<p>Just got the FAFSA report--$35k+ EFC!!!! Yikes. A number of the schools to which son applied do not even have a sticker price of $35k a year. </p>
<p>Have a bad feeling -- does a report like this mean no financial aid? Hub earns a bit more than $100k, but huge percentage goes to mortgage...guess we are penalized in light of this?</p>
<p>Jolynne, the FAFSA does not consider the amount of your mortgage, or any other consumer debt. YOU are not being "penalized"...that is how the formula works. Everyone has some kind of housing expense be it rent or mortgage. If your mortgage is high, it is viewed as a choice your family made to assume this debt. </p>
<p>With an EFC that exceeds the cost of attendance, your son would not get need based aid at a school. He might be eligible for merit aid which is not tied to need. And by completing the FAFSA, he will get a Stafford loan which likely will be unsubsidized.</p>
<p>Well, maybe "penalized" was the wrong word. I'm fully cognizant that the choices we made are just being put into a fin aid calculator--just figuring that since high house costs aren't adjusted for, I suppose that's where the big EFC $$ comes from. I've been on CC long enough to know it is fruitless to complain about anything in this regard, nor would I. Just have to work out a plan of action</p>
<p>I'll have to check out whether there's a cap on unsubsidized loans (Edit it's $4k). Son's free ride is looking good, now.</p>
<p>It's nice that he has the option of a free ride!! </p>
<p>As I hear more and more from families, it troubles me that so many folks are having to make hard choices, and sometimes between paying their bills and helping kids with college (even less expensive college options). These are very hard times.</p>
<p>It's difficult. But, you do what you have to! (Crossing fingers for upcoming, gainful employment!)</p>
<p>Cap on unsub loans is 5500 freshman year, 6500 sophomore, 7500 junior. This assumes no sub loan eligibility. I know it's not a lot ... I just wanted to make sure the numbers are out there.</p>
<p>Also ... if your H makes a bit more than $100k and you don't work, I am surprised that your EFC is that high. You must have significant assets.</p>
<p>Isn't it the other way around on the subsidized/unsubsidized loans?</p>
<p>First Year $5,500 ($3,500 subsidized/$2,000 unsubsidized)
Second Year $6,500 ($4,500 subsidized/$2,000 unsubsidized)
Third Year and Beyond $7,500 ($5,500 subsidized/$2,000 unsubsidized) </p>
<p>Student</a> Aid on the Web</p>
<p>The maximum mix of sub and unsub is the numbers I gave. For an EFC higher than COA, the only thing available is an unsub - this would be the OP's situation. If there is no need, the entire max amount of loan is 5500 for a freshman & it's all unsub. If there was 2000 of need, 2000 would be sub and 3500 would be unsub. If there was 3000 of need, 3000 would be sub and 2500 would be unsub. If there was 3500 of need, 3500 would be sub and 2000 would be unsub. If there was 8000 of need, 3500 would be sub and 2000 would be unsub (can't exceed the 5500 total). In other words, a freshman can get up to 5500 in sub and unsub loans, of which up to 3500 can be sub depending on need.</p>
<p>kelsmom--really? $35k seems high? I thought EFC was generally considered 1/3 of salary. Actually, hub's sal is closer to $125k. (why not just put all our info out here on the web..LOL). </p>
<p>There's a distinct possibly I messed up something in the FAFSA. Not my forte...</p>
<p>Jolynne - your EFC sounds right, based on my similar numbers. And if you're doing Profile for any schools, your home equity will be counted in also, which isn't done on FAFSA.</p>
<p>If the sticker price of any of the schools is higher than your EFC, you could get a subsidized loan at those. (Of course, that means the sticker price is higher, so not exactly a "gain".)</p>
<p>Thanks, Muffy333 & garland. Although, I did run some numbers w/a calculator last night--we a 5k stafford loan, 5k from 529 & another (?) private loan of 5k (from somewhere) I think I could swing the remaining tuition on a $28k school (one of son's top choices) on my (projected/future) salary, pro-rated over 10 months. Of course, that's assuming that other things remain the same. </p>
<p>But, those scenarios are never exactly the way they look on paper (as son reminded me).</p>
<p>Better start sending out another batch of resumes...</p>
<p>Hey, give me a break ... I was making my assumption based on a number that was 25% lower than the actual number! :) (Well, not actually 25%, but you get the idea ...)</p>
<p>OP: Your EFC is close to mine from last year when I was the only one going to college in my house... FYI... and I <em>think</em> incomes are kind of close. I have to admit not being plugged into details...</p>
<p>It is sad to say but these next 3 or 4 upcoming years may be the time when the higher-ed house of cards finally comes tumbling down and the colleges realize that they are pricing themsleves out of educating the best and the brightest. If top colleges end up becoming destinations for only the poorest and the richest, they will end up abandoning the middle class for the first time since the G.I. Bill after WWII. I think that is what motivated Harvard to go with the 10%-of-income rule, which Yale had to begrudgingly adopt a year later, and some of the other Ivies reacted to with their own schemes. But the other elite schools who lack the endowments of these giants will only likely see either their app volumes drop, or their yield numbers drop, as students start applying to 40 or 50 colleges just to hope for a possible affordable package from one (I am using hyperbole, but you get the idea). Couple this with Obama's recent statement that the time may have finally arrived when a college degree starts to lose its value, given that even PhD's are on the street, and this could be a perfect storm that finally makes higher ed wake up to the fact that the bottom may fall out of the whole thing soon. These non-profits may, in fact, finally become just that.</p>
<p>kelsmom--sorry. I guess 'a bit more' wasn't accurate when it was really '25% more!'</p>
<p>Another parent pm'd me, though, and said her EFC was significantly lower than mine, and here stats were not that much different. </p>
<p>Probably need to re-look at the whole form again.</p>
<p>Thanks for the thoughts! </p>
<p>Gabba--hope the higher ed thing doesn't combust before son gets to school, then sorts itself right before 7 year old is ready! Crossing fingers...!</p>
<p>Suggest look for private colleges that say they "meet full need." There's at least 30 of them out there. For most private colleges the cost of attendance (COA) is around $50k a year. If your EFC is $35k, then most of the "full need" schools will give a grant of maybe $10k and maybe $5k of federal loans and/or work study.</p>
<p>Just a random example, Wake Forest is a 100% need school: Frequently</a> Asked Questions: Determining Need</p>
<p>Thanks for the thought, JusDisDad. But, I guess I've never quite gotten the complete advantage of that, though--okay, so a $50k school will meet full need---we still need to come up w/the $35k (through loans, merit scholarship, earning more money). I guess it does open up the horizons (I'll have to come up w/somewhere in the vicinity of $28-$35 depending on the school, but now we can include $50k-meets-full-need-schools). The thing--son has already applied to 20 odd schools--hoping to maximize admissions & aid packages. So he refuses to apply to any more! Good for other parents to know, though (the 'meet full need' idea).</p>
<p>Jolynne, all that $35K EFC from FAFSA tells you is that your student is not eligible for the PELL, nor can he get subsidized loans through Stafford unless the COA at the college of choice exceeds $35K, at which point he could get subsidized Stafford for that excess amount up to the limit. I don't know any school that uses the FAFSA EFC for aid purposes and funds 100% of need. There are some schools where it is a possibility but as a rule FAFSA only schools do not tend to meet full need for all but a few of their students. So if you are looking for full need to be met, you probably need to fill out PROFILE or a schools supplementary aid app. The institutional "EFC" is the important figure for those schools along with the % they will fund and how they will fund it (loans, scholarships, workstudy). </p>
<p>We had to come up with about $35K. For some of it , we hit our savings account. Some of it we are paying out of income. We have borrowed some through PLUS. Our son had some money saved, worked two jobs this summer and worked as much as he could during Christmas break, and borrowed through unsubsidized Stafford. He is looking to work on campus this semester and will work during the summer as well.</p>
<p>JoLynn, the EFC looks right on your income of $125K. But this is FAFSA. If your home equity exceeds your mortgage, that may actually increase the institutional "EFC" that school use from PROFILE or their own financial aid forms. For the most part, FAFSA is more generous in coming up with a lower EFC. Exceptions being some special cases and schools like HPY with big enough endowments and financial aid programs where they have higher threshholds that get aid. </p>
<p>Our son got awards from making $400/month to a big fat zero, with up to a $50K+ COA. Most of the awards he got were for merit, special programs, outside scholarships. We did not qualify for need. The other way that costs could be reduced is by looking at low sticker price schools, which were our state schools for the most part. </p>
<p>S has a job for 10-12 hours a week that pays $9 per hour. DOn't know what he'll be netting since he has not yet gotten a pay check, but that has really been a breath of fresh air for us. We are looking at some increased expenses for this year that is really putting a squeeze on us. I am hoping that next year's costs do not increase much, that S can make as much money this coming summer as he did last year, and that he can work the same sort of job next year. </p>
<p>One tip I want to share is for parents to max out the unsubsidized Stafford that your kid can take before coming up with the number to borrow from the PLUS. The interest rate is better for the Stafford. We have maximized our son's STafford allotment and reduced our PLUS accordingly, as we did not do this first semester. We had been focusing on splitting the costs between S and us, and worked on both parts separately. We'll repay the portion of the Stafford that we originally were going to borrow from PLUS. Over 4 years, it comes to a decent amount of money, not huge, but certainly not to ignore. We wanted to pay S's interest for the Stafford while he was in school, but realized that it was more beneficial to take less from PLUS and let the interest accumulate on the Stafford.</p>