<p>Hi. I am a bit confused on how this works. Say, for instance, that I am expected to pay $10,000/year (EFC) and I am getting an $18,000 Scholarship from the school, which is about $40,000 per year. Will the scholarship cover the EFC and loan packages, or will it eliminate some of the government money? I have a college fund, however, I would rather reserve that money for dentistry school. I have full-rides to two in-state schools (one public and one private) but they aren't exactly my first choice. If someone could tell me how this works that would be great.</p>
<p>the scholarship doesn't cover the EFC</p>
<p>COA=40000
40000-18000-10000=12000 still to be covered (you can get 3500 in subsidized stafford and 2K more in unsubsidized stafford, plus you may be offered work study, that's it for government money with an EFC of 10000).</p>
<p>You can use your college fund for your EFC can any additional unmet need.</p>
<p>if you want to save your college fund, take the full rides from the other schools.</p>
<p>Contact your U's fianacial aid dept. They will make it all clear, but I assume that this is a college that does NOT guarantee to meet need (the numbers you quote don't add up if it does):</p>
<p>$40,000 tuition + room + food</p>
<h2>$18,000 scholarship</h2>
<p>$22,000</p>
<p>Since your EFC is $10,000 you have $12,000 in "unmet need"</p>
<p>Effectively they are telling you you need to use savings/borrow/workstudy to meet $22k per year.</p>
<p>If your school also uses the profile, there is a chance that your EFC will probably be more than $10,000 because the FAFSA and the profile look at 2 different things.</p>
<p>At minimum you file the FAFSA (at almost every school) to determine your eligibility for federal aid (Pell/ seog grants, stafford and perkins loans). Most public univeristies will just require the fafsa (the exception may be UVA, UNC- CH, Mich and a few others which may require their own forms)</p>
<p>The CSS profile is used at different colleges that distribute their own institutional aid (Many of these schools have much deeper pockets).</p>
<p>Many schools that use a federal methodology to determine EFC will require only the FAFSA. Schools that use an instutional methodology or a combination of the 2 will require the CSS profile or their own FA forms.</p>
<p>Differences between the IM and FM models are</p>
<p>IM collects information on estimated academic year family income, medical expenses, elementary and secondary school tuition and unusual circumstances. FM omits these questions.</p>
<p>IM considers a fuller range of family asset information, while FM ignores assets of siblings, all assets of certain families with less than $50,000 of income, and both home and family farm equity.</p>
<p>FM defines income as the “adjusted gross income” on federal tax returns, plus various categories of untaxed income. IM includes in total income any paper depreciation, business, rental or capital losses which artificially reduce adjusted gross income.</p>
<p>FM does not assume a minimum student contribution to education; IM expects the student, as primary beneficiary of the education, to devote some time each year to earning money to pay for education.</p>
<p>FM ignores the noncustodial parent in cases of divorce or separation; IM expects parents to help pay for education, regardless of current marital status.</p>
<p>FM and IM apply different percentages to adjust the parental contribution when multiple siblings are simultaneously enrolled in college, and IM considers only siblings enrolled in undergraduate programs.</p>
<p>The IM expected family share represents a best estimate of a family’s capacity (relative to other families) to absorb, over time, the costs of education. It is not an assessment of cash on hand, a value judgment about how much a family should be able to use current income, or a measure of liquidity. The final determinations of demonstrated need and awards rest with the University and are based upon a uniform and consistent treatment of family circumstances.</p>
<p>Except in the most extraordinary circumstances, Colleges classifies incoming students as dependent upon parents for institutional aid purposes, even though some students may meet the federal definition of “independence.”</p>
<p>Students enrolling as dependent students are considered dependent throughout their undergraduate years when need for institutional scholarships is determined.</p>
<p>For institutional aid purposes a student may not “declare” independence due to attainment of legal age, internal family arrangements, marriage or family disagreements.</p>
<p>Your COA (cost of attendance) is tuition, room board, books travel expenses and some misc. expenses associated with attending college.</p>
<p>excellent post and should be mandatory reading by everyone filling out the Fafsa/CSS</p>