<p>I understand that the EFC will be generated after we complete the FAFSA. However, will we receive an EFC for each child, or will we receive one EFC for the family?</p>
<p>You'll receive one for each student, but there is a question that asks how many will be in college, and they factor that into each individual EFC.</p>
<p>We have twins that will be entering college this fall and are SHOCKED at what our SAR is saying our EFC is. I was under the impression that having two children in college at the same time would make our contribution less. Our adjusted gross income is barely over 100k and our SAR for EACH child is more 17k - this is over 34 thousand dollars. How could they think that would be doable for us? </p>
<p>Do you think we made a mistake filling out the FAFSA's?</p>
<p>Join the crowd. Two heading off to school this fall too. I just picked myself up off the floor after completing the FAFSA and receiving the results! But, it is what it is. I just hope this doesn't effect the outcome of their merit scholarships. They have worked so hard!</p>
<p>brendat, you probably did fill out everything correctly. The EFC computed by FAFSA is just usually way higher than anyone expects. And if you think FAFSA is nuts, just wait until you fill out the CRSS Profile that is required by most private schools! Your EFC will go even higher.....</p>
<p>brendat, that's probably some assets kicking in. I just ran an EFC calculator using $105k for the AGI, two kids in college, no assets, state of Minnesota, and assuming zero federal taxes and only one parent working (which makes the AGI stay high). It came out to about $13.6k per kid. Still a lot, but you can see what's expected to be available out of income. When I changed it to assume that the family pays $10k in federal taxes, the EFC goes down to $11.3k per kid.</p>
<p>By the way - for the same data, the Institutional methodology comes out to be $1k lower per kid. It really depends on each family's situation which methodology is lower/higher...</p>
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We have twins that will be entering college this fall and are SHOCKED
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<p>But also feel fortunate since your $34k efc is only spread over four years ($34k*4=$136k). If your kids were spaced 4+ years apart, your EFC would be $34k per kid times 8 years, or $272k (assuming no change in income). Thus, you are able to send your kids to college for, essentially, half-price.</p>
<p>Having sibs in college at the same time is much, much better than the alternative.</p>
<p>I was told many times, your efc gets cut in half with another child, but I don't think it's that easy.
I will have a son (hopefully) in grad school at least part time if he gets a scholarship and 2 in college.....it will be interesting to see what happens, if I survive the process!</p>
<p>When they say, "number of children in college", does grad school count?</p>
<p>actually it IS that easy if both are undergrads. The feds do not consider grad school in fafsa, but some colleges will in profile.</p>
<p>If the grad student is your dependent, then you can count him or her on your FAFSA. The grad student will file as independent, but income tax independent is different than tax return independent.</p>
<p>It is up to each school whether they count the grad student or not, UCs do, UVA does not, you would have to call the school</p>
<p>That's what i found confusing at first. My son will be 21 when he graduates, maybe commuting from home, maybe not, from grad school, but we are still responsible for him. An accountant said he would be independent on his tax form but not ours.......I just know the government could make this easier, they know the common questions, write the answers out like you are talking to someone in kindergartin and you would make a lot of people happy.
I see how many colleges do treat grad school differently. Brown only counts it if the parents are helping the student pay (with proof) and the EFC is divided not evenly but depending on the schools the other children are in. If the other sibling is in a very inexpensive college (as that goes) they would adjust it accordingly. Other colleges were more generous.</p>