Hello,
Anyone with 2 kids in college who can help explain what will become of the financial aid for them next year versus this year for just the one? My oldest got some from CU Boulder, but not much. Everyone is telling me the aid will be much more next year when her sister is in college (goal is UCSB). Does FAFSA take into consideration them both or does the school decide? Will the aid for kid #1, comparing this year to next, be the same or different?
You can try running the net price calculator for each college for both the current situation (one in college) and for the next year situation (two in college). This should show how each school adjusts financial aid based on number of students in college. Remember that the younger one may see financial aid change after the older one graduates.
However, there could be other reasons that financial aid could change next year (e.g. the college’s financial aid budget changes, or the college assumes a greater amount of federal direct loans as the student moves up in class level).
https://ofa.colorado.edu/aidestimator/
https://www.finaid.ucsb.edu/net-price-calculator
Basically, the FAFSA EFC is cut in half (can vary if either student has income or assets that adjust the EFC)
If student #1’s EFC is $30k, it should go down to $15k. Will that get you more need based FA? Probably not at CU. It could get both students some subsidized student loans.
As noted above, the Fafsa EFC for student #1 will now be cut in half. It will be shared with student #2 ( it can vary, as mentioned).
The question is…will you receive any FA? I would use the NPCs and see.
When we had two in college, we received $0 in aid from one school, and a FA grant + a subsidized loan from another school that meets full need.
As others have said, the parental part of FAFSA EFC is halved. If the numbers are low enough, you could qualify for some PELL grant money. Also, each kid may qualify for some subsidized Direct loans. That is all that is guaranteed by the pure numbers. At certain thresholds, a student is eligible for federal aid in those forms.
But maximum PELL is about $6345 for this current school. A student has to have a ZERO EFC to get that full amount and as the EFC gets into the $6k range, it starts to go away entirely. Maximum subsidized Direct Loan is $5500 for junior year status students.
Any other other is dependent upon the state and the school itself. I don’t think CU guarantees to meet full need. They often simply gap. As suggested, you can run their NPCs and for other schools to get an idea what your students may get. I have seen a lot of cases where a student just gets more subsidized loans, or even nothing. Having need has no guarantee of it being met.
There is also the possibility that a school does not fund upperclassmen as well as they do incoming freshmen. School need to recruit; upperclassmen more likely to stick it out and remain at the school whereas high school seniors can compare offers when they apply to a number of schools
Are you a California Resident? If no, it would not matter if you have 10 kids in college you would not be eligible for aid other than federal aid. OOS cost of attendance for the UC’s is approx $65k/year
@sybbie719 is correct.
So…are you a resident of California or a resident of Colorado?
Both CU Boulder and UCSB are public universities in their states. It is very unlikely that you will see more aid at either school just because there are two students in college at the same time…Unless your FAFSA EFC for each goes below the amount to qualify for a portion of the Pell Grant. What was the EFC for the CU student this year?
If you are a CA resident, the vast majority of need based aid comes via the Calgrant program. Do you qualify for the Calgrant? And any federally funded loans you might qualify for. And the Pell…but really only if your EFC is low for each kid. That’s it.
If you are not a CA resident…forget about any need based aid at all.
If you are a CA resident, this means you are paying OOS costs for your kid to attend CU, right? You said he got a little bit of aid from CU…what was that?
Neither of these colleges guarantee to meet full need for all accepted students.
Honestly, run the net price calculator at both colleges. Do with one student in college…and then with two…and see what you get for results. If you are divorced parents, own a business, are self employed, or own real estate other than your primary residence, the NPC won’t be accurate.
Note that both schools use FAFSA only (no CSS Profile or other forms), so many of the issues with divorced parents etc. are less likely to be an issue at these two schools.
Of course, with one or both being out-of-state public universities, at least one of the NPCs is likely to show very little or no need-based financial aid.