<p>We have Florida prepaid which is designed to be used in-state, but can be used out of state or for in-state private schools (the state paying the cost of the Florida schools toward the OOS school).
We've calcuated our probably EFC (fafsa) at 20k yrly. So, as I understand it, for the schools that use Fafsa, they would likely consider our NEED to be any of the costs over and above something close to that 20k each year. How does the pre-paid affect that? If we were to find a school that met full need, would that mean we'd have to pay out the 20k a year, or would we only have to pay out the 20k minus the pre-paid amount of tuition or does having the pre-paid mean that those schools would expect us to pay the 20K on top of the prepaid contribution?
I think the prepaid counts as a 529, so I am hoping it doesn't get 'counted' in income/asset calculations.</p>
<p>There are not FAFSA only schools that meet need.</p>
<p>I don’t know how schools treat a “pre paid” state plan. They may be treated like 529s for FAFSA, true. However, as Waverly, says, most schools that are FAFSA only in financial aid forms/analysis do not meet full needs, so your “need” figure is only a maximum that might be funded, and for most of these schools, few kids, other than the most desired ones will get that max or even close to it. They tend to gap, sometimes badly.</p>
<p>The schools that tend to meet full need are PROFILE schools and the problem there is that they can look at anything and use anything as assets or income when they define need. The figure they come up with as their family contribution may be completely different from the FAFSA EFC. THere are some PROFILE calculators on line but I don’t know if they will have built in treatment of your pre paid plan. You might want to call the financial aid offices of some schools on your student’s likely list in terms of interest, and find out how they handle the plan. You may find the answers differ widely.</p>
<p>For what other things could you use the “prepaid” ? DO you have other kids? The thing with the 529, it can be used for anyone’s tuition. If you have other kids, and if it is counted as a parental/sibling asset if it is in the other kids’ names, you may want to switch it while you can, unless the schools treat it the same if it is the student who is heading to college’s name.</p>
<p>* If we were to find a school that met full need*</p>
<p>If you find such a school, it will likely be a CSS Profile school…not a FAFSA-only school.</p>
<p>I’m trying to figure out what our EFC # means… Can anyone help me?</p>
<p>You should start a new thread. </p>
<p>Your EFC (what is it?) just lets a college know if you qualify for any federal aid. Colleges aren’t under any obligation to give money to fill a student’s need.</p>
<p>Yes, officially it stands for the Estimated Family Contribution, but it really doesn’t mean that is what a family will pay. I’ve seen suggested on this forum that Estimated Federal-Aid Calculation (or something like that) SHOULD be what it stands for, as that more closely reflects what it actually means to families.</p>
<p>Shoboemom-sent you a PM.</p>
<p>Got it…thank you! I think I PM’d you back, but I haven’t used the PM feature before, so I am not positive! lol</p>
<p>Your EFC will be the MINIMUM you will be expected to pay for college. Schools that meet full need will used the CSS Profile or their own form to gain additional financial information that is not used or found on the FAFSA.</p>