I’m new to this whole FAFSA thing. I got an EFC number of around 3393, and I’ve tried researching how “good” or “bad” that is but there’s been nothing. Would that help me get more aid or hurt me with that number?
It means that you will get a partial Pell grant.
Since it is relatively low, colleges that use FAFSA EFC may offer more financial aid than they would if your FAFSA EFC were higher.
However, many colleges calculate their own EFC for you that is likely to be different from FAFSA EFC. And many colleges, regardless of what EFC they use, do not offer enough financial aid to be affordable if your family can only contribute the EFC amount.
You will be eligible for about $3000 in Pell Grant money and a $5500 Direct Loan. Those are the only guarantees.
Is this a “good” FAFSA EFC? It depends on the costs to attend the colleges to which you are applying, and their policies on awarding need based aid.
$8500 certainly would likely cover all the costs for a year at your instate community colleges. But it won’t cover the cost of attending an OOS public or a $70,000 private university. You would need institutional need based aid to attend those. And that is up to the colleges.
Let’s say your family can afford to pay slightly more than the EFC, around $5,000 each year. And let’s assume that EFC puts you in line for approximately $3,000 in Pell Grant money. If that is true, the most you can pay for college is $3000 (PG) + $5000 (cash from your family) + $5500 (Direct Student Loan).
That is a total of $13,500. Depending on the state in which you live and/or university to which you apply, you may be offered more aid for low-income families. For instance, some states award a little extra money to in-state low-income students. Also, some colleges maybe might award some extra grant money to low-income students, but this is not guaranteed.
As you consider which colleges to apply to, keep in mind what your guaranteed total budget is. Assuming a yearly $5K cash family contribution, your budget is $13,500.
What state do you live in? That will determine if your budget will allow you to attend (and live on campus) an in-state public university, or if you can live at home while attending a nearby in-state public university, or if your best bet is to attend a community college first.