<p>I looked up my EFC and it was about 44,800. My parents make about ~135k a year. In the "What's your EFC thread?", I saw nobody with that high of an EFC, the highest was around half that. Is there something wrong with this picture?</p>
<p>savings, investments and equity in a property that is not your primary home all factor in also.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, that looks about right for that income. EFC is based almost entirely on income. The rationale is that with $135K coming in, your family can spare $44K for college.</p>
<p>There are many factors but your EFC might be right
Our income is 155K and our FAFSA EFC is 37K, so less than yours</p>
<p>Based just on parent income that would sound a little high. But if your parents have substantial assets that would increase the EFC. Also if you have income and assets in your own name they have a much larger affect on the EFC.</p>
<p>My family’s income is around 130,000 and ours was about 30.000. Unfortunately that was only in the last 5 years, so savings is small. We have 5 people in the family, no other homes, stocks, etc. I think it’s high, but what can you do?</p>
<p>Virtus - if you have very little savings then the EFC is based just on the income. $30k sounds about right for a $130 income, based on the formula. The OP must have some assets in the mix for his EFC to be that much higher.</p>
<p>The size of the family is another variable impacting the EFC. If Schrizto comes from a family of 3 the EFC will be higher than for a family of 5.</p>
<p>Family size is taken into account as far as income protection allowances is concerned. It would not account for such a massive difference though. The only things I can think of that would account for such a big difference on similar incomes is:
parent assets (5.6% over the protected allowances go to the EFC)
student income (not very likely with a HS student, but 50% of income over the protected income allowance of @ $3800) goes to the EFC)
Student assets (20% of student assets go to the EFC - no asset protection).</p>
<p>Also the source of the income makes a difference. For instance income earned from work is given certain allowances (such as 6.75% for FICA) that income not earned from work is not given.</p>
<p>I’d say that sounds about right.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This is definitely likely, though maybe not for the OP. I made $4600 last year, at minimum wage, for only nine months.</p>
<p>The comment was meant to be in regard to the OP as in ‘not likely that it was the reason for the almost $15,000 difference between the EFC of 2 students with similar parent incomes’. </p>
<p>For most HS students their income is unlikely to contribute more than a few hundred to the EFC. Though there are always exceptions. $15,000 would be very exceptional.</p>
<p>OP: just as a comparison and to let you know that there are indeed EFCs higher than yours, for the past two years our EFC has been in the 60K+ range with total parental income around 100K. But this is because my son has(had) a substantial college fund in his name; having spent down some, this year our EFC is under 40K. As the above posters indicate, the EFC is influenced by many factors and depends on each family’s financial circumstances.</p>
<p>Of course some have efcs of 99k</p>
<p>^^^ True that. Ahhhh … the happy thoughts that pop into my mind as I mull over the concept of the amount of income & assets that would lead to such an EFC. :)</p>
<p>Not enough if you’re in your late 50’s, without a pension and hoping to retire some day.</p>
<p>^^True that^^
Another reason our EFC will always be high is that H is self-employed and even having maxed-out SEPs and IRAs, we will depend on general investments and savings to get us through retirement. All of those $$$ are fair game in the EFC calc but we are hoping to have much of it available post-college payments, in order to live adequately after “retirement”.</p>
<p>H & I figure that retirement is a myth … at least for us! Fortunately, I still remember how to ask, “Would you like fries with that?” from my teenage years spent working at McDonald’s … and H is practicing saying “Welcome to WalMart” without grimacing! :)</p>
<p>My H will be right at home at Home Depot…no grimace necessary :)</p>
<p>Actually, my H would be thrilled to mow lawns for a living - that is a definite possibility down the road.</p>
<p>My D has been offered merit scholarships of $22K (2,500 per yr) for 4 years at one school and $32K (8K per yr)at another, we haven’t heard from the 3rd yet about merit aid. We are still waiting for need based stament. Our EFC was around 7K…anyone know if we qualify for any need based? Schools are SAIC, CCA and MICA.
Thanks</p>