I have two going into college next fall. My son will be entering his 3rd year and my daughter her 1st. She is going away to school to live on campus and he is staying at home and travelling to class. His EFC score came back quite a bit lower than her’s, meaning that he will most likely receive more funding than she will, even though she is actually the one who needs it the most. Either way, I am very confused as to why their scores are so different when their household financial situation is the exact same…? And, is there any way at all that we can have her show as the one needing the most assistance since she will be paying for housing as well?
Did both FAFSAs indicate that there will be TWO in college?
Did your DD earn more money last year? Does she have more in savings?
Sounds like a mistake was made on her FAFSA application. Go thru and check…print both kids’ FAFSAs out and go thru line by line and compare.
Sounds like her FAFSA either only indicated one in college or parent income or savings was put in the student’s section.
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And, is there any way at all that we can have her show as the one needing the most assistance since she will be paying for housing as well?
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No. Not really. Whatever her real EFC is will be her EFC. Hopefully there was an error in inputting the numbers on her FAFSA.
That said, even if her EFC drops, unless that school “meets need,” then she may not get much more aid. Most schools gap. Most schools don’t have the funds to provide for housing for their students.
If her school is one that gives great aid, then likely it requires CSS Profile as well.
Since your son is going into his third year, if he filed a FAFSA last year it should be similar in EFC to this year because same income from 2015 is used.
What was son’s FAFSA EFC last year when the household number of college students was ONE?
What is son’s EFC this year when the number of college students is now TWO? (The answer to this should be about half of the answer to the first question.)
What is daughter’s EFC this year? (If the answer to this is about the same as the answer to the first question, then likely only one student was listed as going to college. If the answer to this question is higher than that, then likely parent info was put in the student info section.)
I agree with all of the above as possible reasons or questions to check…
But one basic question before all that…when you say “EFC” for both, do you mean the actual EFC that is generated by the FAFSA? Or perhaps the “EFC” from each college individually? Different colleges have different ways of calculating what they expect a family to be able to pay, so this could be issue. But if you truly mean the EFC that the FAFSA generated, then yes assuming the both had similar income and assets their EFC should be very similar and about 1/2 as your son’s last year (again assuming your income/assets are about the same as last year).
my soph college son made more and has save more than my freshman D. their EFCs for upcoming year differ by about $1000 or so. When we filled out form for this current year, i was in a hurry, and messed up on son’s info. His EFC was off by about 15K from hers. Our mistake. So - just two ideas on why our EFCs were different.