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

Paying for College
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<p>there is a good financial aid calculator right on the college confidential website
<a href="http://www.collegeconfidential.com/financial_aid/efc/efc.php%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.collegeconfidential.com/financial_aid/efc/efc.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>there is a calculator at Finaid.org</p>

<p><a href="http://finaid.org/calculators/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://finaid.org/calculators/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>and on the college board's website</p>

<p><a href="http://www.collegeboard.com/student/pay/add-it-up/401.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.collegeboard.com/student/pay/add-it-up/401.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>If you school is a fafsa only school use the federal methodology</p>

<p>Hope these help. If your school takes the fafsa & the css profile (or their own FA application) use both the federal and the institutional methodology </p>

<p>I would also suggest looking up the prospective schools at the college board website. Click on the financial aid tab. Scroll down to see what percentage of need the school meets and how the school packages their aid (% grant aid/% loans-workstudy)</p>

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<p>Our EFC was higher than the cost of attendance so we paid up to our EFC. What you have to keep in mind about your savings is that a lot of financial aid is in the form of loans or workstudy, not grants , therefore if you had not saved the money you would be borrowing it and paying it back or working for it anyway. Better to have it saved...at least thats the way we looked at it. Correct me if my logic is wrong.</p>

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<p>abasket - remember the 5.6% and 20% are the percentage of assets only. Income also comes into it and if the student has any income over $3000 then they take 50% of that. (killed us with our son who took off college for a year and worked - our freshman D will get aid but he will get none though all his money is gone on rent and bills). Also, as sybbie said, if your school uses profile those schools use their own methods.</p>

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<p>According to the College Board website, her 1st choice school claims to meet 96% of need. That's pretty high isn't it?? </p>

<p>It's so HARD to play the waiting game to see where this all lands! I find the whole fin aid thing CONSTANTLY in my mind! I'm not alone, right?!</p>

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<p>No you are definitely not alone abasket. I hate playing the waiting game. I am one of those people who prefer to know exactly what the situation is (bad or good) and then I can deal with it and figure out how to handle it. All these what ifs and maybes drive me nuts. So I spend hours running possible scenarios which I know is probably a waste of time. ugh.</p>

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<p>Most schools that meet that much of need are PROFILE schools, or have their own app to determine need. In your case the FAFSA EFC just determines the govt money that you are entitled to. Your true "EFC" will be determined by the college's own forms or PROFILE, in my opinion.</p>

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<p>96% I imagine is exceptional -- it's better than say, 70% (my choice school!). I just used the collegeconfidential EFC calculator and it gave me an EFC only $500 different than the "real" thing. Not bad! (thanks sybbie for the link).</p>

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<p>Also, unless a school gives 100% of need, usually the % of need met is an average, which means there are kids there who do get 100% of need met, and kids who are not getting the 96%.</p>

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<p>Also, unless a school gives 100% of need, usually the % of need met is an average, which means there are kids there who do get 100% of need met, and kids who are not getting the 96%.</p>

<p>My D school met 100% of need
However, since we didn't think she was going to be accepted, I didn't have the stress that you all are having.
When they did send the acceptance package along with the aid package we were taken aback.
It also was much earlier than we expected ( mid feb) although with so many applications to go through, schools may be taking a bit more time this year.</p>

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<p>"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. "</p>

<p>Be careful - this varies by institution - my son's school counts home equity as an asset, others excuse the primary residence.</p>

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<p>Ohio mom, many colleges give some allowance for home equity, though I have no doubt there are those who do not. They are even looking at pension money at some schools now.</p>

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<p>The 35 pages in the FAFSA EFC calculations guide are not all that daunting. A lot of it is repetitive for the 3 classifications, only one of which will apply. You shouldn't need more than about 10 pages.
<a href="http://studentaid.ed.gov/students/at...rmulaGuide.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://studentaid.ed.gov/students/at...rmulaGuide.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>One thing I learned was that the assets are offset by an age-based allowance. For example, if the oldest parent is 42, there is a $40,100 allowance. The older the parent is, the more assets become off limits to EFC. Expected contributions from income are unaffected by the age-based allowance.</p>

<p>I can see that FAFSA is not completely fair. As a parent, having learned 'the rules' I can develop a coherent plan to address college finanacing. As long as the rules don't change too much, there will at least be some certainty. I wish I knew more about the process earlier, but how far back can you really go when the spacing of your children makes a big difference. Kids 4 years apart mean the parents income and assets will be attached to EFC's for 8 years, while twins means only 4 years.</p>