<p>On my SAR it states that my EFC is a particular number.</p>
<p>Any info?</p>
<p>Expected Family Contribution.</p>
<p>It's a number generated by the financial aid applications that colleges use to determine your need (Cost of Attendance less EFC = Need).</p>
<p>It's not necessarily what your family will pay, but a measure of what the formulas calculate your family SHOULD be able to pay.</p>
<p>Lower is better, aid wise.</p>
<p>FAFSA is the form that is used to generate your EFC. IN reality all this number guarantees you is PELL grant money and unsubsidized Stafford loans if it is low enough. Some college, some state have other monies available for those at certain EFC threshholds.</p>
<p>If your EFC is a certain # or higher is is a waste of time to do the CSS profiles and all the other forms etc . If so, can someone tell me what the number might be ?</p>
<p>Motherof2girls, Some merit aid awards still require that you filed for financial aid, and sometimes family circumstances change. For those reasons alone, it is not a waste of time to fill out the forms. Also, if you want your children to be able to take out unsubsidized Stafford loans, I think that you would need to fill out the fafsa.</p>
<p>"It's not necessarily what your family will pay, but a measure of what the formulas calculate your family SHOULD be able to pay."</p>
<p>sblake7, what do you mean it is not necessarily what your family will pay? I thought the baseline assumption was that the family will pay the EFC. No?</p>
<p>You'll probably pay more than the EFC, some will pay less.</p>
<p>You'll pay more if the student goes to a school that significantly "gaps" (meets significantly less than full need). You might pay less, as we did for several years, when our son went to a public that met full need, but he was able to pay less for books and miscellaneous expenses than the college estimated in their calculation of the full Cost of Attendance (he also already had insurance coverage, which was figured into the Cost of Attendance).</p>
<p>Is the EFC the annual estimate ?</p>
<p>Expected Family Contribution.</p>
<p>It's a number generated by the financial aid applications that colleges use to determine your need (Cost of Attendance less EFC = Need).</p>
<p>It's not necessarily what your family will pay, but a measure of what the formulas calculate your family SHOULD be able to pay.</p>
<p>Lower is better, aid wise.</p>
<p>(It's recalculated each year based on your income the previous year, and your assets on the date you file, among other things)</p>
<p>Yes-- it's the estimate for a full school year.</p>
<p>So what do you think would be a EFC number that would tell you that you won't get any money for a 45K per year college ?</p>
<p>An EFC of 45000 would pretty much guarantee no need-based aid. But you could have a lower number, and still get no need-based aid at some 45K schools.</p>
<p>Might want to focus on merit aid if you're in that boat. Probably still worth filing FAFSA, in case your financial situation changes during the year.</p>