<p>This thread may be better in the Scholarship/financial Aid forum , but I like all the activity here! :) I'm looking ahead to next January when I will be filling out Fafsas and Profiles for one DD who will be a junior in college, and one DS who will be entering college as a freshman. I'm confused as to how the financial aid offices of two colleges determine what my EFC is. (I know that my total EFC will probably be about 10% higher with two kids in college - but the nuts and bolts of it escape me). How does college of DD determine EFC, if we don't yet know where rising-college-freshman DS will be attending...or if he will have any scholarships or snap up a full-ride. (I wish :) ) How can they possibly work that out? Does anyone know how this works, or have links to this info? Thanks</p>
<p>I have a current freshman and a senior. What they did was split our SARS number. From what I can tell, neither one has received anything better than last year for D number 1. I was hoping for some work study money, but then so far, D number 2 has received some nice scholarship money which offsets the financial aid.</p>
<p>Anxious - I am currently where you will be next year....I could be mistaken here, but I think that the FAFSA form is filed with the US Dept. of Education, which determines your EFC - the individual schools are then notified of that number, but they do not actually participate in the determination of your EFC amount. The schools DO get to figure out what $$ amount they will offer you (and in what combo of grants, loans, work study, etc.) to combine with your EFC to hopefully be in the neighborhood of the cost of attendance. Part of the info DoE provides to the schools you request is info on other children in college...and the schools know that your EFC is a total number to be split between the 2 students. Does this make sense?</p>
<p>I currently have 2 in college. One will graduate this year but then the youngest one starts. The EFC is essentially split in 2 for the 2 kids, regardless of where the younger one goes. We have found the EFC to be a little different for each of them based on how much money they earn over the summer and any assets each of them might have such as saving accounts, savings bonds, etc. But I think they usually come back to be within about $1000 of each other. </p>
<p>When #2 started college we were hoping that the college #1 attends would increase his aid, but that was not the case. However, #2's aid package has always reflected the fact that he has another sibling in college. We haven't seen anything in the FA department yet for #3. We will have a clearer picture of that in a few weeks.</p>
<p>I think it is done as others have already indicated. I have a soph and a freshman in college. My soph's financial aid package shot WAY up, with lots more scholarship money this year than in her freshman year due to having two in college. They do factor in how many kids you have in college and I am not sure that they need to know the other student's college by the time FAFSA is submitted.
Susan</p>
<p>Still confused here... how does college #1 know to offer you more financial aid if they don't know where you second kid is going to go to school? If DS chooses x school - it could be free due to scholarships.. if DS chooses y school, it could cost $35000.</p>
<p>anxious: I'm glad you are asking these questions. I will be in the same boat in a couple of years and wondered the same.</p>
<p>i don't think your EFC (at least the one determined by FAFSA) has anything to do with where you second child goes to school or how much it costs.</p>
<p>For example:</p>
<p>Son #1 goes to Fancy Private College. Cost of Attendance is $40K. EFC this year (with one in school) is $20,000. School meets 100% of demonstrated need. COA-EFC= Need --- $40,000-20,000 = $20,000. that $20,000 is met by the institution through the financial aid office with a combination of grants, loans and work-study.</p>
<p>EFC next year for Son #2 (with 2 in school) is $10,000 (the original EFC is split in half because of 2 students in school). Sooooo COA-EFC=Need. $40,000-$10,000=$30,000. The package given by the school should increase IF they meet 100% of need. It may be in the form of additional loans.</p>
<p>Son#2 (who is in high school that first year) now goes to Small State College. Cost of Attendance is $25K. EFC is essentially the same as older brother (unless one has significant earnings or savings) so with 2 in college, it would be $10,000. School does not guarantee to meet 100% of need, but usually meets 70% of need. COA-EFC=Need $25,000-$10,000=$15000. School meets 70% of need, so the financial aid award should be about $10,500 -- gapping the student about $4500. </p>
<p>Now lets say that Son #2 is super-smart and the Small State College is giving him a full ride (everything, with tuition, books and room and board). His EFC may be $10,000 -- but your COA is zero, so your need is zero, so you will recieve no financial aid from the school.</p>
<p>However, Son #1's aid package remains the same -- they don't care how much Son #2's school costs, whether he got a scholarship or how many loans he is taking out. </p>
<p>Hope that helps!</p>
<p>I have a junior in college and a second entering college next fall as a freshman. The younger son is attending a school requiring the CSS (college profile) in addition to the FAFSA. On the profile, section M requests information on the older sib- name of school attending, grant award, and parent contribution. So, schools requesting the CSS seem likely to consider the parental contribution for sib's school when considering aid awards.</p>
<p>I have twins starting college in the fall. We could not tell either college where the other was going at the time of FAFSA (will not be same school.) It doesn't seem to matter.... I agree with hsmomstef - but can let you know for sure in a few weeks!</p>
<p>anxious mom, I'm in that situation because d. is applying as a freshman, and s. is applying as a transfer. So of course we don't know where either is going next year. The FAFSA's are filed separately, for each kid, and the EFC is determined from their FAFSA. In our case, my son's EFC is about $10K higher than his sister's, because he has been employed & saving money, so the bulk of his EFC is from his own assets & savings.</p>
<p>One of the schools my daughter has applied to, Fordham, sent us a "verification of enrollment" form that my son is supposed to sign, so that they can verify from his college that he attends there. I wrote them and explained that we do not yet know where he is going. The wrote me back a very nice letter (A+ for courtesy and professionalism) and said that it was fine, I didn't have to file it, but of course any award that I got was contingent on such proof being filed as soon as he did enroll. </p>
<p>So basically I think the procedure is that they take your word for it in the spring, but they ask for proof later on. However, I don't think it matters what the actual cost is -- if kid #2 gets a full ride scholarship, its just good news around because the EFC for kid #1 is still cut in half.</p>
<p>On the other hand, it is something important to keep in mind when you are evaluating the younger kid's aid award if the period of overlap is small. Let's say you have a $15K EFC for each kid and the schools meet 100% need for each kid, but the oldest is entering senior year. You get an aid award from a private college with a $20K grant == COA $40K - $5K self-help aid - $15K EFC= $20K remaining need. </p>
<p>So you start thinking there will be $80K of grant money over 4 years, or maybe that there will be at least $10K of grants in years 2-4. Wrong, of course -- in year 2 your EFC jumps to $30K, and student loan amounts go up. So now its COA $40K - $7K self-help aid - $30K EFC = $3K remaining need. So over 4 years you get $29 in grants, not $80K. </p>
<p>The irony is that the higher your initial EFC to be split, the worse the discrepancy is going to be in the years after the first kid graduates.</p>
<p>ahhhh...... The light bulb is going on...... no more :confused:</p>
<p>Wisht I had twins! Then we'd have 4 years of "college-induced austerity", instead of 7! Thanks everyone for all the info. I think the fog is clearing and I'm starting to get the idea here! :)</p>
<p>on the FAFSA you enter the number of students that will be in college for the coming year. This flags the FAFSA to divide the EFC by the number of students in college. For us, our number was reduced approximately 50% from the previous year with only one in school.</p>
<p>I await the financial aid packages from the 2 schools to see how they actually administer the aid under these circumstances. It really comes down to how they use their own institutional methodology . . . I'll see soon enough and post some information in April.</p>
<p>Calmom is right. I have a senior d at Carnegie Mellon and a freshman S at Northwestern. Both were given aid: however, last September, CMU asked us to provide written documentation from Northwestern stating that our S was enrolled full time. To our knowledge, Northwestern did not do the same. The total aid from both schools is slightly less than 50% of last year's total for one child.</p>
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<blockquote> <p>how does college #1 know to offer you more financial aid if they don't know where you second kid is going to go to school? If DS chooses x school - it could be free due to scholarships.. if DS chooses y school, it could cost $35000.>></p> </blockquote>
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<p>Well...there are things that get factored in at some schools. If one of your students' schools uses the Profile, that DOES list where the other student attends colleges, and also asks about scholarship monies. Also, most schools give you finaid based on your SAR (and EFC that is in that), not based on where your other kids go to college. Your EFC (per FAFSA) will not be any different as it does not consider where the other kids go to college or the amount of money it costs. And truthfully, most schools that use the FAFSA only do NOT meet full need anyway. If the Profile is used, that info IS contained on that submission. We will have two in college next year for the first time. Our EFC for each of them is about 1/2 the amount as for just the one who was in college this year. We do NOT expect #1's college to give him any additional need based aid. What motivation would they have to give additional money to a senior? It's not like he'll withdraw and enroll elsewhere. BUT we will likely get a subsidized stafford instead of unsubsidized.</p>
<p>May I give a simple example to see if I understand this? EFC=$70,000. So EFC for each child will be $35,000. Both are at schools that cost $40,000. Current year with one child we are expected to pay the $40,000 for him. Assuming that school will meet 100% of our need, he actually might be eligible for need-based aid once our second child is in college? Our children are one year apart so we will have three years of double tuition.</p>
<p>Palermo: </p>
<p>I'm no expert but that is how I'm reading it.</p>
<p>Now, say..... EFC is 40K and child 1 goes to a school on a free ride.
Then, the following year, child #2 goes to Yale at 40K. Does child #2 qualify for $20K in aid for the next 3 years?</p>
<p>palermo, I think that is how it will work -- but keep in mind that if your kids only qualify for $5000 in aid, that will end up being in the form of subsidized loans, possibly supplemented by work-study. And that's going to fall on your kid's to pay back. So while it is good news for you, kid #1 might not be so happy to learn that next year you will expect him to take on a Stafford loan.</p>
<p>jlaur -- I think that under your example, kid #2 gets the $20K in aid under pure FAFSA analysis -- but it is possible that schools using the CSS/Profile might ask some more specific questions to flesh out the true level of need.</p>
<p>jlauer95 - i could be wrong, but in your example, kid 2 may only qualify for 16K in aid, all things being equal, bcuz i think there is a calculation that amts to 40 not 50% w/ each add'l child... someone who understands this better could chime in -- even if it's just to say i'm dead wrong! i was told this was the case & wanted to make sure expectations were cautious...</p>