Which Will be Used?

Paying for College
1

<p>If the EFC calculated by FAFSA is higher than that calculated by a college's financial aid calculator online, which EFC will the college use? Are the colleges required to take the higher FAFSA EFC?</p>

<p>I found this on Dartmouth's website:</p>

<p>If the parent contribution is higher under Federal Methodology (FM), as determined by the FAFSA Application, then Dartmouth must use the higher calculated FM figure.</p>

<p>And what is home equity? Is it the amount paid on the home? (value-money owe=home equity?)</p>

2

<p>Yes, Home equity = value of your house - the amount you still owe on it.</p>

<p>Dartmouth uses a combination of Federal methodology (to calculate yoru parent's EFC and Institutional methodology to calculate the student's contribution (yes, each student must contribute to their dartmouth education). I think it is $2250 for freshmen and it goes up a little each year
Dartmouth also states the following:</p>

<p>All U.S. families fill out the same form: the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) at <a href="http://www.fafsa.ed.gov%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.fafsa.ed.gov&lt;/a>. There are federal formulas we use to determine family financial strength and ability to pay. Federal Methodology considers gross taxable and non-taxable income (with verification via the parents’ federal income tax return and W-2’s), asset strength, family size, and the number of children enrolled in post secondary educational institutions. Federal Methodology will be used to determine eligibility for all federal funds, such as Federal Pell Grants, Federal SEOG, Federal Stafford loans, Federal Perkins loans, and Federal Work-Study. </p>

<p>Sometimes families need more help We may determine that family financial strength is different from that reflected by the Federal Methodology calculation. We use an Institutional Methodology to determine eligibility for Dartmouth’s scholarship funds. All U.S. first time aid applicants must also file the CSS Profile at <a href="http://profileonline.collegeboard.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://profileonline.collegeboard.com&lt;/a>. </p>

<p>Attached is their guide to FA</p>

<p><a href="http://www.dartmouth.edu/apply/pdfs/0506_Student_Handbook_Final.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.dartmouth.edu/apply/pdfs/0506_Student_Handbook_Final.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

3

<p>home equity is assessed value - what you owe.</p>

4

<p>Nope. Home equity is current market value less what is owed on the home.</p>

<p>Assessed value (by your taxing authority) can be quite different than current market value. Laws in many state limit how much the assessed value of a home can increase each year. So, for example, a home with a market value of 500,000 might be assessed at only 200,000.</p>

<p>Our home's assessed value is about one fourth of it's current market value.</p>

5

<p>Thanks for the replies</p>

<p>"Sometimes families need more help We may determine that family financial strength is different from that reflected by the Federal Methodology calculation. We use an Institutional Methodology to determine eligibility for Dartmouth’s scholarship funds. All U.S. first time aid applicants must also file the CSS Profile at <a href="http://profileonline.collegeboard.com"&gt;http://profileonline.collegeboard.com&lt;/a&gt;."&lt;/p>

<p>sybbie719, does that mean Dartmouth, and other colleges, WILL use the higher FAFSA EFC, but will help to lessen the burden with "Dartmouth's scholarship funds"?</p>

6

<p>The federal methodology (FM) determines eligibility for federal aid(federal loans, pell, federal work study).</p>

<p>Dartmouth uses the IM to determine how it gives out their funds. </p>

<p>Differences between the IM and FM models include:</p>

<p>IM collects information on estimated academic year family income, medical expenses, elementary and secondary school tuition and unusual circumstances. FM omits these questions.</p>

<p>**IM **considers a fuller range of family asset information, while FM ignores assets of siblings, all assets of certain families with less than $50,000 of income, and both home and family farm equity.</p>

<p>FM **defines income as the “adjusted gross income” on federal tax returns, plus various categories of untaxed income. **IM includes in total income any paper depreciation, business, rental or capital losses which artificially reduce adjusted gross income.</p>

<p>FM **does not assume a minimum student contribution to education; IM **expects the student, as primary beneficiary of the education, to devote some time each year to earning money to pay for education.</p>

<p>FM ignores the noncustodial parent in cases of divorce or separation;** IM** expects parents to help pay for education, regardless of current marital status.</p>

<p>FM and IM apply different percentages to adjust the parental contribution when multiple siblings are simultaneously enrolled in college, and IM considers only siblings enrolled in undergraduate programs.</p>

<p>The **IM **expected family share represents a best estimate of a family’s capacity (relative to other families) to absorb, over time, the costs of education. It is not an assessment of cash on hand, a value judgment about how much a family should be able to use current income, or a measure of liquidity. The final determinations of demonstrated need and awards rest with the University and are based upon a uniform and consistent treatment of family circumstances.</p>

<p>Except in the most extraordinary circumstances, Colleges classifies incoming students as dependent upon parents for institutional aid purposes, even though some students may meet the federal definition of “independence.”</p>

<p>Students enrolling as dependent students are considered dependent throughout their undergraduate years when need for institutional scholarships is determined.</p>

<p>For institutional aid purposes a student may not “declare” independence due to attainment of legal age, internal family arrangements, marriage or family disagreements.</p>