I have a family of six. Two parents and four kids. Currently all 4 of us kids will be in college by fall semester. However my parents make $100,000 yearly. Will fasfa take into account that we currently have 4 kids all attended 4 year universities or will they just see the “$100,000” and say nope they dont need any aid. Also I have been looking around for scholarships for “middle class” and have not been able to find any. Some help would be greatly appreciated thanks!
The FAFSA formula considers number of siblings in college at the same time.
But that doesn’t mean the colleges will give you more money. That is totally dependent on the need based aid awarding policies of the colleges.
Im just wondering if I will get any money at all so far it just says I can apply for a loan… :\ Four kids at a university is a hefty price.
I would venture a guess that’s because there aren’t any scholarships specifically for the “middle class,” whatever that means these days.
The best scholarships come from the schools themselves. Most outside scholarships are not renewable and are for low amounts.
FAFSA does not give you money. FAFSA determines what federal aid, including loans, you are eligible for. This information is then passed to schools at your request and then used by the school, sometimes in conjunction with the CSS profile, to determine your aid package.
The FAFSA does return a calculation of what is considered to be your Expected Family Contribution (EFC) at the federal level. Each school will do its own calculation of what THEY think your family can afford to contribute. This will take into account how many students are currently in college. It also means this number will vary year to year especially if the number of students changes.
Remember, it is the school that determines what they think you can pay. You need to look for schools that are generous with need-based aid, or schools where you would be at the top of the class and might qualify for merit aid. As stated above, the best scholarships come from the schools. Often outside scholarships are one year only deals.
You need to select a school that will give you $ based on your stats.
@“Erin’s Dad”, I think OP is a transfer student.
The maximum aid a student gets if the family has a 0 EFC is ~$5k, which may not help a whole lot. And I think that as each kid graduates, that amount would go down anyway.
OP, what colleges are you considering?
Thanks for all the responses guys! I am considering UCR at the moment. And thank you for clearing up the fact that FASFA does not actually provide aid its the school! Awesome information to have I did not know that.
Is “UCR” University of California Riverside? The UCs do give “middle class” scholarships; $100,000 for a family of six should be within the guidelines for that scholarship. How much that amounts to, I don’t know.
Yes Riverside sorry for the confusion. Okay I was not sure how to specifically apply? Is that something that is automatically done based on income? I am on the webgrants website and under "
Middle Class Scholarship Award Detail" it’s empty nothing for me to apply for or fill out.
OP, I think $100k for a family of 6 falls within Cal Grant boundaries. You should be able to get your tuition covered. 
http://www.csac.ca.gov/facts/2016-17_income_and_asset_ceilings.pdf
$104,600
Oh wait, did you file your FAFSA already??? Deadline was March 2nd
OP, here is the link explaining the UC Middle Class Scholarship -
Note, there is no separate application for the Middle Class Scholarship, but your financial aid application must have been submitted by March 2d as the poster above stated:
^ The OP will likely not be receiving this, since she already qualifies for CG
Yes I filed months before the actual deadline.
My parents total income was $112,000 to be exact so I may not be able to get cal grant.
^ Ahh I see…hmm so close
Well, you can still get the middle class scholarship.
The difference in income is larger than what you’re not getting in aid (the difference between CalGrant and the middle class award), so you’re not loosing anything really.
Ahh I see well thanks!
OP, the UCR calculator shows $16k in grant aid for income $112k, $30k in assets, & a family of 6 w/one in college.
With 4 kids in college, it shows a $21k grant. Interesting…