<p>We will have two children in college for 2012-13. Right now our EFC is such that our oldest gets a small Pell Grant and a small grant from the state. I've read that the EFC gets split in half when you have two kids in school. Is that correct? </p>
<p>Must our income stay about where it is now to continue to be eligible for grants? Or since we will have two kids in school, can our income increase a bit, or will that take us over the threshold for aid? I am considering taking on some additional part-time work and I am trying to see if we will lose more than we will gain. </p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>That’s true. If your EFC was $5000 before, and now you have 2 in college, your EFC for each child will be $2500. </p>
<p>as far as the income question, it depends on what your income was and by how much it increased.</p>
<p>Since your EFC will split between 2 kids, it would seem that it would be ok for you to take on some extra work.</p>
<p>For instance…if your EFC currently is $3000, then it will split to 1500 each if your income/assets stay about the same. </p>
<p>If your income goes up a small amount , then each child’s EFC might go up a small amount, but each would still get a Pell Grant.</p>
<p>Obviously, much depends on how much your income increases. </p>
<p>For instance…say you have little assets and your income is $45k and with one child in school, the EFC is 2800. With 2 in college, each EFC will be about 1400 each. </p>
<p>But, if you increase your income to - say - $50k with 2 in college…each EFC will be about 1800 for each child. Each child will still get Pell…and each Pell will still be larger than what your one child is getting now. </p>
<p>If you increase to - say - 55k with 2 in college…each EFC will be about $2300. Each child will still get Pell and would get more than one child would get with that lower income.</p>
<p>So, use an online EFC calculator and play with the numbers.</p>
<p>Thank you for your responses. The work I am considering would bring in about $1000-$1500 over the summer and I want to make sure I am making a good decision considering the time and aggravation that will be involved. I’ll try an online calculator and see what happens.</p>
<p>Any part of the EFC generated by parent income/assets would be divided equally between the students. Any part generated by the students own income/assets will stay with that student.</p>
<p>Yes any changes in income or assets is likely to change your EFC. In most cases you are still better off with the extra income as only a percentage of income goes to the EFC.</p>
<p>^^^yes, only the parent’s portion of the EFC will be cut in half.</p>
<p>Each child has their own portion, which will be unaffected.</p>
<p>So the total EFC will not be split in half.</p>
<p>*
Each child has their own portion, which will be unaffected.</p>
<p>So the total EFC will not be split in half. *</p>
<p>Yes and no.</p>
<p>If each student has lowish earnings (say $3-4k per year) and no savings, that won’t affect EFC…so EFC will get cut in half. And, work study income doesn’t count either.</p>
<p>However, if each student has a lot of earnings and/or savings, then that is a different situation.</p>