<p>Hello! I am having trouble understanding the difference between both concepts and why the numbers come out to be so different. I would appreciate any sort of help. I am an out of state US citizen living in Barcelona, Spain.</p>
<p>I was recently admitted to the University of Virginia and was extremely excited, as UVa was first choice. I learned that UVa has a good financial aid program called AccessUVa and wasn't too worried about covering the costs. I recently received my financial aid packet which added up to $5,500 in loans. </p>
<p>When I emailed UVa they said that although my federal EFC is $9000, they calculated my institutional EFC to be $55,000. This is what my mother makes a year. Could anyone please explain what the difference is and why the numbers are so different? </p>
<p>They mentioned something about my brothers being Graduate students and that affecting my EFC, but the case is that in Spain they are not considered graduate students. They are undergraduate students living at home and my parents are covering all their expenses.</p>
<p>I would love to go to UVa, but with the aid they are offering it is impossible for me to attend. I am terribly confused and any sort of help would be immensely appreciated!</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>Do your parents have property or other savings/assets?</p>
<p>How much does your dad earn? Did UVa include his income as well?</p>
<p>*They mentioned something about my brothers being Graduate students and that affecting my EFC, but the case is that in Spain they are not considered graduate students. They are undergraduate students living at home and my parents are covering all their expenses.
*</p>
<p>How old are these brothers? Are they in professional schools? (like med/law/business schools)?</p>
<p>Sorry about posting it twice. I’ll delete the other one.</p>
<p>No they don’t have property or other savings/assets. They never started a college fund for me because they never expected I’d want to go study in the States. They don’t have any significant investments, etc. </p>
<p>After taxes, my father’s income is of about $65,000.</p>
<p>My brothers are 23 and 21 years old. The eldest is studying architecture and in Spain the program takes 8 years to complete. My other brother is studying medicine and it take 6 years to complete “undergraduate” medical studies.</p>
<p>Neither of those professional studies would be considered “undergraduate” according to US standards. Med school and Arch school are grad programs. Because of your siblings’ ages, they are assumed to be “beyond” the undergrad part…and have moved into the grad school phase. (this would be similar to a US student who is in the 5th year of a 7 year Pharm program.)</p>
<p>As far as US schools are concerned, students in professional programs are responsible for paying for that education. If parents “choose” to pay for that, it is a choice…but a school isn’t going to give a family more money so that they can pay for other children’s professional school costs.</p>
<p>*my institutional EFC to be $55,000. This is what my mother makes a year. *</p>
<p>After taxes, my father’s income is of about $65,000</p>
<p>the FA process does NOT use “after tax” income. It uses AGI. If your parents’ after tax income is 55k + 65k, then they’re earning a good bit of money (guessing that Spain is a typical high-tax european county).</p>
<p>they said that although my federal EFC is $9000, they calculated my institutional EFC to be $55,000. </p>
<p>I have a feeling that your FAFSA EFC is really higher as well. Families that earn over $100k have EFCs higher than that…even with 3 in college. And, it would seem that if they’re saying that your brothers are in grad school, then your FAFSA was (or should have been) adjusted to reflect that…meaning only 1 in college and a smaller family size.</p>
<p>This is what UVa said:</p>
<p>Your federal expected family contribution (EFC) is $9654. However, the
institutional EFC used by UVa is $55,147.</p>
<p>Since it doesn’t look like i’ll be getting any need-based aid, could you please recommend some sort of private loan? My family and I are new to all this and don’t know if this is typically done through a bank or through a company that specializes in loans…?</p>
<p>Also, do you know anything about deferment in case I can’t get a $40,000 loan? Would it be possible to defer to the 2012-2013 school year and in order to work and make some money to help pay for college?</p>
<p>Again, I don’t know anything about loans, so is it possible that a bank would give a college student $40,000 in a loan?</p>
<p>Thank you for your help, mom2collegekids.</p>
<p>It sounds like a deferral is a good idea so you can reconsider schools to apply to. Obviously a school that meets full need (like UVA) is not a good match to your family’s circumstances. You need to look at some schools that will offer merit aid for your application.</p>
<p>The only loans you are guaranteed to qualify for are the Staffords. For more than that you will need a cosigner.</p>
<p>Do you know how much your parents can pay? There are many places that are less expensive than this one. Some are still accepting applicants for this year.</p>
<p>If you move to the US and get a job here and can show that you are paying for more than half of your own expenses, some states will let you establish in-state residence on your own. Check the residency rules for states that interest you. This is possible in Maryland.</p>
<p>Happymom, are you sure of that? It looks like it still takes 12 months and it wouldn’t work while attending school.
[UM</a> Residency Classification Office | Policy](<a href=“http://www.testudo.umd.edu/rco/policy.html]UM”>http://www.testudo.umd.edu/rco/policy.html)</p>
<p>Good catch Erin’s Dad! That’s what I get out of posting with the i-Touch instead of the computer. I still haven’t figured out how to edit with it. The reply space is so small.</p>
<p>You need to be in MD for 12 months for the universities. For some of the community colleges, the time of residence in state is less than that, but you would still need 12 months of self-sufficiency. In both cases, the institution needs to believe that you moved into the state for reasons other than attending school, so it would not be a good idea to enroll in any credit bearing classes right away. They want to reserve in-state prices for bona fide MD taxpayers. The link to the MS Word document detailing the rules at our local CC is about half-way down the page at this link: [Montgomery</a> College Catalog](<a href=“http://cms.montgomerycollege.edu/EDU/Plain.aspx?id=2070]Montgomery”>http://cms.montgomerycollege.edu/EDU/Plain.aspx?id=2070) </p>
<p>Some states are even more restrictive, and as long as you can be considered dependent under the FAFSA rules will not want to consider you a resident. Some states are more flexible and will allow you to establish in-state residence while you are in school provided you comply with specific requirements. You really do need to do the research. Not all parents are comfortable with the thought of letting their 17 or 18 year old kids move to another country and live on their own. Back when we were still overseas, the plan was to send Happykid to live near family in the US long enough to establish state residence. As it happened, we moved back as a family, and we never had to take that step.</p>
<p>mbernaus, By filling out the FAFSA, you (the student) are qualified for $5,500 in government loans for the first year. (The amount goes up after that.) Those don’t have to be paid back until 6 months after you drop below half-time college student. Your parents can take the rest out in PLUS loans. UVA should be able to direct them to how to do that. </p>
<p>The simple truth is that most students in Europe find the US schools too expensive compared to what they can get at home. It sounds like you need to look at schools that offer merit scholarships or schools with a lower price tag. </p>
<p>Are you taking any AP exams? You may be able to shave off a bit of time that way and by taking the SAT II in Spanish. I just looked it up and it says that UVA requires you take those exams before you graduate high school.</p>
<p><a href=“http://artsandsciences.virginia.edu/college/admissions/ap_credit.html[/url]”>http://artsandsciences.virginia.edu/college/admissions/ap_credit.html</a></p>
<p>First of all…YOU can’t borrow more than the low federal loan you were offered. To borrow MORE than that, your parents would have to co-sign. </p>
<p>Secondly, hopefully your parents won’t agree to co-sign such an outrageous amount of loans…$40k per year is $160k …that is about 6 times as much as any undergrad should borrow. Totally crazy and irresponsible. Your monthly payments would be about $1800 per month. </p>
<p>Talk to your parents…it’s very likely that they would never consider co-signing such amounts (they might not even qualify for every year’s loan anyway). If they tell you “no”, then case is closed. You’ll need to go to school elsewhere.</p>
<p>What is your likely career? How much do you think you’ll be earning upon graduation.</p>