<p>My EFC (Expected Family Contribution) is $10,954. I'm assuming this is a year. Thats great, but what does that mean? Will the government and the university help to cover as much of the rest as they can no matter where I go? Does this only cover tuition, or room and board as well? Please help me. Any info is really appreciated. Thanks :)</p>
<p>What it means is that FAFSA has calculated your Expected FAmily Contribution to be that amount. Because it is too high to be PELL eligible, you are not eligible for the PELL grant. However, you may be eligible for some subsidized loans if the cost of your education is higher than the EFC amount. Some schools will use the EFC as a guideline for financial aid but I don’t know of any that guarantee to meet aid up to the FAFSA EFC. Schools that guarantee need usually ask for second form, either the FAFSA or their own form to come up with their own definition of need.</p>
<p>no, unfortunately. i don’t know if that qualifies you for a pell grant (my guess would be no), but that’s really the only government assistance i have heard much about. </p>
<p>as far as universities go, there are very few that pledge to meet full need. these are generally the top tier schools (harvard, yale, mit, etc.). if you get into a full need school, they will likely give you a good portion of grants (that you do not need to repay) to help meet your need. they may also require you to take out a small federal loan yearly and/or participate in work/study. HOWEVER, these schools do not use the same methodology (as fafsa or each other) to calculate need. numbers can differ largely (think 10k) from fafsa calculations and among schools. also, these schools will also likely require that you fill out a college board profile for more in depth financial information.</p>
<p>if you are accepted to a full-need school, they will determine your need from an assessment of all costs: tuition, room & board, meals, etc.</p>
<p>Thanks guys for the help. That makes a little more sense now :)</p>
<p>
No. Federal aid is very limited and does not cover the cost of even 4 year instate state universities. The maximum annual amount for the main federal grant (the Pell) was $5550 last year. Only students with 0 EFCs get the maximum and it stays the same whether the school costs $10,000 a year or $50,000 a year. But eligibility for any Pell requires an EFC of under around 5270 ish. As far as federal aid is concerned you will probably be eligible for Stafford loans of $5500.</p>
<p>Very few universities promise to meet full need. Those that do are usually the most competitive schools such as the Ivies. They require additional financial aid forms such as CSS profile and base their institutional on the information from those forms.</p>
<p>Silly,</p>
<p>Your EFC is too high for federal grants. Most schools do not have much aid to give and will gap you.</p>
<p>You need to ask your parents how much they can spend. Your budget from your parents will likely determine where you can afford to go to school. </p>
<p>Which schools did you apply to? </p>
<p>Do you qualify for any merit scholarships from these schools?</p>
<p>What state are you in?</p>
<p>I thought you were being rather rude calling him silly (then I noticed his screen name).</p>
<p>@ Mom2CollegeKids:</p>
<p>I live in North Carolina. I’ve been given scholarships to two of my schools (merit based). </p>
<p>I applied to Brown, Northwestern, NYU, U Chicago, UNC, Wake Forest, Elon, Appalachian State, and Wingate. Does this make a difference?</p>
<p>If my EFC is $99,560 WHAT does this mean?</p>
<p>SillyStokey, some of your schools do guarantee to meet full need (Brown and NW, I know do). However, they required an addition application called PROFILE to determine what your need is on their terms. If accepted to those schools that guarantee to meet full need, you will get a package that will pay for need as they define it. That need is not defined as the FAFSA EFC, however,. The FAFSA EFC just makes you eligible for certain government funds if you qualify such as the PELL, Stafford, Perkins. </p>
<p>NYU uses FAFSA only, but they do not guarantee to meet need. What you end up getting from them is completely up in the air. I’ve heard of some generous packages for high scoring kids, but it’s more common to be gapped and offered loans to pay for that gap. </p>
<p>Some of these schools offer merit money as well. Your package may be comprised of merit awards, financial aid grants that the school sponsor, federal loans and private or school loans and work study. The composition of each package can vary greatly, depending on each school’s definition of your need, how they choose to meet it, if they choose to meet it and merit awards.</p>
<p>Swetha, your EFC says that unless your education costs more than that amount, you are not going to get any loan subsidies or financial aid from FAFSA schools. You are not Pell Grant eligible. It is possible, though not likely that PROFILE could come out with a lower number–highly unlikely. You are still eligible to take out the STafford loans on a non subsidized basis and your parents can take out PLUS to pay for your costs. You are also eligible for merit awards at colleges.</p>
<p>I’ve also filled out the PROFILE. Can I expect my EFC to rise or fall?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>It means you won’t qualify for need based aid at any college because your family contribution EXCEEDS the cost of attendance at ALL colleges.</p>
<p>Your FAFSA EFC will not change because of filing profile. Eligibility for Federal aid will be based on the FAFSA EFC.</p>
<p>There is no profile EFC as such, schools use the information provided according to their own policies. Whether the profile “EFC” is higher or lower than the FAFSA one will depend on your own financial situation and if there is anything reported on profile that is not considered by FAFSA.</p>
<p>swetha, It means the only need-based aid you will get is unsub federal loans which are a max of $5500 your first year. If you need to come up with more than $550year to fund your college education, you need to investigate merit-based scholarships.</p>
<p>Thanks guys. You’ve all been very helpful :)</p>
<p>One more question, what happens when I college offers to cover in financial aid more than it costs to attend their school for a year. For example, one of my colleges have given me $33,400 in financial aid, but it only costs $32,000 or so to attend. Is there a mistake?</p>
<p>^ Don’t forget there may be fees and other things included in COA such as books and transportation.</p>
<p>Yes, its greater than everything I’ve factored in for tuition, room and board, and books. This is why I’m confused.</p>
<p>Don’t forget about fees. At many schools fees are equal to or even more than tuition. There is also personal expenses and transportation which depending on the school could add on 3000-5000.</p>