How does the student income affect the EFC?

Paying for College
1

<p>Lets say both of my parents combined make under $20,000 a year, and there are no other assets or anything else, so its an automatic 0 for my parents. But lets say that i work part time and make around 8,000$ a year, would that 8,000 have an effect on the EFC number?</p>

<p>I've been trying to use the Collegeboard EFC and finaid.org EFC calculators, but it seems they give me different results. In Collegeboard it does not change my EFC until it reaches over 12,000, but the one at finaid.org raised the EFC right after the 5,000$ mark. So can any one tell me how exactly does student income affect EFC in FAFSA? Thank you.</p>

2

<p>It can affect the EFC. </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. But if the student qualifies for the automatic 0 EFC (parent income less than $30,000 and they meet one of the other qualifying criteria - eligibility to file a 1040a or EZ, or displaced worker, or food stamps etc) then the EFC is automatically 0 and the student’s income is ignored. If they do not qualify for the auto 0 then, even with the same parent income, the student’s income will be considered.</p>