<p>I know that there are alot of other elements factored into getting aid, but I'm a first generation college student and my parents make just under 60k a year. Should I be expecting to get anything substantial from FAFSA?</p>
<p>You don’t get aid from the FAFSA (it’s an application, that’s the first A), but you’ll likely qualify for federal grants and subsidized loans.</p>
<p>You will get substantial aid from any school claiming to meet full need (unfortunately, not as many as you might hope). Other schools, it will depend on how they handle financial aid. If they’re good about it, you should receive a fair amount.</p>
<p>This is assuming all else typical for a sub-60k/year income family.</p>
<p>With an income of $60k the OP is not likely to qualify for federal grants. The Pell grant requires an EFC of 5270 ish and lower. Unless there is more than 1 student in college at the same time the EFC will be higher than that.</p>
<p>Thank you for the replies. </p>
<p>I did qualify for a subsidized loan (2000 or so a year)</p>
<p>I will be the only child in college for all four years</p>
<p>It is the school that awards you any federal aid you are eligible for based on the FAFSA you submitted to them. There is no separate “FAFSA” aid.</p>
<p>Schools also make awards from their own pot of money and may use the FAFSA to determine these amounts. They can be merit awards (scholarships) or need-based aid (institutional grants, Stafford loans, Plus loans).</p>
<p>If you have been accepted to a school where the COA is significantly higher than your EFC, you can get significant aid, however, it’s not always a guaranteed. Depends on the school as BillyMc said.</p>
<p>What state are you in?</p>
<p>What schools did you apply to?</p>
<p>What are your stats?</p>
<p>DreamlessNight, are you a senior that has already applied for colleges? If not, my advice to you is to apply to all need-blind colleges that will meet full demonstrated need. Doing a quick google search can tell you which colleges these are. You also want to look into other sources of money, ie scholarships, and possible programs like questbridge. All of this is what I did, and I’ve already got one full ride offer (though I have a significantly lower household income).</p>
<p>If you’ve already applied, just make sure you fill everything out and send everything in time and wait it out. Apply for a bunch of scholarships. See what financial aid your colleges offer, (you’ll receive their financial aid offer with your acceptance letter). There are other options if it is not enough- delaying entrance for a year to work, doing two years of community college, work-study, certain companies which will pay for your school. You and your family don’t have to just take a bunch of loans and bury yourself in debt. However, at your level you should get some decent financial aid, depending on where you applied. See what your parents afford, what you can afford, budget it out and see if it works.</p>
<p>Best of luck to you!</p>
<p>“… my advice to you is to apply to all need-blind colleges that will meet full demonstrated need.”</p>
<p>Why the need-blind limitation? Being need-aware affects the chances of only a small portion of applicants (those on the cusp when the financial aid budget is exhausted) and doesn’t affect the desirability of a school at all.</p>