Multiple Students Filing FAFSA/Splitting EFC

Paying for College
1

<p>I have 2 questions. I hope it is ok to put them in the same thread.</p>

<p>I have always heard that when you have 2 kids in college the parents' contribution to the FAFSA EFC gets split in half. I was playing around with the formula, plugging in various possible future income scenarios to get an idea of what we might expect in the coming years. I see that on table A3: Income Protection Allowance, they let you protect about $2800 more in income for each additional student you have in college. I am confused about at what point the EFC "gets split." Can someone explain this?</p>

<p>A second question I have is in regards to the timing of filing when you have multiple students. I see that after filling out one FAFSA we were offered the option of transferring the parent info to the second student. Does this include BOTH income and asset info? Next year our Freshman will have a much earlier deadline than the returning older sibling. We will need to file one before the end of January, the other not until late February after we have done taxes. I know our bank balances will not be exactly the same on those 2 dates. How do we handle this? I want to avoid problems if we are selected for verification.</p>

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<p>For your first question check line 27 of worksheet A. Parent’s contribution from available income and assets is divided by the number in college.</p>

3

<p>Thanks, I see that now. However it looks like a “+” on that line and doesn’t specifically say to “divide.”</p>

4

<p>Even to my old eyes it’s definitely a ÷ sign. :)</p>

5

<p>As to your second question…</p>

<p>What difference would it make to file FAFSA for both kids in January? File in January for both…put “will file”…and then update after taxes are filed.</p>

<p>As for splitting EFC…if neither child has assets or much income, then IF your EFC for one child in college would be 10000, then when you have two kids in college, it would be 5000 each.</p>

<p>However, that may not mean anything if your children aren’t attending schools that meet need. You could have an EFC of 5000 each for two kids but have to pay 15,000+ per child if the school gaps you.</p>