<p>I will be going off to college in Fall 2014. I'm having a really challenging time determining my family's EFC. I will be using both FASFA and PROFILE. My parents are divorced and I have 2 sisters. </p>
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<li><p>My oldest sister will be 24 next year, making her an independent student. My mother will still be helping her pay for college. Is there anyway I can still report her on financial aid applications? If not, is there any other way I can have colleges take this into consideration? Whether or not I can list her as a family member in college affects my aid greatly. My mother's EFC is around 8-9k without her listed, but only 4-5k with her listed. </p></li>
<li><p>When using a financial aid calculator who should I include in my family size? I live with my mother, my disabled older sister (21), and my oldest sister (22) lives on her own. </p></li>
<li><p>For my dad's family size who is included? He lives with my stepmom. And they have no additional children. The financial aid calculators require you to have at least 1 student in college, and the student in college must also be apart of the household. So would I be considered part of their household for a total of 3? Also, would either of my sisters be counted? </p></li>
<li><p>My disabled sister receives SS. Does that have to be reported? If so, does SS income affect aid the same way regular income from work does? </p></li>
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<ol>
<li><p>Some schools will allow the independent sibling to be reported in the # in college/household size if the parents are providing at least 50% of her support; some will not. You can report her as included, but some schools may remove her. You should ask each school’s financial aid office about their policy. If you mom is not supporting her at least 50%, though, she cannot be included in # in college OR in household size no matter what.</p></li>
<li><p>You should include your mother and both sisters (anyone under 24 gets to be in the HH size, no matter what). You may also be able to include the independent sister (see #1).</p></li>
<li><p>If your mother is your parent for aid purposes (that is, if you have lived with her the most in the past 12 months), your father’s info is only for the Non-Custodial Parent info for Profile (and not all schools require it). You would not include it on FAFSA. I assume the NPC has an explanation of household size.</p></li>
<li><p>Your sister’s SS income does not have to be reported.</p></li>
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<p>Hmm… Well since my sister doesn’t receive half of her support from my mother, it sounds like she won’t count at all, regardless of her dependent/independent status. That really stinks. My EFC without her reported is around 20k, while my EFC with her reported is under 10k.</p>
<p>Does your mom provide health insurance for your oldest sister? If your mom is contributing at work to have your sister on her policy, a portion of those payments would be for your sisters support. Plus whatever your mom is paying for college. Talk to your mom about any other ‘hidden’ forms of support that you may not be aware of or think about.</p>