<p>I just finished filling out the FAFSA for the 2008-2009 school year and my EFC # is 416, what does this mean? Around how much money should I recieve?</p>
<p>If your EFC (Expected Family Contribution) is $416, then you should qualify for as much as you need in grants (specifically, federal Pell grants) loans and aid to meet your total cost of attendance. The college financial aid offices will use the EFC to calculate your aid package.</p>
<p>Understand, though, that not all colleges will meet your need. If your family's EFC is $416, that is what you can theoretically pay next year. Take the Cost of Attendance (COA = tuition/fees/room/board/misc.) and subtract the EFC. That is the amount of "need" you have. You are eligible for scholarships & grants (free money), loans (pay back with interest), and work study (not paid upfront, but rather earned throughout the year if you work in a work study job on campus during the school year) up to the amount of need that you have. The important thing to note is that many schools do NOT meet the full amount of need with financial aid. </p>
<p>Say you want to go to UMich & you are in-state. The total is somewhere around $17,000. You might get a Pell, SEOG (government grants distributed by UM based on need), Subsidized student loan (interest does not accumulate while in school), and work study. You will still have a gap. In order to come up with the balance of the money not covered by the financial aid package, you will need to take out alternative loans. These are generally at higher rates than the government loans & interest starts accumulating as soon as the loan is disbursed.</p>
<p>There are schools that meet 100% of need. These are usually selective private schools. If you can get into one of these schools, they are often a better deal financially than a less expensive state school.</p>