<p>So here is my problem. My family is lower middle class, and I'm looking at schools where the tuition is not much lower than our yearly income. HOWEVER, my parents moved here from a dirt poor country and understand the value of the dollar, so they have accumulated quite a bit of money in CD's and mutual funds. They are almost at the age to retire <em>my mom had me in her 40's</em> and need every penny to make through the rest of their lives, especially in this economy. About 2 days ago I learned just HOW much money we have in CD's.. but we can't touch the money without a HUGE penitly in time to help me pay for college. </p>
<p>I wasn't concerned until today, when I found out they count CD's and mutual funds against your EFC?! This is gonna ruin all my chances at financial aid.. it's not like I can even touch the money or use it for my education because my senior citizen parents need it and the hugeeeee penitly that we'll be forced to pay! Can I be considered for some special circumstance or am I destined for an overpopulated cheap state school I'll dread? Blah blah I know it's the same education and it's plenty good, but can a girl help it if she wants something different?</p>
<p>I don't get it.. why are people who make more money than my family but don't save any going to get more help than mine, who are barely paying the bills monthly but saved responsibly? (i'm just assuming how this is, I don't know how the ECF is calculated. I could be very wrong, and I'm hoping so. just kinda T'd and freaking out)</p>
<p>FAFSA does consider the age of your oldest parent in recognition that the the older the parent, the less time available for rebuilding assets for retirement. If their CDs/mutual funds are in an IRA or 401K, they are excluded. Otherwise, they would be an considered an asset. While penalties for early withdrawal of a CD can be stiff, there should not be such penalties for taking money out of a mutual fund, although this may not be an ideal time for doing so.</p>
<p>The FAFSA generated EFC is not all that matters. Some schools do a better job of meeting need than others in terms of the percentage of need met, and how they meet the need. Grants are best; loans aren't really financial aid IMO. While the FAFSA calculations don't necessarily consider your particular circumstances, the school may.</p>
<p>In reality FAFSA is not that unfair when it comes to how assets are treated. In general, unless assets are extremely high, income contributes more to the EFC than assets. The family home and funds in retirement accounts are protected. On top of that there is a protected asset allowance which increases as the parents age. After that only up to 5.6% of assets go to the EFC. If your assets are so high that they will ruin any chance at financial aid they must be quite high. Your family is therefore expected to contribute to your education. </p>
<p>Also if your parents income is below $50,000 and they file one of the simpler tax forms (1040a or 1040ez) than you may qualify for the simplified needs test where assets are excluded from the FAFSA EFC calculation.</p>
<p>However if you go to a school that uses CSS/profile they will calculate their own 'EFC' for institutional aid which may be higher than the FAFSA EFC.</p>
<p>The FAFSA's EFC is calculated with the American assumption that the main responsibility for providing for a student's college education resides with his family (not the government or the school).</p>
<p>You are not a special case. There are thousands of college students across the country who have 'special cases,' like people who appear to make a lot of money but their parents live outside of their means, people whose parents have just saved up a ton of money and bought a lot of capital, and the like. People cannot just sock money away for years, in the United States, and then expect the government or the college to pay for their children to go to school. It sucks but for the time being that's how higher education is run. </p>
<p>Perhaps you need to expand your search to less expensive schools and/or match and safety schools where you have a reasonably high chance of getting merit-based aid. Don't look down on public universities and colleges -- some of them are very, very good -- on par with private colleges. You have to take what you can afford. If your stats are very high, apply to some safety schools that you like and get merit scholarships. Mine were fair-to-middling (3.6 wGPA, 800v 660m, great essays, okay extracurriculars) and I got a full scholarship to several schools that were safeties or safety-matches for me (small LACs in the top 100). I went to a safety, had a blast, and I'm going to Columbia for grad school.</p>
<p>It won't be the end of the world, I promise.</p>
<p>I know what you mean. My family is in a similar predicament, except we are upper middle class and my dad lost all his retirement benefits from his employer, so although he has quite a bit of savings, it's not enough to pay for college and my parents' retirement. FASFA is pretty unhelpful for those out of the lower income bracket. With the economy the way it is, there are actually people in higher income brackets who do need help paying expenses.</p>
<p>according to other posts by the OP, her parents have been in the USA for nearly 30 years and lives in California and is interested in Pepperdine Univ. She should definitely run her numbers thru the EFC estimator. Do understand though even a 0 EFC doesn't guarantee you get enough money to go to college from the government </p>
<p>I don't know the whole Cal grant way of awarding money, but I doubt a max Cal grant, pell grant, Perkins loan and stafford loan would cover the nearly 50K tuition.</p>
<p>
[quote]
However if you go to a school that uses CSS/profile they will calculate their own 'EFC' for institutional aid which may be higher than the FAFSA EFC.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Exactly, as Pepperdine uses the FAFSA and their own FA form so their EFC could be higher than what is predicted on your FAFSA EFC.</p>
<p>I concur that fafsa is unfair to those working folks who do not have a defined benefit plan, i.e., pension. All contributions by an employer to a traditional pension plan on behalf of an employee is not considered by fafsa. (Many govt employees retire with huge pensions.) But, yet contributions to a 401(k) are added back. And, in the case of the OP who did not save retirement money in a tax-sheltered account, money saved for retirement is used by the efc.</p>
<p>PinkPanther: your parents could take out a PLUS loan and then pay it off when the CDs mature. Or, speak with a broker...if you could flip that money into an annuity it would be exempt from fafsa. (Normally, I'm not a fan of annuities bcos of their high fees & commissions, but it might be worth looking into.) </p>
<p>btw: Pepperdine does not meet 100% of need, so the issue might be moot.</p>
<p>Thank you for all of your replies. I know relatively little about the FASFA, so assumed they would want a huge portion of the assest. Now that I know they'll only was 5.6%, things are much better and calmer in my house. </p>
<p>I know I am looking at colleges where 100% of my need will not be meet. I AM willing to take on some reasonable amount of debt and my parents can afford to help me with some money every year. My GPA and class rank are very high and I am going to study until my eyes fall out for the SAT's again, so I'm looking at privates where the average GPA and SAT's are much lower than my scores, therefore putting me in good position to earn some scholarship money. Pepperdine is a bit of a reach for scholarship money, I know, but I'm gonna try. I've stopped putting all my eggs in their basket (which I know it must not seem like because all I post about is Pepperdine) and I'm also looking at some smaller CSU's like Channel Islands, Monterey Bay, and Staniulaus. </p>
<p>Thank you again for the replies -- I was kinda having a little breakdown, I've been spending WAY too much time thinking about college and financial aid, which seems to be very common on CC lol.</p>
<p>eduPASS</a> | Financial Aid for International Students | The FAFSA</p>
<p>Fafsa is really only for US citizens or permanent residents, however apparently some schools ask international students to fill it out anyway. You have to realize that each school is going to approach what they ask from you and what they give to in the way of scholarships or 'free money' you differently. </p>
<p>If you have a 30-35K budget, you should be able to find a school you are happy with that you can afford</p>
<p>Those other schools you mentioned are all California state schools. I'm guessing they aren't going to give you much because their money is going to students from in state or US citizens. Many state schools have a hard time meeting the needs of those kids, and aren't going to throw money out to internationals.</p>
<p>CSUMentor</a> - Plan for College - International Students - International Student Introduction this applies to California state schools(this includes the ones you listed I think)
Federal/state financial aid is not available for international students. Campus or private scholarships may be available for international students but nothing sufficient to cover all expenses.</p>
<p>you have some research to do
eduPASS</a> | Financial Aid for International Students | Schools with Aid for Undergraduates
Schools</a> Awarding International Financial Aid</p>
<p>Sue I thought the OP lives in California and is a US resident? I had not got the impression she is an international student.</p>
<p>I meant to put this in the thread "FA for internationals". My bad. I messed up</p>
<p>I wondered if that was your intention. Senior moment? ;) They seem to be coming to me a few years earlier than I expected. Personally i blame it on my kids!</p>
<p>Pinkpanther, please realize that your financial aid package from just about any school is going to include a reasonable amount of debt (in the form of student loans) already. If you have a gap between need and aid awarded, you may well end up with an UNreasonable amount of debt. Concentrating on schools where you might be able to get a merit scholarship is a wise move for someone in your shoes.</p>