<p>I did the FAFSA already and my EFC number is about 7200. But I have heard Texas A&M does not have much financial aid. I saw where a person is guaranteed financial help if their family earns under $60,000 a year...but what if it is a big family? Can they earn more than $60,000 a year?</p>
<p>Texas A&M gives out lots of financial aid… though you should probably post this in the Financial Aid & Scholarships section of College Confidential. Lots of the people who comment there practically live in that forum. Yes family size counts, but FAFSA takes into account all of your assets. House and such. Are your parents married? Do you have siblings IN COLLEGE?, don’t think it really matters if they aren’t in college. Anyways, Pell Grant is government awarded and the max is like $5,800 a year I think (rough estimate, don’t take 100% what I am saying). Now, when my mother was employed, making around $50,000, my EFC was like 5200, and I didn’t get the full Pell Grant. My mom has been unemployed for a year, we filed a special circumstance form with A&M, and I now receive the full Pell Grant + other need-based grants from A&M. Now, I don’t know all the details about your family, income, siblings, and assets (which is what FASFA takes into account), but if your EFC is 7200, I would imagine you may get a little bit from the Pell Grant… could be wrong. Can your parents actually contribute $7,200? Can they contribute anything? FASFA does not care if they can or can’t… for example, many middle class families live in a home that is enjoyable, and they have a mortgage taken out. FASFA looks at this as, well if you would have chosen to live in a smaller and cheaper home, then your paycheck wouldnt be going to bills, and you would be able to contribute $7,200 a year. NOW, this is just a little lesson on FASFA, this comment may not help you what-so-ever except for give you a little bit of insight on how it works… but again, there’s so much thrown into the picture and I honestly don’t know a ton about it. </p>
<p>Hope this helps… the tiniest bit :P</p>
<p>also on ApplyTexas, make sure you apply for scholarships (they have need-based ones). That application is sent to a wide variety of scholarships, need-based things. </p>
<p>Since most student’s parents fill out the FAFSA, I’m guessing you didn’t see the questions. The form asks all your questions (and more) and then computes a dollar amount as your estimated family contribution ( EFC)- although they say ‘it’s a number’ our number has been converted exactly to dollars each year. Each school has a cost of attendance (COA) includes tuition, books, room & board, even travel & personal expenses. You take your COA-EFC= need amount. That need is met via scholarships, grants or loans. COA is a different amount if you are in state or out of state, roughly $23,000 instate, $39,000 OOS. The exact amount for this coming year hasn’t been computed yet. As a side note, no one thinks their FAFSA amount is realistic- but it is used. You may get scholarships for more than the need amount and up to the entire COA. </p>
<p>My parents are actually very frugal. Since they are so rare on spending money, I was shocked to find out that they have actually saved the money for my college. They have taken in foster children, they save a lot, and have tons of hand me downs. Those are the kind of parents I have. And they seem to scoff at the idea of keeping up with the Joneses. My dad is an engineer. My mom was a teacher. But she does not go to work for money anymore. We have had occasional foster peeps here and mom does a fair amount of volunteer work and I have sibs with disabilities. My parents are NOT the typical middle class family. I swear I was the oldest person without a cell phone. My older brother got one when he started driving, in case of an emergency. And my parents only got me one after I started driving too. Even then, I got the handmedown dumb phone. I am grateful, I really am. The point is, my parents are soo frugal, they would not spend the penny on the new dumb phone when they added me to their plan. LOL. I know I will be as frugal as them! And I already got a summer job for this upcoming summer.</p>