<p>I'm transferring to Arizona State next year and I'd like to get more aid from them. After talking to their financial aid department, they said that my FAFSA EFC is too high.</p>
<p>So my question is, how can I get FAFSA to recalculate our EFC? My mom is a divorced (as of 2006) single-mother who makes over 100K/year....THROUGH 3 SEPERATE JOBS! Plus, my grandmother is living with us and we're still paying off the funeral expenses for my grandfather who passed away in September. Why is it that schools and the FAFSA do not take these circumstances into consideration?</p>
<p>Because FAFSA has to use a set formula in calculations. Think about how complicated it would be to try to factor in those things.</p>
<p>However, the SCHOOL may take this into consideration. Call their financial aid office and ask what to do. They will probably work with you.</p>
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<p>Is your EFC somewhere between $20,000 and $30,000? Because if it is, that would be about right for an income of $100,000 per year.</p>
<p>FAFSA doesn’t “recalculate” anything. BUT you can contact the college and explain your circumstances and expenses regarding your grandparents. BUT to be honest, I would not expect them to make much of a change to your financial aid based on the information you provided here.</p>
<p>Yeah I got a form from ASU that is basically an appeal my mom can fill out as to why we need more aid. We just need to support it with documents and such.</p>
<p>Honestly, this situation is kind of frustrating because I’ve honestly never had to think about our financial situation before; it’s only recently that things have been going south. :-</p>
<p>Income is income - does not matter whether it is from 1 job or 10. The school cannot make an adjustment to reflect that.</p>
<p>If your grandma is living with you and your Mom is supporting her (more than 50% of her expenses) then she can be included as a member of the household. This would increase the income protection by a little - would not make thatmuch difference to the EFC.</p>
<p>The funeral expenses may be something (I am not sure but I think they might be) that they may be able to make an adjustment to income for. Ifthey do then the way they would do this is to adjust the income downward to reflect the expense then the EFC would be recalculated.</p>
<p>To be honest I don’t think any of these are going to make a big difference to your EFC and your financial aid. The simple fact is that $100,000 is a very good income which is why you are not eligible for much aid.</p>
<p>I understand that income is income, but do they not factor in debt into these things? My mom divorced my dad because she found out about this huge gambling debt that he had, and thus she is stuck with half of the debt which she is still trying to pay off. Plus, I know my mom’s credit score has been hurt SEVERELY by her divorce and these new debts, so I don’t even know if we’ll be approved for a loan this coming school year.</p>
<p>Can FAFSA (or ASU’s Financial Aid dept) not take into consideration how much debt we have right now compared to how much income she’s making??</p>
<p>Unfortunately, debt is rarely taken into account unless it is for something unavoidable- ie, medical costs.</p>
<p>Aghhh this is tough. For my private university, I’ve already taken out about 40K in student loans (private/Stafford mixed) for the past 2 years. I’m just really worried that I might be edging close to 100K after undergrad and law school.</p>
<p>Debt is not something that schools can generally make an adjustment for except for things such as medical expenses.</p>
<p>The government and schools expect you’ll pay for college through past, present, and future earnings. Sounds like your past savings are gone, present income is otherwise committed, leaving only two choices - borrow against future earnings (risky, as you know), or increase the availability of present income. Your mom may need to restructure debt and you may be able to help by working extra jobs too. If your mom is not approved for a PLUS loan, you’ll be eligible for an additional $4K in Stafford loans. </p>
<p>How much is ASU expecting you to come up with? What can you personally do to minimize that expense? Your undergrad debt is already getting out of hand…you’re already looking at a payment around $500/month! I know you said you didn’t have to think about your financial situation until recently, but don’t really understand why you weren’t thinking about that if you were borrowing to that extent for school. </p>
<p>There are various loan calculators here:
[FinAid</a> | Calculators | Loan Calculator](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Loan Payment Calculator - Finaid)</p>
<p>ASU’s balance for tuition/room & board is about 20K. The reason why I’m just starting to think about this is because I finally looked at my EFC score. I don’t understand why the government thinks 100K is a lot of money these days, especially with the risings costs of everything.</p>
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<p>And I’m guessing that your FAFSA EFC is in excess of $20,000, right? Sorry, but on a $100,000 a year income, that is actually on the low side.</p>
<p>My EFC is well over 20K. What do you mean that’s on the low side?</p>
<p>she is saying that a 20k EFC is relatively low given a 100k income.</p>
<p>even though i still think that 20k is ridiculous. 100k income(especially on long island) is really not that much.</p>
<p>my parents make 130k and my EFC is about 18k (i have a twin brother)</p>
<p>100K income isn’t that much where I live either. I guess I’m just outta luck then…it’s a shame that FAFSA assumes most Americans can “contribute” an X amount of $ when in reality, many can’t.</p>
<p>What I mean is that with an income of $100,000, the EFC will likely be somewhere between $20,000 and $33,000. That is just the way the formula typically works…the numbers would vary depending on assets (bank accounts, investments, etc) and number in the family. And if your balance for Arizona is $20,000 and your EFC is higher than that…you will not receive need based aid because your EFC covers that $20K amount.</p>
<p>Debt is not factored into the financial aid formula.</p>
<p>The federal government has nothing to do with the price colleges charge. They only administer programs to help make college affordable for the lowest income levels. Your family income doesn’t qualify for other low income programs like HUD, food stamps, medicaid, etc. and it doesn’t qualify for Pell. There just isn’t enough money in the budget to make it possible for everyone to get a federal grant. They will give you loans and tax credits to help out. </p>
<p>Sounds like you’re out of state for ASU? Did you look at schools where you could get instate rates? </p>
<p>With 2 years and alot of loans already, you really need to better educate yourself on the financial aid process before you go any further. This is a great site and might give you some ideas:
[FinAid</a>! Financial Aid, College Scholarships and Student Loans](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>http://www.finaid.org/)</p>
<p>This OP is a transfer student. I would think that he/she would have also filed financial aid paperwork for the previous two years. Perhaps the EFC went up when his/her parent took additional jobs. Agreed with others…it doesn’t matter how many jobs are worked…it’s the total income that matters.</p>
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<p>You didn’t say whether she works 20 hours per week at 3 separate jobs, or 120 hours per week. In any case, FAFSA doesn’t care. If she makes 100k, she makes 100k. Consider yourself fortunate that she makes that much. Many single moms would be happy to make $50k with 3 jobs. There are a lot of people who earn $100k that work 80+ hours per week at ONE job.</p>
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<p>EFC of $20k on $100k of income is in the ball park.</p>
<p>$100K is actually a quite nice income right now. Last year my EFC was $4000, and our total income was $30,000. This year my EFC is $0 because my husband is attending college as well. He has been laid off a few months here and there, too. My younger brother’s EFC, however, is over $10K because my parents’ income is $56K. </p>
<p>Here’s the really tough pill to swallow regarding college: you don’t always get to go where you want based on financial reasons. I was admitted to Saint Louis University, a very well reknowned institution, as a transfer student. However I am attending University of Missouri-St. Louis this fall because to attend SLU, even with a $0 EFC, I would have to take out $20K in loans per year, not including grad school. My scholarship and grants at UMSL covers full cost, with money to spare for books and supplies. It was an extremely difficult decision because of the reputation of SLU. Practicality in this case won. </p>
<p>Visit the sites that sk8rmom posted and learn everything you can about financial aid during and AFTER you are finished with school. My financial aid advisor was impressed with my decision to forgo the extra loans offered to me even though my tuition was covered by scholarships/grants, because many young students fail to look ahead and realize what a hole they are digging for their future, and take out the max loans offered to them each year. Large student loan debt equals large payments later when you have many other bills to pay.</p>