<p>Our current EFC is approximately $31,000, so we do not get much fin aid for my daughter in the form of actually aid not loans. Our second child is going to college in the fall of 09, will we be expected to pay the same for him or how will this work?? I really do not now how we are going to afford this, we also have a 14 year old in the wings. Thanks for any help.</p>
<p>When our second child went to college the EFC was split between the two; aid from S1's private school went up considerably. Whether you are offered more loans or grant money depends on the school.</p>
<p>The parent part of your FAFSA EFC is divided equally between the number of your children that are in college at the same time. So if the 31,000 is all parent (ie based on parental income and assets and there are no student income/assets) then with 2 in school and based on the exact same income/assets the FAFSA EFC for each student would be 15,500. If 2000 of the 31,000 EFC was based on student assets/income then the current student's FAFSA EFC would be 29,000/2 + 2000 = 16,500 and the upcoming student's EFC would be 29,000/2 + n (n being whatever the student portion of the EFC would be based on that student's income/assets. Roughly 20% of any student assets and 50% of any student income over the protected income allowance of @ $3200).</p>
<p>Once child one completes school the EFC will go up to the full amount for child 2. As the older 2 will likely be out of school by the time the 14 year old starts then he will also have the full EFC.</p>
<p>All this is for the FAFSA EFC. Schools using CSS will make some allowance for more than one in college but their formulas may vary.</p>
<p>While the parental EFC is assumed to be the same- the student portion is seperate and will be added to each obligation.
Additionally- one school may meet 100 of need- another meet 50%.
Good to have a choice.
Other families in your tax bracket are encouraging students to-
look for merit aid/scholarships
consider in state schools or out of state schools with reciprocal agreements.
continue applying for FAFSA each year- even if no aid is initially recieved- because situations can change quickly & it helps to already be in system</p>
<p>Additionally students IMO, should be bearing some of the cost of their education. Even if they don't qualify for work-study or subsidized loans, they can turn their summer income over for personal expenses or tuition- take out unsubsidized Stafford loans and get a small job during the school year to pay for personal expenses and to make contacts on campus.</p>
<p>question on mechanics of filing fafsa for second kid. </p>
<p>Kid #2 requires own pin, correct? Is there any way to transfer the financial data from kid #1's file (still in college) to kid #2, or does it have to be completely rekeyed?</p>
<p>Yes kid no. 2 requires his own PIN. If the same parent is signing then they use their existing PIN to sign. </p>
<p>I don't know of a way to transfer the parent info from child #1's FAFSA to child #2's FAFSA.</p>
<p>Our EFC remained the same between the two children, however neither school met 100% of the need.</p>
<p>I noticed in the Profile info, the EFC is treated differently that it is treated under FAFSA. The info I saw states that EFC is assessed at 60% for each student. Strange, but that's what it says. However, individual Profile schools can & do handle things in their own way.</p>
<p>Though your total EFC is about the same, it is assessed per student. It does not necessarily mean a windfall. That depends mainly on the school your students attend. In terms of federal aid, you are still far from PELL grant eligibility, so that means more subsidized loans are available. In terms of other grants, schools that use only FAFSA can be very stingy about meeting need. Some simply won't meet it. My husband's cousin's family found out the hard way. Similar EFC as OP, which meant nothing in terms of aid since it is over the COA of the state school. With the second kid there, you would think they would get something. Not a red cent other than subsidized loans. And loans were going to be used to meet EFC anyways, so the only discount was the subsidy of the interest during the years in school. </p>
<p>On the other hand, I know a family with a child at a state school followed by one at a private school that meets most of demonstrated need. The formula used in this case really made a big difference in aid for the second student. When the older student graduated, the cost sky rocketed for the second one, because that school used some equivalency formula when there were two kids in college. They ended up paying more for one kid than they did for two those last couple of years they had just the second one in college!</p>