How does the FAFSA EFC usually compare to the CSS EFC?

Paying for College
1

<p>I just got an email that the FAFSA had been processed, and when I clicked on a link to view the summary (or whatever word they used), it listed my EFC there. I don't want to post exactly what it is, but I'm happy with it, so there aren't any problems there. My question, though, is how does the CSS EFC (or EFC calculated using a college's own financial aid form, though this may be too specific for anyone to speculate on) usually compare to the FAFSA EFC? </p>

<p>I come from a rather middle-class family (though with just a single parent income), my sister's also going to be going to be entering college this upcoming year. My mother died several years ago, so our "income/savings" consist of my dad's income/savings/etc. plus social security money for my sister and me, though the soc. sec. will be ending this summer when we turn eighteen. Our house isn't particularly large or expensive, but it isn't really cheap or especially small either (I don't really know what standards to judge it by these days, anyways). I don't know what, if any, of this is relevant, but I know that the CSS doesn't look at things in the exact same way as the FAFSA, so I thought I'd mention any things that could be an issue/interpreted differently.</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

2

<p>I don't recall getting an actual EFC number from the CSS Profile. Maybe my memory is getting fuzzy, I don't know. I think it will really differ from college to college and individual to individual. In our case, the Profile schools expected us to pay about $10,000 a year above our FAFSA EFC.</p>

3

<p>Look at one of the financial aid online calculators. The CSS/Profile counts home equity in (value of home less mortgages), so it will probably estimate your family can pay more than EFC on FAFSA.</p>

4

<p>All the above is true, but please be aware that the actual price tag that the college will expect you to pay will probably seem to have no relationship to the FAFSA EFC, or any other EFC calculator. You will quite possibly be asked to pay more than what they estimate you are able to pay. Each school's FA policy and ability to grant aid is different. Just think about Harvard and Yale's recent announcements, and then look at other schools that are not nearly so well-endowed.</p>