<p>Okay, so my custodial parents are my dad and stepmom; their total income is about $65000/year. My noncustodial (mom) parent's is about $85000/year.</p>
<p>So my EFC is $19094. Since this is almost 1/3 of my custodial parents' combined income, doesn't this seem a bit too high? Is it because they're assuming my better-off noncustodial parent will pitch in (because I thought they didn't assume that)?</p>
<p>It may be important to add that I'm from Santa Cruz (super high cost of living), so 65k/year isn't as good as it sounds. Having to cut their income by 1/3 would NOT work...</p>
<p>Are you talking about the FAFSA EFC? If so, it does not consider any assets or income from the non-custodial parent. If you are talking about some calculation using the Profile, then, yes, your non-custodial parent information is also used (and yes, the Profile requires that you provide this information).</p>
<p>Do your mom and stepdad have any assets (savings, CD's etc, or any college savings?)? Do you have any college savings in your name (set up by either parent but in your name)? If so, these also contribute to the amount of your EFC. </p>
<p>Just have to ask...is your mom going to help you at all with your college education? I hope so.</p>
<p>You are right , that does seem a little high
i suggest looking over your application to see if you did anything wrong.
If everything is correct then it probably is the non-custodial parent pitching in. Fafsa uses any type of info and I mean ANY to make your efc higher.</p>
<p>Actually, that's not unreasonably high at all, unfortunately. My FAFSA EFC was $19700 or somewhere around there - my mom's adjusted gross was around the same as your custodial family's adjusted gross, and FAFSA didn't look at my non-custodial parent's income. Mind you, I TOTALLY understand that it seems unreasonable - my mom can not afford to pay that much on her own - but it's not about how much you actually can afford, it's just about whatever they calculate you can pay.</p>
<p>EFC is often about 1/3 of current income. That's because colleges assume that payments will come from 3 sources: current income, past income (savings and/or investments) and future income (loans). There is some adjustment for cost of living in the formula, but not much. For FAFSA, it has nothing to do with your non-custodial parent; the formula is the same if the student doesn't have a non-custodial parent (parents are married to each other or single parent is widowed).</p>
<p>For schools that consider the CSS Profile, non-custodial income and assets are considered. Other schools may use their own forms, and may also consider non-custodial income and assets. If you are applying to those schools, your EFC will go up.</p>
<p>$19K with two parents' income at $150,000 is LOW. $19K doesn't strike me as that low for a $65K family, esp. if there is home equity or decent savings involved. Sorry, EFC truly does mean "Every Freakin' Cent."</p>
<p>CountingDown, every time I pay for another college related expense, tuition, books, food..... I think to myself, if I can just hang in there for a few more years I will have disposable income to spend on ME for the first time in my life.</p>
<p>Of course, my life savings will be depleted and my car will be over 20 years old by then....</p>
<p>as far as the OP, if they don't live with the noncustodial parent, that 85K wouldn't be on the fafsa (but would be on the CSS profile)</p>