<p>* I am a full time student,** and employed full time**. But I can not afford to pay out of pocket either *</p>
<p>OK…THAT’S why your EFC is as high as it is.</p>
<p>When you work full-time, then it’s assumed that you’re going to contribute a good amount towards college - BECAUSE THAT SHOULD be a priority.</p>
<p>Working full time means that you’re earning at least $15,000 per year. What are you doing with that much money…and why isn’t it a priority to spend a good bit on college???</p>
<p>where is al this coming from? who said it was not a priority. I’ve been paying for my own tuition out of pocket, and helping my parents with bills…I appreciate everyones help, but don’t jump to conclusion about what my “priorities” are…sounds a bit ignorant on your behalf. You don’t know me, you just have a choice as to whether or not you want to help me with my situation.</p>
<p>^^ What mom2collegekids said is correct. The FAFSA formula assumes certain things about parents’ income versus students’ income. For parents, FAFSA recognizes that they have a household to run, kids to take care of, and a retirement to save for. The EFC takes all of these things into account. But it also assumes that a student doesn’t have these responsibilities, and thus can contribute a very high percentage of their income toward college. It’s very nice that you help your parents with the household bills, but FAFSA does not care about that.</p>
<p>It is what it is. Because your parents make a good income, and because you’re making a lot of money compared to most full-time students, you just aren’t going to get much need-based aid, if any, beyond the federal loan of $7500.</p>
<p>If your parents are struggling, which it sounds like they are, don’t ask them to take on a PLUS loan. Unless you want them living with you when they’re 80 years old.</p>
<p>Your own posts have suggested that you’re not willing/able to put much of your own earnings towards college.</p>
<p>The fact that you’ve paid for cheap CC costs, is not an indication that you’re willing to put much of your earnings towards much higher univ costs.</p>
<p>“think 7k a year is do-able for my parents, but my only problem is due to their credit I don’t know If we could get the loan for $11k”</p>
<p>Why do you need a loan for $11k if your parents will pay about $7k and you earn a good amount for a student. You say that the COA is $18k.</p>
<p>Your own words suggest that you’re not willing/able to put much of your earnings (full time worker) towards your university costs. </p>
<p>Since you earn at least $15k per year, then if you put half towards college, and you got $7k from your parents, you’d only need to borrow about $4k per year…not $11k.</p>
<p>Frankly, your own posts cause these confusions. If your parents can pay $7k per year towards college, then why do you need to help them with bills? That doesn’t make sense.</p>
<p>If you submit a FAFSA, you are able to get a $7500 Stafford loan as a junior.</p>
<p>You need to ask you parents if they are able to help you with ANY college costs. See what they say.</p>
<p>It is unfortunate that your parents have got themselves into a situation where their EFC is $40,000 ( Meaning their income is at least $150,000), but need their kids help to pay bills.</p>
<p>Have they consulted a consumer credit counseling agency? Oftentimes debt consolidation can make payments much more manageable & could free up your own income for your college expenses.
[Consumer</a> Credit Counseling and Debt Consolidation Services](<a href=“http://www.consumercredit.com/]Consumer”>http://www.consumercredit.com/)</p>