<p>Hey guys so I'm a senior in high school and I got accepted to private schools such as University of San Francisco and Santa Clara University. I am working on filling out my FAFSA now. I know my EFC will be low because I have a single mom who's only income is $1,400 in child support. I am confused about how my EFC number will be used. The schools I got accepted to are 50 grand a year... Does this mean the university gives me more need-based scholarships on top of my merit awards? Does the government give me grants to pay for my education? Or do I just qualify for more loans?? I am hoping someone can answer these questions before I start visiting these places and get my hopes up. I do NOT want to graduate with a $200,000 loan</p>
<p>It all depends on the school. You may get a combination of government grants and school grants that, added to your merit, and along with student loans will cover the cost of school. On the other hand, the combination of aid you receive may not come close to covering the cost of school … this is called a “gap” … and I advise you to avoid these schools. You are right to NOT want to graduate with a $200,000 loan (which you won’t be able to borrow, most likely, anyway</p>
<p>Now you have to sit tight & wait for your aid packages. Make sure you comply with any requests for information or documentation from the schools.</p>
<p>I hope you have also applied to some lower cost options - such as junior colleges and four-year state schools. Those are options too.</p>
<p>kelsmom- Thanks for the info. I hope I get a lot in the financial aid package.
matermia- I applied to San Jose State as a back up. I am still waiting to hear back from Cal Poly SLO. I am not interested in attending a community college. Most of my friends to go to these don’t stay on track to graduate and now they are impacted so the list of schools to transfer to are diminishing. Most end up dropping out because they can’t get classes which I am not interested in doing. My top choices are USF and SCU though. It would be my dream to attend them, but of course they’re the most expensive. If I don’t I will go to a state school.</p>
<p>Should you also working on CSS Profile too?</p>
<p>usfca requires only FAFSA for financial aid
See [University</a> of San Francisco (USF) - Financial Aid](<a href=“http://www.usfca.edu/admission/undergraduate/financial_aid/]University”>http://www.usfca.edu/admission/undergraduate/financial_aid/)</p>
<p>However, scu requires both FAFSA & CSS Profile
See [Santa</a> Clara University - Financial AidUndergraduate Students](<a href=“http://www.scu.edu/financialaid/Undergraduate-Students.cfm]Santa”>Financial Aid - Santa Clara University)</p>
<p>Your EFC isn’t going to make a significant difference at Santa Clara and USF - neither one of these schools meets full need. That means that even with federal loans and grants, and any merit awards you receive, there’s likely to be a significant gap between what you receive and the actual cost of attendance.</p>
<p>Talk to the financial aid offices at both schools and see what they say. (Yes, either call them up - and ask to speak with a financial aid advisor - or make an appointment and go down in person.)</p>
<p>What other schools have you applied to? Okay, just saw your answer - San Jose State and Cal Poly.</p>
<p>Just checked my email and found this message in my junk-Your request for a Federal Student Aid PIN cannot be processed because the Social Security Number (SSN), name, or date of birth that you provided on your PIN application does not match your information on file at the Social Security Administration (SSA). Awesome. Going to go back and make sure I entered my information correctly.
I will definitely be filling out that CSS Profile. Does that mean Santa Clara University offers more aid at their school? Rumor has it that Santa Clara has a large endowment from their alumni. I wonder if that will be an option for me.</p>
<p>Well I entered everything correctly. Ughhh what a disaster</p>
<p>Neither of these schools claims to meet full need. You need to speak with them to find out what you can expect.</p>
<p>dodgersmom- Do you think I should contact the financial aid office tomorrow? Or do you think they would just tell me they cannot say anything until they have the FAFSA? Oh well might as well try tomorrow</p>
<p>Yes - you should call them. Tell them you are not asking for them to tell you what YOU will get - but you are look for “general cases or expectations.” This grade, these test scores, this EFC (which I believe you said is zero) - what is the kind of package that might be typically offered. Tell them you are trying to determine how big the gap will be and if you can afford the school.</p>
<p>Yes, call tomorrow. Ask to speak to a counselor. (In other words, you need to get past the person who’s only job is answering the phone.) He or she should be able to give you a rough estimate of how much aid you could reasonably expect.</p>
<p>They might tell you that in some cases, for low income students, they do meet 100% of the student’s need . . . which means there’s no guarantee, but at least you have a chance. Or they might tell you that they never meet 100% of need . . . and even with merit awards, they expect all students to come up with at least 50% of the cost. I have no idea what these school’s financial aid policies are . . . but you should call and find out. The more you know, and the sooner you know it, the better.</p>
<p>Is Mills College an option for you? (don’t know your gender . . .)</p>
<p>Contacted my dad… he accidentally used my brother’s SSN- crisis averted 
Thanks guys for the help… I will call them tomorrow. I didn’t mention this before but I have also been accepted to St. Mary’s College of California.
dodgersmom- I am a girl so I could go there. I have gotten emails saying that I have the application fee waved. I might as well apply! I am unsure about how I would feel going to an all girl’s school, but I could look into it.</p>
<p>A low EFC does not mean you will get money from the school or the govt to cover the full costs of an expensive school. very few schools promise to meet full need. Aid from the govt will no where near pay for a school that costs $50k a year. The main federal grant is the Pell. The maximum annual pell grant is $5550 a year whether you go to a school that costs $10k a year or $50k a year. The maximum direct federal loan for a freshman is $5500 a year. There a couple of other small federal aid programs with limited funding, but they are not guaranteed and would amount to just a few thousand dollars. Unless the schools you have applied to guarantee to meet full need, which most do not, it is unlikely you will receive enough aid to cover the full costs. Have you applied to any more affordable schools?</p>
<p>edited to add: I see from your second post you have applied to other schools. That’s good.</p>
<p>I’m helping a relative in this situation. We have identified a state school where federal and state grants can cover books/tuition and fees. Hopefully she will also get some scholarships. She will live with a relative. She will get a job to pay for car, insurance, phone, gas, spending money. She may also get a work study job on campus. Hopefully she can get through college without a loan. That would be huge coming from an EFC of zero.</p>
<p>swimcatsmom - The OP is also eligible for CalGrant money, which will help offset the cost.</p>
<p>phezzzz - I would STRONGLY encourage you to apply to Mills. I believe the deadline is Jan. 15. It’s an excellent school - and graduates of women’s colleges usually have nothing but good things to say about the experience! Also, its financial aid rating (on Princeton Review) seems to be somewhat better than either USF or Santa Clara. (Don’t know about St. Mary’s.) Visit and see what you think.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, contact all three schools you’ve been admitted to and see what they can tell you about your financial aid prospects.</p>
<p>You need to be aware that schools that require the CSS profile are likely also to require your dad’s financial info . . . which could mess with your financial aid eligibility, depending on what his income is. So ask the schools about that also.</p>
<p>matermia- that would be so awesome for her to graduate without debt. I am starting to reconsider these private schools. State schools are much more affordable.</p>
<p>dodgersmom- my dad only has 20 percent custody of me I thought I only included the parent with majority custody?? I will definitely look into Mills. I just did a search on it, it looks like a good school!</p>
<p>FAFSA asks for custodial parent info only. The CSS Profile schools usually want non-custodial parent info as well. However, from what I can see, Santa Clara does NOT require the CSS non-custodial parent profile . . . so you should be okay!</p>
<p>Correction: my dad has 30 percent custody not 20 but still my mom has more. Thank you guys for all of your help!</p>