakes FAFSA look good!</p>
<p>Calm down people, my EFC is 57k and my parents don’t have money like that to spend! lol the worst spot to be at, right above the cost of college but not way above it either QQ</p>
<p>FAFSA/CSS are a joke. Penalize parents who save, or own even a small percentage of your own home. Basically its telling parents in that situation “send your kids to state u” The privates are a world of have’s and have nots. Super wealthy kids, and kids that have very low incomes. The middle class is cut out of the private school trak, unless your child happens to be top 3% etc, etc. Very frustrating, and big brotherish.</p>
<p>Nothing wrong with the State U. I went there, had no loans, bought a car right out of school, bought my house, flipped and sold, flipped and sold. All while the other kids were paying off their student loans and renting. Your school helps you get your first job. Then its up to you. Ambition will succeed wherever it goes.</p>
<p>Oh please…this is not true…we are not super wealthy and we are not very low income. We did not have a nickel in college savings. Our kids were not in the top 3% of their classes. </p>
<p>Both of our kids went to expensive private universities for undergrad school. While they got some merit aid, MOST of the cost was paid by US.</p>
<p>BUT we made a decision that both parents would work FULL TIME to pay for college costs. We didn’t buy anything we didn’t need…no new cars, no vacations, not even new clothes (love those consignment stores). AND just FYI, we live in THE most expensive state in this country. </p>
<p>There are a lot of college options out there…there are less expensive private schools (check out York in PA…very modest costs, for example). There are excellent honors college programs at public universities. There are a LOT of ways to get a college degree…a LOT.</p>
<p>Mitch, parents also have an asset protection allowance which is based on the age of the older parent. Home equity and retirement assets are not reported on FAFSA. Income is, by far, the largest component of the EFC. For most people who are truly middle-class, the EFC amounts to 1/4-1/3 of AGI. If you want to understand the process/calculations, you can work through the FAFSA formula via the EFC Formula guide. Or read “Paying for College Without Going Broke”, which has a lot of useful information.</p>
<p>Colleges and the government assume that the primary responsibility for paying for college rests with the family and that college will be funded through past, present, and future earnings. Government aid is for the truly needy, as it usually is. Colleges do not have unlimited resources…some give merit aid to almost everyone (which is just discounting an obviously inflated tuition rate, imo) but most base their decisions on numbers, whether that is from financial data or student stats. A very small percentage of low income kids go through college debt free, and that is usually because they’re at instate publics with very modest costs or have stellar stats and/or are otherwise desirable in the admissions process at schools who guarantee to meet need. The vast majority of low income students struggle to piece together grants, loans, and jobs in order to further their education. Please don’t make light of the extra effort those kids are making in order to achieve their goals.</p>
<p>From your other thread:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I’m sorry, but being considered full pay at a $50K+ school does not sound like a “middle class” income to me…at all. It’s obvious you have some remorse about not setting clear limits on how much you’re willing to pay but the time to do so is NOW, not when the acceptances and certainly not when the FA awards roll in. That is just cruel, imo.</p>
<p>We’re in a similar situation. Our EFC is 32937!! That is just crazy! We are definitely having FAFSA sadness here, and hoping that my daughter can get some merit $ to lower that.</p>
<p>Merit aid will NOT lower your EFC unless…</p>
<p>1) Your child goes to a school that has a COA of less than your EFC</p>
<p>or</p>
<p>2) your child gets a merit scholarship that is so BIG that it covers all of “need” and then cuts into EFC.</p>
<p>Some people mistakenly think that if their EFC is high - such as $35k - and their child goes to a school with a COA of $55, that their child will get $20k in aid, and if their child gets a $10k merit scholarship, that their EFC will go down to $25k. That won’t happen. That merit scholarship will get applied to “need”…not EFC.</p>
<p>COA = $55k
EFC = $35k
“need” = $20k</p>
<p>A $10k per year scholarship only will reduce the “need”, it won’t reduce EFC</p>
<p>We have a very high EFC…so high that with 2 kids in college, we would still only get loans. So, each of my kids accepted very big merit scholarships - one has a near-full ride…and the other has full tuition plus $4500 per year. We pay very little to have 2 kids in college. This way we can help them with their grad school and med school costs.</p>
<p>Mitch…Well if this is the case, you have between $33K and $38K to spend on college PER YEAR.</p>
<p>Add to that the Stafford loan of $5500 for freshman year, and you have $40K give or take a few dollars.</p>
<p>There are TONS of colleges where you would be able to pay the full cost of attendance. IN fact if you went to an instate public, you wouldn’t even need to take the Stafford loan.</p>
<p>I’m not sure why you are complaining. Your family has FAR more resources than many.</p>
<p>No, all students who file FAFSA are eligible for Stafford loans, subject to the federal guidelines/limits. Parents who qualify for federal Parent Plus loans can use them to help pay their EFC. Total aid, including loans, cannot exceed the school’s COA.</p>
<p>My EFC is much higher than I can comfortably afford … so my kids have chosen schools we CAN afford. That does NOT mean that we do not pay a lot of money (by our standards). We make a lot more money than many, many, many people. We are not rich, though. So we are not rich, not poor … and my daughter attends one of the most expensive schools in the country. Yes, we have opened our wallet and let money fly out toward her school … and S’s, an in state public that actually costs us more per year than her expensive private … because the cost of college is ultimately our (the parents’) responsibility.</p>
<p>Every day, I review the files of students whose annual family income is less than the annual car payments of many students who complain about “FAFSA” on these threads. Yes, it can be tough to part with money for school. At least your family does have money to part with. So many families do not, and those are the students for whom need based aid is reserved. There are options for middle class families that are affordable. Remember, most folks tend to spend what they make … that is a choice. Need based aid is for those who do not even have that choice.</p>
<p>Within the last hour we completed our first CSS Profile and FAFSA. How will we learn our EFC? Nothing provided a calculation after we clicked “submit.” </p>
<p>We’re high-income and pretty much full-pay. Accordingly, we’re convinced this is all a formality so Son can merely apply for an unsub Stafford. (Or, if he’s really lucky, get work study.) But now the post above about…
…has me worried. </p>
<p>What are these limits? Income limits? Or limits on loan amounts?</p>
<p>DougBetsy…I think you might be misreading the above. The NO…was the answer to “is there an income limit for the Stafford loan?” The answer is NO…</p>
<p>ALL students who file a FAFSA are eligible for the stafford loan…the limits are the amounts provided…for freshmen $5500, Sophs $6500, and JR/SR $7500…those are the LOAN amount limits. There is NO income limit for the Stafford loan.</p>