I am trying to wrap my head around EFC and financial aid packages. I made a mistake on the FAFSA which decreased my daughters EFC by 30K. When I sent corrections to schools, first college adjusted their FA package and made the $5500 unsubsidized award to $3500 subsidized, $2000 unsubsidized AND added a federal Work study of $2100. A second school changed the $5500 unsubsidized to the same subsidized/unsubsidized amount and added a $2000 university grant. The third school ONLY changed the $5500 to $3500 subsidized, $2000 unsubsidized and no extra work-study or grant. First school gave $8000 in merit, third school $5000 in merit. Second school gave much more, but really the first and third school are more comparable in net price and all around statistics such as acceptance rate and programs. With the first school we would take out $32K in loads and our third school would be $36K in loans, yet our EFC is $33K. I am really new at this so please excuse this question if it seems ignorant. Do colleges typically adjust need based aid to at least cover the gap between EFC and Net price (or how much we have to take out in loans to pay net price)? Or am I misguided in this assumption? Is it worth appealing with the third school for a work study or grant to cover that $3000? I am honestly wondering. Of course the third school is her top choice.
At any school, the $5500 loan is available to all qualified students (citizenship requirements met, etc). Whether it is subsidized or not depends on need, so since you have need, the $3500 is subsidized. That’s the max.
Work study is federal funds, but up to the school to dole out, and again they consider need. It’s worth asking the 3rd school if they have any work study money remaining, and even if they don’t, she can still get a job (on or off campus) to make that same amount. There are a few benefits to it being work study, but really that amount can be earned on most campuses with a little effort put into finding a job.
No. Most schools do not meet the financial needs of applicants, so the student has a ‘gap.’ The parents can take a Plus loan to fill that gap or use savings or have the student work. It sounds like your EFC is still too high for a Pell grant or SEOG funds.
What is the net cost of each school?
FAFSA is used to qualify for federal financial aid…direct student loans, Pell grants, work study.
Are the 3 schools FAFSA only? Or did they require CSS Profile too? Most FAFSA only schools don’t meet full need (and many Profile schools don’t either)…so the financial aid packages generally won’t get close to the EFC…gapping is common.
If the parents are looking at taking out $30K+ in loans each year for these schools, they are not affordable. $120K is too much in loans for undergrad, and it sounds like your D would be taking out the $27K max student loans as well.
Edited to add: Did you run each of these school’s net price calculators?
@twoinanddone while she is not adverse to getting a job, I have heard they are hard to come by on campus with so many getting work study positions, but she will certainly try. Thank you for your reply and clarification
@Mwfan1921 I replied to your comment but for some reason it is being reviewed before being posted…I don’t even know what that means or why it would be reviewed, so if it doesn’t post over night, I’ll retype it. This is all new to me
@tortiehannah - there aren’t a ton of colleges out of the 3000 in the US that give much in grants; a few do promise to meet your needs.
Also, OOS publics rarely give need-based grants; but again, a few will give a few token thousand dollars here and there based on need. (We have an OOS public right now that has offered my kid $4K in need-based aid; that was unexpected; I’ll be asking if that’s offered all 4 years; or just while we have two in college and our EFC is lower.) You can certainly call the college to see if they have any grants that would fill that gap between their costs and your EFC.
For work study: its not much different than getting a campus job on her own. That money is only seen once she works for it and gets paid; it’s not off your bill immediately. Good luck making these really big decisions; I do agree with MWfan1921. . . . . My heart quickened when I saw how much you’ll be borrowing; but you weren’t necessarily asking for advice about that.
I do apologize for jumping the gun, and offering an unsolicited opinion.
There are federal work study jobs that usually go quickly and can only be given to work study eligible students.
And there are usually “student employment” jobs as well, open to any student.
The school might have a job board online where she could look and maybe apply for a job before she starts fall semester.
@Mwfan1921 First school net is $42,800, third school is $41,352. They are both state schools, which I am out of state for each, but get the New England Tuition break due to my daughter’s major. Unfortunately, the major she wishes to go into is only at a few colleges in her target area, so we were limited to where she applied. As it was, two other state schools did not give her any merit and there OOS price tag is over $50K!! Her GPA is awesome as is her rank, activities, etc…but her SAT was not as competitive. Because we are New England Tuition break, they cap merit awards. All three were FAFSA only. We also have a son who will be a college sophomore in 2020. We weren’t really expecting need-based aid, but when we resubmitted the FAFSA and I saw that the first school added a work study and second school added a grant, I guess I (mistakenly) got my hopes up for the third school. We will not be accepting the unsubsidized portions of either of my children’s loans.
@Mwfan1921 my comment finally posted. And no worries. All opinions welcome
@mommdc thank you. I will definitely have her look into that option. And I could be wrong about what’s available. I am only going off what my son’s experience is at his school, and all campus Jobs seem to go towards work-study only
@bgbg4us I have a feeling that any options were given out when the gave out decisions. Unfortunately I realized our FAFSA mistake only a few days before decisions went on our portals and I am positive all grants and work study was given out beforehand. Honestly at this point, an additional $4k would be great especially with 2 in school at the same time for the next 3 years. I do plan on contacting FA further…and meeting with them if need be. Thanks for your input
It’s worth emailing the top school and state that with a work study award and a $5,000 scholarship she’d definitely attend but at this point the gap between your net price and your available funds make this impossible. Can they use professional judgement and re evaluate her package especially wrt work study, and is there a departmental or named scholarship she could apply for to close the gap?
(The terms are the “right” terms for this request).
They may say no, or just ok to the work study, or offer a bit less than $5k (likely - ask for 5, since you’re hoping for 3) but you wouldn’t be worse off. 
@MYOS1634 thank you for your suggestions. I did have her email her admissions rep to see if there was an additional scholarship or if they could re-evaluate her aid (asked for $3000-$4000.) If that doesn’t come through, or if it’s less than needed, I will probably try FA next and see about a work study. Not sure what you mean by “the terms are the “right” terms for this request”?
You have to use specific terms (like ‘professional judgement’) for the request and optimally don’t leave it to the student since it deals with being able to pay = you, the parent + direct contact to Financial Aid. But that’s water under the bridge since she already emailed. Just wait and see.
@MYOS1634 Thank you. When it comes to contacting FA, it’ll definitely be me, because I agree…I am footing the bill. With admissions, especially to her admission officer, and because it was asking for an increase in merit, I thought it’d be better coming from her. Either way, if she doesn’t hear back, I’ll be making contact. LOL! And thank you…I like the idea of the term “professional judgement”!
Am I correct in understanding that your FAFSA mistake made it look like your daughter had much greater financial need than is actually the case? A lower EFC means greater financial need (“…mistake… decreased my daughters EFC by 30K”).
Correcting the FAFSA mistake to set the EFC to a higher value should not have resulted in schools offering more need-based financial aid. In fact, the opposite should have happened. Higher EFC = less need-based financial aid offered.
To be clear, EFC means Expected Family Contribution.