<p>I am a high school student class of 2009. I was accepted into a number of state schools and a few privates including Santa Clara and Saint Mary's. I have decided to attend Saint Mary's next year. </p>
<p>I just have a quick question about financial aid. My parents make over $200,000 a year and when I looked at my need based grant for San Jose State University it was only $420? I was expecting it to be a little higher. It said my Estimated Family Contribution was something like $24,000 a year. </p>
<p>My question is will my Estimated Family Contribution be the same at San Jose as it is at Saint Mary's? I think the cost of attending Saint Mary's is about $45,000 a year or close to that. Will my parents be paying only the EFC, or an amount higher than the EFC.</p>
<p>Thanks for your help I am the first of my siblings to go to college and its been a while since my parents were in school.</p>
<p>-Matt</p>
<p>The FAFSA EFC will be the same at all schools but the EFC does not mean that is all you are expected to pay. Some schools promise to meet full need. The majority do not. At many schools there will be a gap -meaning unmet need. Those that do promise to meet generally require CSS in addition to FAFSA and use FAFSA for federal aid and CSS for institutional aid.</p>
<p>From the FAFSA website
</p>
<p>What you would pay at St Marys depends on what their financial aid policies are. Their is not enough federal aid to cover that amount of need, so the school would have to be a school that provides their own need based aid from institutional funds (or provide good merit aid) for that amount to be covered by aid.</p>
<p>Thanks for your reply. After reading up on the EFC more i understand it is more of a measurement than a price for your college education.</p>
<p>If you have special circumstances, some schools may be more lenient in adjusting your numbers, and thus your EFC.</p>
<p>Two things to watch out for at St. Mary’s: Gapping (not meeting your full financial need) and lowering the amount of aid you get after your freshman year.</p>
<p>Financial need = Cost of Attendance - EFC</p>
<p>So your need at San Jose State is effectively zero, since your EFC is very close to the cost. So you don’t get much aid there, but you don’t pay any more than your EFC either.</p>
<p>If St. Mary’s is about $45,000, then your need is about $20,000. But here’s the thing - St. Mary’s doesn’t meet the full need of most of its students. So very likely you would pay more than your EFC. Also, the average percentage of need met is much lower for total undergrads than for freshmen, so you might pay even more in later years than in your freshman year. I wouldn’t be so quick to decide on St. Mary’s. The average numbers are: 90% of need met for freshmen, 77% of need met for all undergrads.</p>
<p>It is possible for your EFC to be different at two different schools. For example, one school might allow you to include a student in law school in his siblings # in college; another school might not allow it, since the law school student is independent for financial aid purposes & is in his own # in college. Or if a school collects tax forms, they may make adjustments if you entered info incorrectly - another school may not see those tax forms & may not use the adjusted figures.</p>