If you only will have ONE kid in college for the 2019-2020 academic year…you need to change your FAFSA to reflect that.
You said…your sister is in her second year of community college. Will she be attending college in the 2019-2020 school year…or not?
And yes…if TWO are on college, a FAFSA EFC of $17,000 EACH sounds about right. But if only one is in college…that EFC will be more like $34,000.
Can you clarify? Is your sister a sophomore (second year) at a CC now???
Will she be going to a CC next year as a 3rd year community college student???
Not in your case.
Did your sister submit fafsa for just herself last year? What was the EFC then?
She is a sophomore at a community college now, but doesn’t know what she’s going to do next year. She submitted the fafsa for just herself last year, but I don’t know what the efc was.
If your sister is NOT in college next year, that has the real potential to affect need based aid for you. Your EFC per FAFSA for just you is going to be $34,000 or so.
That exceeds the cost to attend SIU (but you got merit there anyway).
SIU has a net cost for you of $17,000. You can also take a $5500 Direct Loan. So…you have $11,500 left to cover for the year. Can your parents contribute ANYTHING towards that cost?
Did you get a financial aid package with your acceptance to SIU? You said the net price is $19k. Is that what the financial aid package says your net cost is or what the NPC produced?
I ran SIU’s NPC. It asks for the of people in the family, income, and number in college but not much more. With one in college the net price is $24k, not $19k. With 2 in college it’s $23k. But those are 2016-2017 prices. If the total cost of attendance is ~$30k I’d expect your net cost to be higher than $23k.
I didn’t get a financial aid package with my acceptance to SIU. I’m just figuring out costs with the npcs right now.
Please talk to your sister and find out if she’ll be in college in the fall. If she won’t, then your FAFSA is wrong and your EFC is wrong.
You’re not doing the Net Price Calculators correct if you’re putting in “two in college” when your sister won’t be in school in the fall. Find out what she’ll be doing.
She doesn’t know yet, and she probably won’t make a decision for a while. I think our community college has some four year programs which she’s considering doing.
Who pays for sister’s schooling?
Yesterday you said your older sister doesn’t want a 4-year degree and today you said she might. I think you have to assume that all your siblings will want a college degree. If your parents borrow for you attend residential college are they going to make the same offer to your 3 siblings? At even just $10k/year that’s ~$140k for all of you (plus interest). If your parents’ income is $145k they may not be able to borrow that much.
@mom2collegekids She pays for most of it, and my parents pay for some.
Tuition in IL is ~$8k/year. If your sister is paying for most of it then it sounds like your parents’ yearly budget is less than ~$4k. You should ask them what’s the max they can pay. They may be hoping you’ll get tons of merit, but SIU’s $10k/year grant is competitive. The minimum stats are 1310 SAT/3.5 GPA. Your 1370/3.7 makes you eligible, but it’s not a guarantee.
My parents aren’t telling me what they can pay, but they aren’t very worried about the cost of any of the schools. The want me to go to UIUC even though it’s the most expensive.
If they are willing to pay for it with no additional financial commitment on your part, then fine. The fact that they are being cagey about what they can/will pay is disquieting to say the least. If your sister doesn’t continue with school your parents EFC WILL go up, but if they are able to simply shift what they are paying for her to the additional cost of your attendance, then fine. But all this financial guessing is just spinning wheels.
None of the schools on this student’s list meet full need. Unless she is a tippy top student and then some, she isn’t going to get merit aid at UIUC which is a very pricey instate flagship.
@elsaanna have you already received a merit scholarship from SIU? If all you are going off of is their net price calculator…don’t count your chickens before they hatch. You need to actually be awarded that merit scholarship by the college. Until that happens you don’t have it.
The only aid you are guaranteed with your family income is a $5500 Direct Loan. That’s it. None of the schools on your list meet full need…and you aren’t low income.
So…IF you get that merit award from SIU, go for it.
I’m still SMH that you didn’t apply to NIU and WIU which both have very fine teacher education programs in Illinois.
@thumper1 I already received a $10k merit scholarship from SIU. The price I get from the npc is $27k, which doesn’t include the the direct loan or the merit scholarship.
So…is SIU affordable?
I think it’s the understanding of the OP of what her parents will pay for. This should be a ten minute conversation with her parents. She could make a basic excel spreadsheet if needed with cost of attendance. (get this from the website.)
Just ask “what can you afford to pay at each school and how much do you expect me to take out in loans”
If she needs to take out the max $27,500 over 4 years, then this “might” be worth it. If it’s much more then this I would have second thoughts.
@thumper1 Yes