<p>My family is relatively wealthy. Although, we got an EFC of 0 and I'm not sure if it's right. We have about 7 people living in the house and 1 kid in college, so maybe this is correct? I don't know..</p>
<p>Sounds like an error. What is the income? Did you look over FAFSA and see if you missed a zero?</p>
<p>i looked over everything and i can’t find any errors. although i failed to mention that we have 3 kids who will be in college next year (which is what they asked for, not just the current # of kids in college as of now) </p>
<p>What does “relatively wealthy” mean? That is very broad. </p>
<p>What did you put down for income? What did you put down for assets. The formula is basically 30-40% of income minus taxes plus 5% of asset minus protection allowance. The income is from AGI from the 1040. What did your parents pay in federal income taxes in 2013/ And do not answer with numbers on this board, necessarily. Just look and see what’s in those spots make sense. Like do you have a large income figure or hardly anything? IF so, why is it not large if your family is relatively wealthy?</p>
<p>We are far from wealthy, have 8 people in our household, and our EFC is definitely NOT zero. Even with 3 kids in college at once, it seems doubtful that we would have an EFC of zero. </p>
<p>Sounds like something isn’t right.</p>
<p>relatively wealthy means somwhere around 125000</p>
<p>You need to check your FAFSA LINE BY LINE. Check each entry. </p>
<p>my parents seem to not care… they just say “if there is something wrong with it ‘they’ will tell us”</p>
<p>^ Be very careful with that. Just like IRS, when they find the error, they will tell you… with a consequence.</p>
<p>
Interesting approach . . . too bad it won’t work. If you knowingly submit false information, that’s fraud.</p>
<p>It’s up to you to find the mistake, but if you’re not able to, ask the financial aid officer at your college if he or she can help you. There’s something you’re missing, and it sounds like you need a fresh pair of eyes to spot it.</p>
<p>And if you are awarded financial aid based on a falsely completed FAFSA, you will have to PAY BACK any money disbursed to you. It is considered fraud to get need based financial aid based on inaccurate information YOU knowingly provide. You KNOW this isn’t accurate…so check. If it’s accurate, fine. If not, you will be saving yourself and your family a lot of headaches later on.</p>
<p>Was your FAFSA selected for verification? Did you link to the IRS retrieval tool?</p>
<p>$125,000 and 7 people is not wealthy. Could be your EFC is close to 0. </p>
<p>No. Even with 7 in the family and 3 in college, the FAFSA EFC would definitely not be 0 or anywhere close to 0. Should be more in the 8000 to 9000+ range (assuming no significant assets).</p>
<p>You need to check your data.</p>
<p>@swimcatsmom, right on the money, so to speak, for our similar situation.</p>
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<p>Absolutely not. With that income, family size, and one in college the EFC would be about $25k. divide by 3 and you’d have about $8k</p>
<p>The problem with your parents strategy is that the school may not award you some competitive merit because it thinks you’re going to get a full Pell grant…and then after your parents file taxes, that Pell
grant will get removed.</p>
<p>this is where I think the mistake is…(common one with this result)</p>
<p>There is a question that asks if the STUDENT has any dependents…often people put yes because they dont realize that the question is about the student. So, what happens is the parents income gets ignored. My son’s GF’s family accidentally did this and couldnt figure out how they got a zero EFC with a high income.</p>
<p>It is possible … if there is self-employment income. In such a case, the income would be $125k, but the AGI could be considerably lower due to the deductions to income. I certainly have seen it happen. OP, do you have self-employed parents?</p>
<p>no i do not, we re-did the fafsa and there were some places where my parents could only make predictions (net worth and some other part) and we got 0 efc again…</p>
<p>Did you check the part that I mentioned???</p>
<p>There is a question that says something like: Do you have any dependents? </p>
<p>What did you put for these questions?</p>
<p>Do you have children who will receive more than half of their support from you between July 1, 2014 and June 30, 2015?</p>
<p>Do you have dependents (other than your children or spouse) who live with you and who receive more than half of their support from you, now and through June 30, 2015?</p>
<p>YOU should have put NO for the above questions. Your parents may have put YES because they have dependents. But the question is about YOU, not your parents. If your parents put YES, then that would cause their income to be ignored.</p>
<p>Something is wrong…your EFC would be much, much higher. My son’s girlfriend’s parents made the above mistake (with a similar income and several children) and they kept getting EFC 0. Once they corrected their mistake, their EFC was quite high…even with two in college.</p>
<p>This might be easier…look over the questions and tell us what answers were put for these questions:</p>
<p>Were you born before January 1, 1991?</p>
<p>As of today, are you married? (Also answer “Yes” if you are separated but not divorced.)</p>
<p>At the beginning of the 2014–2015 school year, will you be working on a master’s or doctorate program (such as an MA, MBA, MD, JD, PhD, EdD, graduate certificate, etc.)?</p>
<p>Are you currently serving on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces for purposes other than training?</p>
<p>Are you a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces?</p>
<p>Do you have children who will receive more than half of their support from you between July 1, 2014 and June 30, 2015?</p>
<p>Do you have dependents (other than your children or spouse) who live with you and who receive more than half of their support from you, now and through June 30, 2015?</p>
<p>At any time since you turned age 13, were both your parents deceased, were you in foster care or were you a dependent or ward of the court?</p>
<p>Are you or were you an emancipated minor as determined by a court in your state of legal residence?</p>
<p>Are you or were you in legal guardianship as determined by a court in your state of legal residence?</p>