FAFSA's done...now what? Did you pay your EFC??

Paying for College
1

<p>Just submitted - woo hoo! Will have to update when we get actual tax/income figures.</p>

<p>Our EFC is about $13,600. Our D is looking at a school that costs about $37,000/yr. Her right off the bat merit scholarship from them (based on ACT's/GP) is $12,000. She interviewed for possibly more $$$. </p>

<p>First of all, I'm a bit frustrated - yes, we have some $$ in savings/cd's - not loaded by any means, but I feel we're losing out because we tried to plan ahead a bit. We socked all our daugther's savings away over the past 18 years - is she punished because she has put off purchasing a car because college comes first? Does FAFSA know we need to repair a bathroom, what our car payments are etc.?? I guess I'm not buying into their fomula. </p>

<p>Enough whining. So what happen's now? Will our college "assume" we will plan on paying this $13,600? For those of you who have been through this process before, what's the likelihood that we will end up having to pay this amount for her to go to the school of her choice? Please share any experience you have had in regards to actually paying your EFC.</p>

2

<p>What was your expectation? Did you think that college would be free? If your EFT is 13,600 and the scholarship is 12,000, it sounds like it is practically free.</p>

3

<p>Yes the school will expect you to pay the EFC. Any Financial Aid money (grants/loans etc) will kick in only after EFC & scholarship money. So if your EFC is $13,600 and she already has scholarships of $12,000 then that total $25,600 is taken from the total COA of $37,000 leaving $11,400 'need'. Any additional scholarship money received will reduce the 'need' first, not the EFC. But it is still worth pursuing as if need is met (as is likely) with loans then it is better to have the scholarships. Schools also often 'gap' as in they do not meet the total need. Having said all this, if you're COA is $37,000 does the school require profile as well as FAFSA? If so you're EFC will probably be totally different anyway.</p>

4

<p>scholarships are not generally applied to EFC momfromme- they may be applied to loans that the student would otherwise receive</p>

<p>Our EFC was also around $13,000. Tuition/room and board Etc .was about $48,000 for her first choice- private college, which also used PROFILE and their own forms, but met 100% of need.</p>

<p>The instate public schools she applied to- had costs of around $12,000 so while she did receive small merit scholarships which would have reduced our costs, there wasn't any other aid to reduce expenses.</p>

<p>Out of state public school also offered some merit aid, and as the costs were much higher, she was also eligible for subsidized loans- however, we were still expected to pay our EFC.</p>

<p>If she had applied to an additional private school * which didn't * meet her EFC, we would have been expected to pay the EFC and * then some*</p>

<p>SO-
this apparently can't be covered too many times I guess
EFC does not mean- out of income alone
as Curmudge has observed it means * Every F* cent *
which about covers it.;)</p>

<p>If a school meets 100% of need- as my daughters school did, the aid package will be made up of a combination of loans, grants, and work study.</p>

<p>The loans may be subsidized or unsubsidized
( subsidized means govt pays interest while you are in school, unsubsidized the interest is added to the amount, but in both cases- students don't need to start paying back until 6 months after graduation)</p>

<p>And this is if your school meets need.</p>

<p>It is up to you - where to find money for EFC
Students are expected to contribute- generally, $3,000 from summer earnings. Parents are expected to contribute from savings, from income and from loans- or future income.</p>

5

<p>OK, thanks for the information about EFC and scholarships.</p>

<p>Having fewer loans in the package should help at least. </p>

<p>There's so much to learn about financial aid and college is so much more money than it used to be.</p>

6

<p>First of all, not practically free...there's still a $12,000 gap there. </p>

<p>So, at this rate with this EFC we will have much less in our cash $$ pot next year - so then the EFC will go down hopefully right???</p>

<p>It's just weird to me that just based on income they can decide what we can pay without knowing other circumstances here at home - we're not taking big vacations, drive modest cars, etc. etc. - I guess I almost wanted them to take more into consideration...</p>

<p>Sure will be glad when the financial aid packet comes from the college so we can see it all out in print in front of us!!</p>

7

<p>a few other things that no one ever finds out until you are in the middle of college applications
money in students name is expected to be more available for tuition than parents
retirement funds aren't looked at- although money put in the year that FAFSA covers into your retirement account, is counted as income that is available for aid
We didn't have the experience of successful negotiations to lower EFC
it is what it is.
However some schools do lower EFC, by "looking at other considerations" if they think you are worth it to them.
And other schools, give you all kinds of merit aid to get you to attend and then the next year tell you "that was just for freshmen".
So compare packages and be upfront with what you can afford and what kind of contributions you expect your child to make toward the cost of their education</p>

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<p>Yes abasket - we all know exactly what you mean. There are instances where they will adjust your EFC (loss of income/benefits etc) but it is rare and does not include taking into account if, for instance, person a lives in a more expensive part of the country than person b. Make sure you use your Daughters assets first to pay for school costs. Her assets are hit at 20% by FAFSA while yours are hit at around 5%. Also bear in mind that if she works at all 50% of her income over @$3000 will be taken for FAFSA.</p>

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<p>Bumping this thread, I have the same question. Thanks for the all the info to the above posters, it's very informative.</p>

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<p>Did we pay our EFC? Well...yes we did, plus the significant gap both kids had as well. Our total EFC last year was $42,000 (we had two kids in college, each one had an EFC of about $21,000). We are paying $32,000 for one kid and $30,000 for the other. Schools do not meet full need. At least they both got a little bit of aid from the schools (merit for one, need based for the other). So...you can expect to pay AT LEAST your EFC...if not more.</p>

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<p>We just got our first financial aid thing today. (Which was really fast - we filed January 2.) We too have a high EFC due to savings - but we're glad we have that money! (You will be too - believe me.) We will have two kids in college - this is the financial scenario for just one of them.</p>

<p>Here's how it went:</p>

<p>Cost of Attendance: $47,210 (they calculated this; includes tuition, R&B, fees, books, "personal expenses" - no travel I noticed)</p>

<p>minus - EFC (based on FAFSA) $28,800</p>

<p>= Presumed "need" $18,410</p>

<p>Awarded:
Merit scholarship (previously notified) $10,500 (renewable 4 years)
Need based scholarship $3,800
Stafford subsidized loan $3,500
Total aid = $17,800</p>

<p>So, they "met" $17,800 of the $18,410 "need" (note - very few schools will meet 100% of need)</p>

<p>That leaves us with a bill of $29,410/year (actually more, if we ever want to see our kid)</p>

<p>Does that help you see how it works?</p>

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<p>^ I forgot to mention (and it doesn't really matter, but...) that my son will not necessarily be attending this school. We'll see how all his other offers look before a decision is made.</p>

13

<p>Though FAFSA does not ask you about how you have been spending your money and what your household need were, if you have to file PROFILE or a college's own fin aid app, they often will ask you about what kind of car you have and other more extensive questons, that often raise your EFC. Most schools that guarantee 100% of need use FAFSA or additional screening test.
All your EFC does is qualify you for government aid and you did not make the cut off for grants, so it's loans here. Any merit money you get from a school is usually taken off the non EFC part of the cost and reduces any aid you may get from financial aid. This can differ among colleges so you need to check specific rules.</p>

<p>If your daughter has money in the bank in her name, 20% of it is what caused the EFC. It would be wise for her to spend down that money this year so that she does not have it sitting there for the same assessment next year. If it were sitting in YOUR account, it is assessed about 6%, big difference. If you have a lot in savings, you may want to open an IRA or pay off your mortgage with it, so that next year your assets are not sitting there for assessment.<br>
Yes, there is that assessment if you save. But someone who did not save is not going to have the option of using those savings to meet any gaps that generally arise when the packages come in. It gives you some options, and may save you from taking loans.</p>

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<p>First of all, I want to say THANKS - this info is so informative. I appreciate the respectful responses - this process is not anything we've done before and though I tried to be come fin aid savvy pre-Fafsa - obviously there is so much to learn! I'd like to remind all posters to remember tact in responding - not all of us completely educated in what to expect - that's why we came to this board...!</p>

<p>That being said,
It's interesting to me to see the % that they look to take from each - student and parent - you say about 20% of the student's savings, right?
No doubt, after this year, she (and we) will not have as much to report in our nestegg...</p>

<p>Weenie,
Your breakdown is particularly helpful - thanks so much. Will show that to my husband and daughter - spells it out very well.</p>

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<p>If you really want to boggle your mind here is the link to the formula used to calculate your EFC - it is only 35 pages long! But it has some interesting information such as income and asset protection allowances.</p>

<p><a href="http://studentaid.ed.gov/students/attachments/siteresources/0708EFCFormulaGuide.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://studentaid.ed.gov/students/attachments/siteresources/0708EFCFormulaGuide.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>Another thanks from me, too, as this info. is really helpful. Does anyone know how CDs affect the FAFSA (parents', not students')? My parents have a chunk in those, but it didn't raise our EFC as much as I thought it would. I wonder if they only consider a small % of that -- could be wrong.</p>

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<p>A maximum of 5.6% of a parent asset will be used for the EFC. If it was in the student name 20%</p>

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<p>Thanks SCM. I just calculated the 5.6% and that explains it.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
Does FAFSA know we need to repair a bathroom, what our car payments are etc.?? ..... It's just weird to me that just based on income they can decide what we can pay without knowing other circumstances here at home

[/quote]
Newsflash! ;) Everyone else has those sorts of expenses too. (car expenses, home repair, etc.). It's just part of life and it would be pretty cumbersome if everyone had to fill out forms with all those details, and then if the colleges had to spend time verifying the accuracy of all those details.</p>

<p>However the colleges CAN and often will take into account extraordinary expenses. The examples you gave don't fit -- your car payment is an ordinary expense-- but if you had unusually high medical bills, or a big casualty loss, or some other huge emergency... you could tell the college about it and they might be able to make adjustments to your FAFSA under "professional judgment". </p>

<p>Also, your EFC may go down in subsequent years as your daughter spends down her savings, but colleges expect older students to earn a little more and contribute more to their college, as well as to borrow more -- so it is likely that the grant portion of your aid package will go down rather than up. As others have noted, not all colleges meet 100% need, and those that do redefine "need" by their own terms, meaning they can and do consider additional information about your finance. Sometimes you end up getting a financial aid award that leaves you paying even less than the FAFSA EFC -- but more often you find that most (or all) of the awards will leave you paying somewhat more. </p>

<p>My daughter's FAFSA EFC last year was $5600. We had financial aid awards last year from various colleges that ranged from expecting us to pay $9000 to $30,000 -- of course the ones on the high end did not claim to meet full need. The highest so-called 100% need award would have left us paying about $25K. </p>

<p>So here is what experience has taught me: you need to have your kid apply to at least one college where she is sure to be admitted and where you could pay the full cost, even without financial aid, if it came to that -- typically that would be an in-state college, though it might also be a private college or out-of-state public that guarantees generous merit aid based on objective criteria, like test scores. Other than that, you just have to wait and see. Usually at the end there are some surprises, some of them nice, some not-so-nice. Discuss your finances with your kid so she doesn't get her heart set on something you probably won't be able to afford. And figure out for yourself how much extra you might be willing to pay for a top-choice college -- especially if the top choice has some prestige attached. (I mean, prestige shouldn't matter, but in the end it does -- none of us wants to deny our kids the chance to attend a well-respected school over a couple of thousand dollars, so our tolerance for a gap may be stretched in direct proportion to the degree of pride we feel seeing the fat envelope for each particular college arrive).</p>

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<p>Based on the figures you guys have mentioned the 20% students money, less for parents I'd like to try and put our numbers into one of those "calculators" to see what comes up. I still feel like our numbers are high - she only has about $9,000 in CD and savings. Can anyone provide a link to a financial calculator they like to use???</p>