fasfa efc wrong - sibling tuition low

When I filled out the fasfa for son 2 for the coming year the efc was reduced by almost half from son1 from last year. I think this is wrong since the tuition (around 10,000) is less than the amount of the reduced efc ( around 15,000). In other words the efc comes out 15,000 less with a second child but I only pay 10,000 in tuition. The form doesn,'t ask for the tuition amount . Do schools verify this? What kind of reduction should I expect for the second child as I doubt this is right.

The student’s FAFSA EFC has nothing to do with any particular school’s tuition or any other expense. It’s completely based on the income and assets of the student and parent/s and the number of family members and how many college students there are.

If your federal EFC is $15k at State U with a cost of attendance of $20k, it will also be an EFC of $15k at a Private U with a cost of $60k. At the state university with little need based aid, you’ll probably pay the full cost of $20k while at a private school that gives really good aid, you might only pay $15k.

I just want to make sure I understand as this makes college so much more affordable for son2. This year I have one in college with an efc of 30,000. His tuition is around 10,000 (commutes) and he gets no aid. Next year I will have two in college and the efc for son 2 is 15,000 or about half the efc. It seemed strange that the efc dropped by 15,000 which is more than the tuition paid. I just wanted to confirm that this is correct and they don’t take into account how much tuition you are actually paying for the first child. So if I was paying 65,000 in tuition for first child it will still be 15,000 efc. This is actually great news.

You need to understand…just because the EFC is lower is NOT a guarantee of school awarded need based aid.

So…your FAFSA EFC should be viewed as the MINIMUM you will be expected to pay for your kiddos to go to college.

When you have two kids in college at the same time…your total EFC (the amount for one kid only) is divided rough,y in half. But this doesn’t mean your need based aid will be higher. That all depends on the college…and what they award you.

If your kids’ FAFSA EFC Cal below $5000, they will get a portion of the Pell Grant.

And there are SOME colleges that DO look at the actual costs siblings are paying when they compute need based aid.

So…YMMV.

@sybbie719 have you commented on this in the past?

The FAFSA is used primarily to determine if you qualify for a federal Pell grant. An EFC of $5,000 may make a family eligible for a few hundred dollars per year. A higher EFC won’t qualify for any Pell.

Run the Net Price Calculator for the schools your younger child is applying to (they’re on each college’s website) to get an estimate of your net cost. Your oldest child’s college might offer more aid with a 2nd child in college, but they might not. You can try running their NPC too.

As long as you have two kids in college at the same time, the EFC’s will basically be half for each. It doesn’t matter the cost of tuition or how much you pay. I have one on full scholarship but I still fill out the FAFSA as having 2 in college, and the second kid gets ‘credit’ for having a sibling in college even though we don’t pay anything. Just one of those things where the outliers get a benefit. The only time you do not get credit for having a sibling in school is if that sibling attends a military academy.

Now this ‘half’ benefit is for the FAFSA only. A school giving out its own money can ask how much the parents pay for a sibling in college and may give full credit to the sibling if the sibling is paying nothing.