<p>Hey everyone, I've been lurking and reading all sorts of responses on the site, and was confused by the various explanations between the number of siblings one has in college and the amount per child your parents are expected to contribute in tuition. While I want to keep my options open in regards to the more prestigious private colleges (Ivies, Gtown, Stanford, etc.), my parents make far too much, just under 200k, to qualify for any need-based aid at all but the most generous of schools. For some context, I'm the oldest, and will be in the class of 2020, and my brother will join the class of 2022. Can someone break down the relationship between the number of siblings and the expected contribution? Thank you in advance! :)</p>
<p>For FAFSA purposes, when there is more than one student in college, your full EFC will be divided amongst the college students. It usually isn’t a 50/50 split, and some depends on the policies of each college. </p>
<p>So as an example…if your EFC alone is $40,000, when there are two of you on college, EACH of you will have an EFC that equals (well…actually exceeds) $40,000. Or so. </p>
<p>However, really, this could have NO impact on your need based aid award unless you are attending colleges,that guarantee to meet full need for all. In other words, a reduction in your EFC does not necessarily translate into more need based financial aid.</p>
<p>And as you have noted, with your family income, even having two in college would only really make a dent if you are attending one of the small minority of colleges that has need based aid for higher income families.</p>
<p>Thanks for the clarification! For some more context, if I don’t go to an Ivy or Gtown/Stanford, I’ll probably stay in-state and go to Chapel Hill… not a bad fallback, but it’s nice to know there’s the possibility with that knowledge of being able to more readily afford an Ivy education. Thank you!</p>
<p>Also, I hate to comment immediately again, but is there a list anywhere of schools that promise to meet full need for all?</p>
<p>^^^
<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2013/09/18/colleges-that-claim-to-meet-full-financial-need-2014”>http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2013/09/18/colleges-that-claim-to-meet-full-financial-need-2014</a></p>
<p><a href=“List of Colleges That Meet 100% of Financial Need”>http://www.thecollegesolution.com/list-of-colleges-that-meet-100-of-financial-need/</a></p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>The parental part of your FAFSA EFC will be split in half, with two kids in college, but those schools that tend to meet full need or close to it, tend to use PROFILE or other method of defining need. THe schools that you mention, I believe do use PROFILE (not sure about UNC-CH, think they do, but not sure). PROFILE formulas can vary all over the place depending upon the school, but they usually multiply the parental computation by .6 when there are two kids in college. Some schools will also check on what the actual costs are for the other student. All depends upon the school.</p>