<p>Hi,
Iam new to CC. I am a highschool student, currently getting ready for college. I have a question about FAFSA and how it works.
I live Illinois, and I am getting ready to apply to FAFSA. I am not sure how it works and how/when do I find out how much I am going to get.</p>
<p>Thank You</p>
<p>You complete FAFSA with parent and personal financial information (income and assets). You include the code numbers for the schools you are applying to. FAFSA uses the financial information you provide to calculate a number called the EFC (Estimated Family Contribution). The EFC and a report called the SAR (student aid report) is sent to the schools you have listed. They use your EFC along with their Cost of Attendance (COA) to determine if you have financial need and how much. For instance if their COA is $20,000 and your EFC is 15,000 then your ‘need’ is the difference between the 2, $20,000-15,000 = 5,000 need. If your EFC is higher than the COA then you have no ‘need’. The school uses your information to determine an award package (which may or may not meet your full need depending on the school). All award packages come from the schools. Timing will vary according to the school.</p>
<p>How and if need is met depends on your EFC and the school’s policies. Many (most) schools do not promise to meet full need at all. Some promise to meet full need but may include a whole bunch of loans in that promise. A few, the most competitive and expensive, promise to meet full need without any loans. Those generally want additional financial information via CSS profile.</p>
<p>If a school only awards federal aid then that is quite limited and may not meet your full need as determined above. Federal grant aid (money you do not have to repay) is limited to those with very low EFCs. For 2009-2010 the maximum EFC for the main federal grant, the Pell, was 4617. Anything over that was ineligible for the Pell. Most pell grant money goes to families with incomes of $40k or less. Other than the Pell federal aid is loans and work study.</p>
<p>Your state may also have aid for low income students that stay in state for college. That would generally be determined and awarded by the school also.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>Great explanation!!!</p>
<p>As you can see, FAFSA doesn’t give anyone anything. </p>
<p>But, you should do these things…</p>
<p>1) do an online EFC calculator to get an idea of what the family’s EFC will be.
[FinAid</a> | Calculators | Expected Family Contribution (EFC) and Financial Aid](<a href=“http://www.finaid.org/calculators/finaidestimate.phtml]FinAid”>http://www.finaid.org/calculators/finaidestimate.phtml)</p>
<p>This will give you an idea of how much your family will be expected to contribute each year towards your education.</p>
<p>2) Talk to your parents about the EFC number. Can they pay it. If not, then that will be another issue since an FA package won’t help you with that.</p>
<p>3) If your EFC is low, then you’ll need to find schools that can meet 100% of need with little or no loans. There’s no point in applying to schools that will have huge gaps, because they can’t meet need.</p>
<p>4) If your family’s EFC is high and they can’t/won’t be able to pay it (that happens often), then you’ll have to look for schools that will give you merit money. Of course, you have to have the stats that are high enough for those merit scholarships.</p>
<p>The single most important thing for you to do is to discuss your college financial plan with your family. You need to have some sense of the amount they are willing to pay annually for your college education. </p>
<p>While completing the FAFSA in January will give you an EFC (expected family contribution), the reality is that it is MORE important to know what your family WILL contribute. </p>
<p>If your family is able to give a certain amount, you want to look for colleges where you will be able to pay the bills with either that amount, or that amount PLUS any guaranteed merit aid you might received based on your admittance stats. Some schools DO have guaranteed aid for certain GPA/SAT combinations. </p>
<p>If your family is able and willing to provide you with enough money that it exceeds the cost of attendance at the colleges you are considering, that is would be notable too. You will know that you have a way to pay your college bills.</p>
<p>I think what everyone is saying…you need to be realistic about how you will be paying these bills and have a “plan” for where the money is coming from to do so.</p>
<p>Hi, </p>
<p>Thank You</p>