the number of schools that meet full need is a tiny fraction of colleges. And they are crazy difficult to get into, even for good students. So where does that leave the vast majority of low income students? OUT OF LUCK. Don’t envy them.
Our family was also hit very hard by the crash in 2008. When we were filling out the financial aid forms, I was shocked by how much we were expected to contribute.
By the time the kids were ready to head to college around 2016, we were doing better financially. A complicating factor for us in determining a relatively accurate four year COA was the unknown of H’s bonus and a possible increase in income for me in the upcoming year due to a job change.
But, yes, you are right in that the financial aid forms are looking at NOW, not the hole blasted in your finances by the economic downturn years before.
I cannot express how grateful I am for the tough reality checks I read in various threads before and during application season for my youngest. She was at a private HS (on generous need-based aid) in a very affluent community.
She wanted to be like her peers and go where she wanted (elite privates). She felt it was very unfair that she was “the only one” who wasn’t going to be able to pick where she went to college. She had worked hard. She was a great student and “everyone” expected her to matriculate to a prestigious university. She was “embarrassed” by the schools I put on her application list (mainly OOS public universities offering full tuition to full ride automatic scholarships that I discovered by reading here at CC!!!).
She was also shocked that two of her peers from URM low income families were going to attend T20s. There was a hint of “But I’m a better student. They don’t deserve it.” from her. I tried to explain that we are not poor, do not want to be poor, do not think it is lucky to be poor, but we cannot afford our EFC. This is common. Lots of people cannot afford their EFC, but do people IRL really want to talk about that plainly in front of others? No. Much easier to talk about admissions and getting into the “best” school.
This daughter is now a rising senior at the OOS public U she “hated the least”. Freshman year was rough, but she is very happy now. This is a school that offered her a full ride scholarship. I feel like we won the lottery, and she felt like she was being handed a the worst kind of consolation prize. But, we are in a position to help her with grad school now. That’s smart, and lucky, if you ask me.
In contrast, her older sister (NOT a product of this same private HS) was completely content with attending community college for two years and then transferring to our state flagship. She felt no shame in it and actually felt proud (gasp!)
I am grateful application season & high school are in the rearview mirror. Comparison is the death of joy. Make the best of the choices in front of you.
Best of luck to you and your family!
There can also be a situation where you can pay your EFC but, surprise, the college does not care what your EFC is and is not interested in meeting need. EFC qualifies you for federal student loan: it is not the max you are expected to pay at every college. The college search process is certainly a learning experience. 
When I saw this topic I expected to see the complaints I had/have with FAFSA but this went a different direction.
My complaint is in how divorced families are treated, at least the way a community college FA rep explained it to our high school FA meeting. She explained that the FAFSA should be completed by the custodial parent (where the kid lives) and that the non-custodial parent did not matter. This shocked me. She then went on to explain that if the custodial parent is remarried that the new spouse’s income is also needed/applicable. Again shocked.
Why should children of divorce have the benefit of only considering one parents income? Why should a non-relative (ie. step parent) be expected to contribute to someone else’s kid’s college?
These did not impact us so I really didn’t give it much thought but then thought back to a conversation I had several years before. A friend of mine said they were considering getting a legal divorce and renting a small apartment for the husband with the stay at home wife continuing to live in the family home with the children, in order to maximize financial aid. This conversation from years before suddenly made sense.
@iaparent in the case of the divorced parent there are 2 separate households that need to be paid for, so it makes sense that that individual may catch a break. Of course if the custodial parent is the parent that makes more then there is no break to get. In the case of the step parent, they may not be contributing to college but it’s assumed that that person is contributing to the household expenses (helping with the mortgage, utilities, groceries, etc). Personally, if it was me I wouldn’t remarry until after my kids were done with college knowing what I know now.
Agreed. I know people who have considered divorcing as well. Note this plan would not work for schools that also require CSS Profile (which requires financials of both divorced parents)—which is most private schools.
It’s not that the step parent is expected to contribute to college necessarily, but that the step parent contributes to household expenses…which frees up some of the bio parent’s income to be put towards college costs.
Yikes - I hope you don’t share these complaints with your kid. I get the shock of your EFC, but to pass judgement on a kid and her family you probably really don’t know much about is really unnecessary.
What does your driving her places have to do with anything?
You gave no idea where she can go to school.
I’d settle down and maybe start the college search with a better attitude or it’s not going to be a pleasant ride.
Step one would be to concentrate on your child without comparisons to others - don’t focus on something you have zero control over.
Good luck
@Mwfan1921 divorcing for FA is a bad idea. You don’t get to just divorce and live in the same home. You have to have 2 households which would likely eliminate any savings you get through FA. If you don’t do this you’re committing fraud by saying there is only 1 custodial parent.
I completely agree @collegemom9, was not recommending that as strategy…just agreeing with a previous post and adding I also know people who have discussed that.
Just to reiterate, you need to run the Net Price Calculator (NPC) on each college’s financial aid website to see an estimated financial aid package. FAFSA EFC does not tell you enough information to guess what colleges might provide; they require additional information, often the CSS Profile, they each calculate according to their own formula, and they don’t all meet full need.
@mwfan I do think not remarrying is a good strategy to help with FA.
Perhaps true for FAFSA-only schools, but most of those don’t meet full financial need. OTOH, (only private?) colleges that meet full financial need do in fact ask for custodial parents financials.
After going through this with 3 kids I now realize that the college marketplace runs much the same as any other marketplace. You must be willing to deal. Even if you are affluent, if your kid is an accomplished student you will have choices, but like any marketplace, you’ll have to compromise and prioritize. Want that lower airfare? Well, you may have to have a layover in Istanbul to get it. Want your high stat kid to go to college on the cheap even if you have plenty of resources? Yes, there’s an app for that too.
Look closely at the postcards and mailers that are sure to arrive from schools like UK, U of AZ, ASU, UT-Dallas, Mizzou, U of SC, and many others. They are willing to pay a price to attract kids who have something they want: high stats students who will raise their academic profile and also bring a measure of ethnic or geographic diversity to their institution. Your compromise? That school may very well have an acceptance rate higher than 60% and lack the cachet you were hoping for. These higher-acceptance-rate schools have learned to play the college affordability game to their advantage. Welcome to America. Sometimes you’ve got to go through Istanbul to get to Rome.
It’s not ridiculous…and it is what it is. It is your family choice to live in a high cost of living area.
Consumer debt is a choice. If your family fell on hard times…job loss or medical expenses or whatever…you can request a special circumstances consideration…and explain your financial hardship.
The “big crash” are you talking about 2008?
What does this mean? The FAFSA does not ever take the equity in your primary residence into consideration. In fact, your primary residence and the costs, equity etc are not asked for…at all…on the FAFSA. Now…if you own rental properties or real estate in addition to your primary residence then yes…the equity is considered as an asset. But if you own real estate other than your primary residence…do you really think you should get need based aid based on this?
Again…you can request a special circumstances or professional judgment consideration. Contact your colleges and find out there process for doing this…if they do (some colleges don’t). You will need to provide documentation of your financials. The financial aid folks at the schools have the ability to consider these circumstances that are out of the ordinary.
I think you mean 529. Please understand that the huge vast majority of college students do NOT have 529 accounts or any other kind of college saving.
Really…you believe this? If so…then easy solution. Give away every amount of assets you have. Quit your job. Go on state assistance, get SNAP. Live in subsidized housing. See how much you like that…and realize that for college, all it will net you guaranteed is $6095 in Pell Grant money with $0 in income.
Everyone has bills.
So…what can you do to make college a reality?
The Direct Loan of $5500 which is a student loan, will pay for tuition at most instate community colleges.
The student can go to school part time and work full time. Many students do this.
The student can commute from home. Save room and board costs.
The student can get a job, and contribute towards college expenses.
The student, if their SAT or ACT is high enough and GPA is high enough, can look for colleges with merit awards. And some colleges allow stacking of need based and merit up to the cost of attendance.
You don’t mention what the net price calculators say your net costs will be…understand lots of people feel these costs are very high.
What colleges is your student looking at? $70,000 private universities? Or instate publics? What state are you in?
Oh and this…
That’s just garbage. The very vast majority of colleges in this country do NOT meet full need for all…at all. Not even close. This student who lives with the grandmother would need to get accepted at one of the competitive colleges that meets full need for all accepted students…and some of those schools reject 95% of applicants. So no…she won’t be able to “go anywhere she wants in the nation”. Guaranteed that if she is out of state for California, she won’t be attending a public there, for example. Those schools don’t give a dime of need based aid to OOS students.
I understand that the cost of college is a shocker to you. It is to many families. But this has nothing to do with the FAFSA. It has to do with college costs.
No one has to go to an expensive private university out of state to get a good college education…they just don’t.
@bluebayou most of the colleges that meet full need use the Profile,and are private, and ask for non-custodial parent info.
BUT so do UVA, U of Michigan, and UNC-CH…and I believe GA Tech now does as well. These are publics.
Right…if parents divorce and are living together in the same household, they still are both listed on the FAFSA. IIRC, even bioparents who have never been married and are living together in the same home as the student are also both listed on the FAFSA.
yes, I remember completing UVa’s doc request. It was worse than CSS and more importantly, they could easily just use CSS, but I guess they are trying to save money?
But since my kid’s app to UVa had been awhile, I specifically added a ‘?’ to my post. 
As we often say, it’s the college’s money. They decide how to allocate it. Yes, we all go through hoops to get some.
We have a cousin who has a high school son that I’m hoping gets through college. Kid’s had a rough life. But on the surface, you can’t see it. The family spends money on things we do not. The very idea of paying for college eludes them. They think because he’s an Honor Roll student with good test scores, he’s going have colleges begging him to attend for free. They don’t get that the advertisements he’s getting are to get his application, and to reject him unless he can pay
This is a low EFC situation, and I don’t think for an instant that the likelihood of his getting free ride is good. Pell and Direct Loans are all that’s guaranteed. That and whatever the parents can squeeze and he can work and earn will determine his college choices unless he gets very lucky. I would not be one bit envious of the OP’s daughter’s friend. Her choices are likely to be limited i. Proportion to how much money the family can pay.
Yup. You’re right. Welcome to the frustration club.
I call those of us with students applying to college right now “recession survivors.” The current group spent 10 years in a serious recession where they couldn’t save for college the way they would have liked or planned. Many of us were just hanging on to a job or healthcare. Some of us now spend a huge amount on healthcare deductibles and cost. Yet, survivors often have a decent income now but that doesn’t mean they did for the past ten years.
One of my frustrations is that we are taxed on our college tuition. I believe college tuition payments should at least be tax deductible.
CSS schools take into account non custodial parents. Even if you have no contact or relationship with them. You can petition a school in these circumstances it not assured.
Home equity does count at some css schools. Why some may ask? It’s because instead of saving for college or having emergency savings etc. a savvy parent can dump it on the mortgage instead. So the parents funding 529 plans and saving would be disadvantaged. Why save when you can pay down your house. Most try to do both. Or do it right before application season. Effectively hiding assets. Sell the house when college is over and viola. Savings reappears.
I think it’s fair. A total balance sheet or more of a net worth review. Schools are hard to pay for and require a lot of sacrifices. It’s not a government sponsored entitlement mandate.