So after filling out my FAFSA, my family and I got an EFC of $44k.
Our income is currently $100k, but my parents have significant assets, lots of money saved up + a rental property, which comes to around $230k. But, when I previously ran NPCs for colleges, they usually estimated the EFC to be around $30-35k, even when taking assets into account. We also live in a low-tax state.
Is this a normal EFC for this situation? Or is there a mistake?
Also, a few schools I had on my list also require the CSS profile. Should I not even bother applying to them if my FAFSA EFC is already this high?
Did you use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool to import 2018 tax return information?
With what you put here, on $100,000 income alone, your EFC would be in the $25,000 range.
Is that $230,000 the equity in the rental property? That would add about $14,000 more to that amount…so $39,000. You don’t indicate what the income from rents are, but that is considered as well.
Are your parent savings in addition to that $250,000 in your post? What is that amount?
In addition, if your parents contributed to a tax deferred retirement plan, that money gets added back in as income.
Is that $100,000 income their net income after taxes. Or is it their gross income? Does it include contributions to tax deferred retirement accounts?
Please clarify…and we can go from there.
Re: applying to schools requiring the Profile…some of them are more generous with need based aid than schools using only the FAFSA.
Because for the most part schools that use Profile are much wealthier than schools that only rely on FAFSA to distribute institutional need-based financial aid, and therefore Profile schools generally have much more money to spend on need-based aid. And not all Profile schools take primary home equity into account when determining need-based awards. Those that do take primary home equity into account usually cap it at an amount tied to income.
Very few schools use the FAFSA EFC to determine institutional need-based aid, if there even is any to provide. The primary purpose of FAFSA EFC is to determine eligibility for federal entitlement aid (Pell grants, subsidized direct loans, etc.).
If the $100,000 income doesn’t include the $27,000 pretax retirement contribution, then for FAFSA purposes their income is $127,000. Plus the $9000 in rental income (although I’m not sure how that factors with the schedule your parents did regarding this property…@belkanppoint?).
AGI is NOT gross income. It’s “adjusted” gross income. What is your parent total gross income before taxes and any deductions.
I think that you should be cautious, and apply to at least two schools that you know you will be able to afford. Need based aid can be hard to predict for people with rental property or small businesses. Your EFC is about what I would have expected, but is going to be very tough to pay with a net income of $100k. Rental income can also be inconsistent (for example, if a renter moves out, or even worse does not move out but just stops paying).
For us the schools that we knew that we could afford were our in-state public schools and some schools in Canada. I see that you live well south of us so the latter would be some distance for you, and I don’t know much about your in-state public schools. Hopefully you have some good choices in-state.
Right…the number you got using the net price calculator could be off because of the real estate owned in addition to your primary residence, plus the rental income.
@DadTwoGirls I live in SC and have already applied to Clemson and USC. I’m eligible for the highest state scholarship (Palmetto Fellows), so I think my in-state financial situation is good. I’m also a NMSF, and am looking to apply to either UT Dallas or UCF for their NMF program.
In your situation, you may just have to apply…and see. Some schools will be more generous than others.
Just make sure you have an affordable school or two on your application list…for sure affordable. Then go from there.
If your parents have an amount that they can pay annually, you need to keep that in mind. You can take a $5500 Loan in your name only.
You wrote:
And this:
Did you get NMF status? Get an application to University of Alabama done today. You would qualify for significant merit aid there, and your net cost would be well under your parent price point.
Same with U of South Carolina. What about Clemson?
There are plenty of colleges where you have a good chance of acceptance, and merit aid as well…merit aid won’t take your family finances into consideration…at all.
I would suggest applying to Rice. They have a new incentive for aid.
Then add in some schools that meet full need for all…you are in the range for acceptance and some are very generous with need based aid. You might actually get sufficient aid to attend one of these generous schools if you get accepted.
Others here can suggest schools where that NMF status will help you!
I just wanted to throw out there are many families who can not actually afford anything approaching their EFC for various reasons. FAFSA and CSS don’t take into account many things that can be quirky about a particular financial situation.
We had an independent financial adviser recommend we spend about 1/3 of our EFC the FAFSA spit out. You will be able to find an affordable high quality education with your stats if your EFC turns out to be accurate. But you may want to switch gears a bit if it is and you were looking at a bunch of need based option. Good luck!
@thumper1 Yes, I’m NMSF, applied to get NMF status. I mentioned above that I already applied to Clemson and USC and will be guaranteed merit aid at both. I’m also submitting an app to UTDallas for their NMF program. Would applying to U Alabama be redundant?
I am applying to Rice, as soon as I get my subject tests done. As for full need met colleges, I was thinking about applying to Vanderbilt?
I think having options is good. Why not do Alabama too. It will take you about 30 minutes…very short application. Do the scholarship application too. You will hear very quickly with your merit award as well.
@mom2collegekids what is the merit award for NMF at Alabama now…and computer science…would this be an option for this student?
Yes, an NMF (through benacquisto) gets a full COA scholarship to most of the Florida public schools - USF, UF, FSU, etc. It is tuition, room and board, and $600 for books. If you get other scholarships from the schools, most will stack them so you could actually get money paid to you. It doesn’t cover the summer sessions and I’m not sure how it works for study abroad for OOS students, but I think most of the schools do a good job of helping the student (instate tuition for the summer, other aid) Also the U of Miami gives a very nice scholarship which, combined with Benacquisto, goes a long way toward full COA.
It looks like you could also use the scholarship at Embry-Riddle
@twoinanddone But isn’t the Benacquisto a state-funded scholarship? Could there be a chance that it would get defunded for out-of-state students while I’m attending college?