<p>We're waiting to receive financial packages from three schools. Our income is in the upper middle class range, and we have another son in college now at a state school. I'm wondering if having two in college at the same time will have much of an impact on our EFC. Is there any particular formula that's easy to figure out to estimate how much we can be expected to get in financial aid? Do different schools vary a great deal or are they usually pretty close? Also, should we wait to receive all the packages before trying to ask for more money at the first choice school?</p>
<p>I’m in the same situation. We’re still waiting on several finaid packages but I do not believe there is a “2 for 1” situation or at least have not seen that yet. That said, most colleges do not meet 100% need so it’s coming down to double (or more) the gap. I have a feeling that is how it will play out. I am most interested in seeing the finaid package from the two schools that say they meet “need” to see if they will meet need for our second one.</p>
<p>I have two kids who are two years apart. However, they went to college one year apart since the younger one graduated HS a year early. My oldest went to Brown and got need based aid. Brown says it meets need. When the second child began college a year later, my D’s aid at Brown shot up significantly due to having two kids in college at the same time and stayed that way for her remaining three years of college. The “need” was greater since we had to fund two kids at the same time.</p>
<p>Shell…</p>
<p>Haven’t you done 2 separate FAFSAs? (one for each child) If so, you should have received a SAR for each giving each child’s EFC. Unless your kids have significant assets/income of their own, your older child’s EFC from this school year should be about halved.</p>
<p>So…for instance…if S1’s EFC for this school year was $20k, then likely the EFC for each child for the next school year should be about $10k.</p>
<p>However, some had said that if their kids are in CSS schools, sometimes the expected family contributions are not halved (reduced, but not halved). Perhaps that’s because some schools think that parents should contribute more when 2 are in school (maybe the thinking is that home costs are less when 2 are in school or that parents should expect to pay out more total dollars when 2 are in school). I don’t know first hand; this is just from anecdotal stories. I could be wrong.</p>
<p>M2CK is correct about CSS/Profile schools and I know this as a fact. For CSS/Profile schools, some will do 50/50 such as Stanford. Some will not. At T10 school DS did an overnight, they told us they would ask for 60% instead of 50%. </p>
<p>In other words, it will be 2 for 1 at Stanford but could be 120% or higher at other schools. </p>
<p>I do not know teh situation at the FAFSA schools.</p>
<p>I currently have two kids in college (only year that will occur). Received enough additional aid that the cost for two is roughly the same as the cost for one in previous years.</p>
<p>But remember, even if your EFC is halved, the gap will be bigger for both students and so then it depends how much each school is willing to close that gap.</p>
<p>^^I guess that was my point abasket, but you did a better job explaining. S1 is not at a full need school so there was a small manageable gap + EFC to cover. His EFC is now half of what it was the previous year because this year S2 goes to college. No idea yet what will happen with S1…I suspect it will be about the same as previous even though our EFC is halved so in effect for him, no benefit. If S2 has a school that “meets need utilizing the EFC amount” then we’re even. But S2 meets need schools are both profile AND the FAFSA schools he applied are gapping us on S2…so EFC for S1 and S2 which is fairly constant from previous years, plus gap S1 plus potential gap S2. So I’m not certain that it “helps” to have two in college except in some rare instances where the stars and moon align.</p>
<p>My oldest D will be college junior next year while next D will be a freshman. Their EFC’s are pretty much just split in half from last year’s for one student. My concern is whether my oldest D’s school will pony up any more $. They do not meet full need and it’s been a tough year for everyone–schools and families alike.
Also, returning students don’t receive their FA packages until later, likely June/July so hopefully there are no big surprises…well good surprises would be welcome but no bad ones :)</p>
<p>I have twins and we experienced what abasket and mom2college expressed; a not quite but almost halving of the EFC for one.</p>
<p>Run an EFC calculator like the one on college board for a clearer picture.</p>
<p>When we did FAFSA this year (two in college this fall), the EFC for the two combined is about 120% of last year’s EFC with one student in college. How this all works out between the colleges will be interesting, but we were pleasantly surprised when we got a prelim FA estimate in Jan. from one of S2’s EA admits. I spoke to the FA person at the school (which is where S1 also attends) and they said that we should expect “comparable” packages, but that they may be packaged slightly differently depending on merit money, etc.</p>
<p>S’s EFC when he was the only one in college was $49k. Next year his sister will be a freshman, according to FAFSA his EFC is now $28k and hers is $27k (he made more money at a summer job than she did). Our income is virtually unchanged, so the second kid in college was the only major difference between the two years, other than us spending the last $40k in S’s 529 plan to cover this year’s tuition/room/board.</p>
<p>It’s not the EFC that I’m worried about…we knew/know what that is whether it’s allocated 100% to one with one in college or halved with two in college…it’s fairly constant as are our assets as is our income…it’s how will the colleges look at that and package the kids up that I’m nervous about! When we were contemplating kids I was thinking about 10 years of college payments and how much better that sounded than 12…never really stopped to think about the 2 overlap years!</p>
<p>How Much Does It Help To Have More Than One Student In College?</p>
<p>In theory, not at all. The total amount the family pays remains the same, no matter how many are in college. In theory, but some differences creep in in some cases, as posted here.</p>