<p>I’m a little confused on college policies in regards to you EFC. Basically, my questions are these: </p>
<li>Does need-based aid cover room and board also?</li>
<li>Is there any way to get financial aid to cover enough that you don’t have to pay your entire EFC?</li>
</ol>
<p>Let’s say my EFC is 30,000. College XYZ costs 40,000 in tuition plus 10,000 room and board. In regards to my first question, if they provide for 100% of need, would they give me 10,000 or 20,000? In regards to the second, is there no hope of my paying less than 30,000 for this school? (not counting merit scholarships, etc).</p>
<p>Yes, need based aid covers room and board as well as tuition. If your EFC is $30,000, that is you and your family's expected contribution to your education, because a college education is considered to be the financial responsibility of students and their parents. There is no way to get need based aid that exceeds your EFC, though merit scholarships are possible for some students. The vast majority of schools do not meet the EFC of all admitted students.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Does need-based aid cover room and board also?
[/quote]
Yes
[quote]
2. Is there any way to get financial aid to cover enough that you don't have to pay your entire EFC?
[/quote]
No</p>
<p>Financial need is calculated by deducting your EFC from the schools COA. (Cost Of Attendance which generally includes tuition/fees/room and board/miscellaneous expenses/travel expenses). So if the school COA is $50,000 and your EFC is 30,000 then your 'need' on which financial aid is based is 20,000. Scholarships will generally reduce your 'need'. So if you get $10,000 in merit money your need will be reduced to $10,000. Generally schools will reduce the self help portion of financial aid (loans and work study) before they will reduce grant money.</p>
<p>In general only if your merit scholarships exceed your need will you pay less than your EFC. For instance if you get $25,000 in merit money you will have $25,000 to pay.</p>
<p>Additionally, please realize that only a very few schools, usually the top ones, promise to meet 100% of need. These schools generally also require forms in addition to FAFSA, and may consider more assets (such as home equity) as available to pay for college. Your institutional EFC may be higher than your FAFSA EFC.</p>
<p>Schools that do not promise to meet 100% of need will often "gap". So if your EFC is $30,000 and the COA is $50,000, you might get only $10,000 anyway, even though your need is $20,000. In that situation, scholarships from other sources may be used to reduce that gap.</p>