If I say I can pay 8k compared to 9.5k, how much of an effect will that have? Is that almost negligible? international student
This is what you SAY you can pay?
That makes NO difference in terms of the financial aid calculations. You could put $0 or $100,000. Doesn’t matter.
The colleges will compute your need based aid based on the income and assets provided on your financial aid application forms.
@thumper1
Yes, thats my EFC , the amount I’ve said I’ll pay.
Are you sure that the colleges will calculate my aid ? Don’t they care about the EFC at all?
What EFC are you talking about? EFC is. FAFSA term. You are an international student and you can’t file a FAFSA.
Yes…the colleges WILL calculate your family contribution based on the financial data you provide on the Profile. That is what matters.
The amount you SAY you can pay is not considered in their calculations. The colleges consider income and assets.
Is this “EFC” amount what a college net price calculator says your family will pay? If so…be aware that the net price calculators are not often accurate for international students.
EFC (Expected Family Contribution) is not a number that you as the student come up with. In your case, it will be a number that each school determines, based on financial information that you provide.
@thumper1 CSS profile also has an EFC box where we write down our expected family contribution… That means that we , as students, come up with a number that we can pay in the form while also filling up other details, such as income, tax paid, pension etc.
internationals are required to file a CSS profile or an ISFAA form
@BelknapPoint We need to enter the expected amount we can pay in the CSS profile.
Seems like its a bit different for internationals.
There is this question in the CSS profile " How much does the student expect to receive from the following sources to pay for educational expenses for the 2019-20 academic year?"
And then we enter the numbers.
Well, if you’re putting on your CSS Profile that you can pay $9500, all that is saying is that you can pay for your international travel to and from the US, your health insurance, and your personal expenses and maybe books.
It’s basically saying that you can pay NOTHING towards your education, your dorm, your meal plan, your school fees.
That is NOT your college family contribution…it’s not.
THAT little box is an informational one only…and is NOT used to compute what the college believes you can pay.
The college will use the OTHER financial data on the Profile…income, assets, etc. to determine what the college feels you can pay.
You can put any number you choose in that box on the Profile…and it won’t matter.
And for the record…that question is on all Profile forms…not just for international students.
@mom2collegekids well the 9500 is towards my educational expenses i.e. out of the 68,000 dollars it costs for many private schools, I can pay 9500.
It says " How much does the student expect to receive from the following sources to pay for educational expenses "
Emergency expenses and personal expenses are not included imo
@thumper1 alright,thanks
YOU need to include these costs because you WILL be expected to pay them. Add in health insurance which also isn’t usually included in the college cost of attendance…you will be required to have that as well.
And at the end of all this…you will be required to submit a verification of finances that shows that you have at least one year of expenses for college fully covered. Some schools require more years. You will need this to get a visa to study here. And yes…financial aid you receive can be included in this.
Hoping you have an affordable option in your country on your list as well.
IIRC, you were applying to over 20 colleges…but needed fee waivers for applications and the Profile.
Remember too…you will need to submit the SAT or ACT and TOEFL…to each college…and there is a fee for that too.
If your EFC is more than your family can actually or is willing to pay ( I know that is the number determined), what next? Can you negotiate that number to be lower or takw out more loans to cover?
This is an international student. What loans do you think HE can get himself?
If you are asking for yourself…perhaps start another thread.
Colleges use that box to see how much families can pay, but most don’t commit to making up the difference. So if you’re looking at schools that cost $68,000 and you can only pay $8k the school knows you have a gap of $60,000. That doesn’t mean they’ll give you $60k/year in aid. Most colleges can’t afford that.
If they’re need aware they may pick a student whose family can pay more. Or they may accept students who need a lot of money but not offer them much aid and leave it up to the family to figure out how to pay. It works the same for US students. Most commute to a local school because their families can’t afford to pay for residential college and most schools don’t offer enough aid to bridge the gap. We generally tell all students to have financial safeties. If there are affordable schools closer to home you should probably apply there too.
How it’s work for need-aware U? If you need aid U decreasing your chances. But what is real determinant of this chances drop? Value you put on CSS Profile as that you can pay? Or result of U own calculations based on the income and assets provided in financial aid application form?
For example if you applying to need-aware U and put too low value on CSS Profile as amount you can pay. Can it have negative effect on your admission chances?
I’d put an honest answer for what you can pay. But if you enter a high number without the income/assets to back it up then it probably won’t help. Colleges will still do their own calculation to determine what they think you should pay.
In my case first choice of my son for EA was need-blind U so I didn’t thought much what amount put on CSS Profile as that I can pay. Because that moment it didn’t matter.
But now he will apply to some need-aware U and I already can’t change anything in CSS profile. Have it sense to send emails to those U with update that I ready to pay more than it’s written in CSS profile?
@Alezzz what YOU put in that field does NOT matter at need aware schools. The calculation the school makes at a need aware school will determine your need. You could put that you will pay $1,000,000 in that field on the Profile, but if your income and assets don’t support that when the school computes what THE SCHOOL thinks you can pay…it won’t matter.
These schools want the proof that you really can pay that amount…proof would be sufficient income…or money IN the bank. It would not be just you saying you can pay.
And if you have all that much money IN the bank, or a really high income, you won’t qualify for need based aid anyway.
These need aware schools might not accept a student whose family income and assets can’t support the student’s college costs.