<p>Hi - I am filling out financial aid forms that are due very soon. Some ask how much money my parents are going to contribute or think they can contribute toward my education next year (ex: $10,000, etc.). How should I answer this, seeing as if I post too high of a number I won't get any aid, but I don't want to write an unreasonably low number either. </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Just talk to your parents and make an honest estimation. Not how much they could pay if they completely stressed your family finances, just how much they could pay in a fair but reasonable universe. Because, in any case, it won't matter too much what you put there. The FinAid people at the college will decide what their contribution is regardless of what you put down on the form.</p>
<p>I used the number the online FAFSA calculators gave. The award from the school ultimately wanted us to pay a bit more than that, but the FAFSA figure seemed like a reasonable amount to me.</p>
<p>I don't remember a place in FAFSA where you can input how much money you can afford to pay! There's only one EFC result that comes up from FAFSA and that's your final EFC.
In CSS/Profile though, there's a question about "how much can you pay...". You need to pay attention to this question since it refers to how much you or your family can afford to pay from their normal income [NOT from LOANS]!</p>
<p>I'm not sure if this number counts in the fin aid offer [as determined by the fin aid office], but I'm pretty sure the formula used to determine the EFC is using it.</p>