<p>Has the federal formula changed this year? I've checked for mistakes and compared to last year's SAR with very little difference other than having reduced assets from paying last year's college bills for two. I expected a very slightly lower EFC, not higher.</p>
<p>Print out both of the formulas, and take a look at them. Maybe the problem is your data entry.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/101310EFCFormulaGuide1112.pdf[/url]”>http://www.ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/101310EFCFormulaGuide1112.pdf</a>
<a href=“http://ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/010512EFCFormulaGuide1213.pdf[/url]”>http://ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/010512EFCFormulaGuide1213.pdf</a></p>
<p>The income protection allowance, business net worth, and parents’ contribution table all adjusted slightly upward (basically inflation), which would lower your EFC.</p>
<p>The asset protection allowance got worse, but worst case would only raise your EFC by $200 or so.</p>
<p>Here’s links to the formulas for the two years, you will have to work through them to see what changed:</p>
<p><a href=“http://ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/101310EFCFormulaGuide1112.pdf[/url]”>http://ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/101310EFCFormulaGuide1112.pdf</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/082511EFCFormulaGuide1213.pdf[/url]”>http://ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/082511EFCFormulaGuide1213.pdf</a></p>
<p>Thanks. I will sort through and report back.</p>
<p>One difference I see between last year’s formula and this years is that the income limit for the automatic 0 EFC was reduced from $31,000 in 2011-12 to $23,000 in 2012-13. That may make a big difference for some kids, although possibly not for the OP.</p>
<p>What was your EFC last year and what is it this year? 30% doesn’t tell us much. that could mean that it was 100 last year and 130 this year…or 10,000 last year and 13,000 this year.</p>
<p>Did your child’s income/assets change?</p>