<p>Even though my family is financially stable, I will be the one paying just about all the costs of college since it's pretty expensive to live in NY and I have a family of 5. To make things even worse, I want to go away to college since I think it'll help me with my future career of hopefully being a sports agent. I know I will be getting $2,000 a year for tuition from my grandfather and I'm really, really, really hoping to get a scholarship from Arizona State University. But besides, that, I will be paying for everything else.</p>
<p>I quickly used the EFC calculator and my EFC is approximately $16,000. Just about all of that is coming from my parents.</p>
<p>So basically my question is, is there any way to get more financial aid, if you know your parents aren't going to contribute anything?</p>
<p>my EFC is approximately $16,000. Just about all of that is coming from my parents.</p>
<p>confused- so are your parents paying the EFC or not?
I really don’t equate parents paying EFC with student " having to pay for college themselves"
Thats the way it works in our house- $16,000 per year isn’t chump change ya know.
;)</p>
<p>Well I put in my parents salaries and that’s what my EFC was. However, my parents aren’t going to be paying anything for college. Does that mean I should not put in there salaries when calculating my EFC?</p>
<p>You still have to enter their salaries into the calculator even if they won’t be paying because the system doesn’t allow for you to do that (otherwise, all parent would just say, “we won’t pay,” and then the f/a system would be even more overloaded.</p>
<p>So… what you need to do is look for colleges that will give substantial merit - even to Out of state students. </p>
<p>What are your stats? (scores and GPA)?</p>
<p>I will look at AzSt website to see what $$ is available there.</p>
<p>You have to put your parents salaries in the EFC calculator. But that $16,000 will have to be paid by someone (and usually financial aid won’t cover the EFC…your family is supposed to do that).</p>
<p>Some heavy duty homework is in order. You seem to need a basic lesson in economics, college or otherwise. I suggest you look at some of the posts by Taxguy.</p>
<p>Your parents are considered responsible for your college costs. That they are not going to pay does not matter a whit. Unless you meet the requirements for independence which include being age 24, married, a veteran, having a dependent or being a ward of the court, your parents are as responsible for your college costs as they are your highschool costs.</p>
<p>What you can do is look up Momfromtexas’s thread which tells you about some full ride colleges. They are not going to be colleges you have heard much or anything about. You can also try your luck at merit awards at other colleges if you have the grades and test scores. You can also look into ROTC, Maritime colleges and commuting to local schools. You can get a Stafford Unsubsidized loan for yourself but otherwise you will need a parent or other credit worthy adult to cosign.</p>
<p>Also that $16K EFC is just the figure that FAFSA says your parents should be able to afford. It is by no means all that most colleges are going to ask your parents to pay. Most colleges require a second form such as PROFILE or their own fin aid forms completed before offering any financial aid, and it may be that their idea of an EFC for you will be higher than that. Few FAFSA only schools meet full need. So you would be fortunate to get all but $16K covered in most cases.</p>