So, unless the FAFSA package > Need (Or Remaining Need is positive), the student should receive full FAFSA Package. Is that correct?
It happened to me that it seems like my school take the amount of EFC right from my full FAFSA package even when my Remaining Need is still positive. ( I checked and they even showed that I have 2000 in my remaining need, but my Pell grant got deducted by the amount of EFC compare to last year (EFC = 0).
didn’t quite follow what you were saying re Pell being deducted. but you can keep a few things in mind:
fafsa is an application, not a package. you will receive your aid package from each school and they all do it differently (using input from fafsa and probably the css profile if it’s a private school).
the term is ‘gap’ as opposed to ‘remaining need’. a school may give you a package that does not meet your full need. to use your calc … “Need - Package = Gap”. some schools are notorious for gapping (NYU comes to mind)
At highly selective schools, fafsa will only be used to determine your federal aid (Pell grant, loans, etc) - which is a small portion of the entire package. the rest will be determined by the school using their own methodology most likely using the css profile.
research terms such as:
federal methodology (FM)
institutional methodology (IM)
you’ll find plenty of articles that explain all this in much more detail. thecollegesolution is a good one.
thank you for replying. My school uses the FM one. I was saying my Pell grant got reduced compared to last year, even though I still have a lot of remaining need. For example:
CoA = 10k
Aid Package = 7k
EFC = 2k
So, my contribution should be 2k and I need 8k from Financial Aid to cover the CoA. They are only able to provide the Aid Package of 7k, meaning I still need another 1k for CoA. In my case, they take 2k(EFC) straight from my Aid Package and left me with 10k - (7k - 2k) = 5k need. Aren’t them supposed to provide full package of 7k, cause I did my part for the 2K already in the calculation.
they don’t have to meet anything, just remember that.
also, lots of schools give less aid to returning students than freshmen. (look at collegedata for stats)
are you saying that they gave you a package of 5k with a net price of 5k? if so, your EFC of 2k would mean they are gapping you by 3k. (in your initial example of 10k coa, 7k package and 2k efc, that’s a gap of 1k (as you stated). my confusion is when you say they are supposed to give full package of 7k. a full package that met your need would be 8k.
You should ask the school to tell you what they calculate your EFC to be (and the breakdown between parent and student) to make sure you are talking apples and oranges. some schools require a student contribution of about 2k to come from your summer employment (ask if they’re doing this), but i’ve always thought these would be profile schools that meet full need, not so much fafsa only schools. but i could be wrong.
Financial aid is based on the following premise: Cost of attendance- EFC = demonstrated need.
In your situation: 10k-2k =8k
Your demonstrated need is 8k, your school gave you a financial aid package of 7k.
Most FAFSA only schools do not meet 100% demonstrated need (they gap). You have a 1K gap in your financial aid package. It is up to you to figure out how you/your family to figure out how to fill the gap. This means that you must come up with 3k (your 2K EFC + the 1k gap in your financial aid package).
You must reapply for financial aid each year. Any changes in your family’s income from one year to the next will be reflected in your EFC and subsequent financial aid package. Did you/your family make more money in 2015 than they made in 2014?
If your EFC was 0 last year then you qualified for full Pell $5775 a year.
If the school costs $10 k then you had to come up with the rest of the money, maybe you also got a SEOG grant or a work study, state grant or loan. Some of these aid items go away once your EFC increases because they go to the neediest students first.
If your EFC is $2000 this year then you don’t get the full Pell grant anymore, you get $5775-$2000.
Your aid can change every year based on family income, schools increase costs as well from year to year.
So you need to be prepared to come up with more money if EFC and costs change.
You can get a job on campus, work in the summer, take a student loan to help pay the gap.
Your EFC is the minimum you are expected to pay, and it determines eligibility for federal and state aid.
The max Pell grant is ~$5800 and that is for people with $0 EFC. One person with a $0 may only really need $10k to go to College A and another person may need $40k to go to college B, but they will only get $5800. If the EFC goes up to $2000, the government is saying you need $2000 less of government money. The school can still give more.
btw, anyone knows if am I qualified to file 1040A if I have nondividend distribution (only $5) in 1099DIV? If I am qualified I dont have to worry about EFC :(.