<p>Is there a simple way to estimate our EFC? We are trying to weed out colleges we flat out can't afford.</p>
<p>Try the FAFSA4Caster here:</p>
<p><a href=“https://fafsa.ed.gov/FAFSA/app/f4cForm?execution=e1s1[/url]”>https://fafsa.ed.gov/FAFSA/app/f4cForm?execution=e1s1</a></p>
<p>[EFC</a> Calculator - financial-aid - College Confidential](<a href=“http://www.collegeconfidential.com/financial_aid/efc.htm]EFC”>http://www.collegeconfidential.com/financial_aid/efc.htm)</p>
<p>That will give you some idea what your EFC is… Be aware that the EFC only lets you know if you are eligible for PELL and allows the student to borrow Stafford loans (max $5500 freshman year ordinarily) and makes you eligible for PLUS and the student for other federal programs like Perkins loans and work study, but no guarantee of getting any of those. </p>
<p>The EFC is usually the maximum one can expect to be getting. Few school, in fact none I can think of will guarantee to give aid so that is all you have to pay. The most generous schools tend to use other calculators, most often the PROFILE which covers a lot more than the FAFSA. Look up some colleges you have in mind and you can use their Net Price Calculators for some idea how they will treat your family financially. They are estimates only and if you own a business, or have some other unusual things, it could be off. They are also averages so that if your student is way up there in academic stats, s/he could do better, and not well if not, if the school does not guarantee to meet need and if merit award id involved.</p>
<p>Ok, so I’m a little confused/overwhelmed. If a school states that they will meet 100% of your need, do they actually mean it AND is that need met in grants or loans??</p>
<p>Yes they mean it, but there’s a catch. They get to define what the “need” is. They almost always think you have less need than you do! As cpt mentioned, they use a additional vehicle, the profile, to delve into your financial life and come up with a number. </p>
<p>Need can be met with grants, loans, scholarship, or any combination thereof.</p>
<p>The only schools I know that guarantee to meet 100% of your need, define that need themselves. They don’t use the FAFSA EFC. Also, need is usually met in grants, loans and workstudy, though there are some schools that will not give out loans, some that will limit them especially to low income families. A top student can also qualify for merit scholarships which will reduce need and if those scholarship are the really big ones, eliminate it. There are full ride scholarships out there.</p>
<p>Schools that promise to meet 100% of need typically use CSS Profile. So, things like home equity, retirement accts, business values, etc come into play. They get to decide how much need you have.</p>
<p>Use each school’s net price calculator on each website to get a better idea.</p>
<p>You can find the current FAFSA formula itself, and print out the PDF to work through on paper by googling EFC Forumula 2014. The formula changes a bit from year to year, but this will give you a good idea of what factors in your family financial situation most affect the federal EFC: <a href=“http://www.ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/091312EFCFormulaGuide1314.pdf[/url]”>http://www.ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/091312EFCFormulaGuide1314.pdf</a></p>
<p>NOTE: The calculator is always better. I am also a student using a sample size of about 5 other students so, take what you will.</p>
<p>Also, if you’re too lazy to do the calculators, just take your income after taxes and take 25% if you’re single/divorced, 30% if you’re married. Obviously this is super general but you’ll probably find that those calculators give you somewhere in that ball park. Anyway all of the schools I applied to that redefined my need and gave me an aid package were somewhere in that range as well. Again, maybe just me, but if you’re just searching than this might help you cut out quite a few people.</p>
<p>EFC comes off of before tax income.
Schools expect you to pay your families educational expenses with a combination of current,past & future income.
100% need can be met with self- help( loans & work study) and grants.
Most schools dont meet 100% of need.
Schools that do, are often need aware for admission.
PROFILE asks for much more information than FAFSA ( non custodial parent, other real estate…) they do not do so in order to identify debt that may qualify you for additional money, they do so to find more assets to tap!
I haven’t used any of the NPCs, so I cant say how accurate they are.</p>
<p>Your EFC won’t help weed out colleges. More or less, they all see the same EFC. It is how the college fills the gap that makes the difference. That is very school specific.</p>
<p>If a school has a Net Price Calculator, then that will be a good estimate. Better than what anyone else can give you. Look for it on a school’s financial aid web page.</p>
<p>Use the EFC calculator on the Collegeboard website with your 2012 tax returns.
Choose IM for institutional methodology and FM for federal methodology.
Keep hitting save on each page, at the end print out the summary sheet, you can make notes on it.
I have found it to be very accurate. You can go back in and use different scenarios, if you like, change your income, the number in college and so on, a great little tool. </p>
<p>Buy the book “Paying For College Without Going Broke” Princeton Review by Kalman Chany.
It is published every year, comes out in October-November.
Buy it every year while you have children in college.</p>