<p>keep in mind that the EFC calculation considers 50% of YOUR INCOME as available for college, so for every $1 you earn over the summer, your EFC goes up another $0.50.</p>
<p>I think this is only true AFTER earning something like $4k or so. Hopefully, Kelsmom can chime in here with the exact figure.</p>
<p>Found the quote from Swimcatsmom (who also knows a bunch about this stuff)… </p>
<p>On FAFSA a dependent student has income protection of around $4500 plus allowances for taxes. After that 50% of the income goes to the EFC</p>
<p>And, of course, any income earned by work study doesn’t affect EFC either. So a student could earn about $4500 over the summer and another $2500 from workstudy and none of it would affect EFC.</p>