<p>So...my dad and I went onto collegeboard a few weeks ago and the EFC calculator there said that my EFC would probably be in the mid-thirty thousands. Ok...fast forward to today...my dad was on the phone with the Emory finaid office, and they said to expect my EFC to be around $70k!!! That's twice what college board estimated!!! Is it possible that there was some sort of mistake...because there was like 35k difference in the estimated EFC from CB and the estimated EFC from Emory...and that just sounds like there may be something wrong...</p>
<p>profile uses different methods.
Most specifically, it takes home equity into the equation.</p>
<p>Did you have to do a CSS Profile? It is possible you calcualted your EFC based on FAFSA info which includes liittle/ no retirement funds and home equity info. The Profile will soak you for these things and has a different calculation. Emory may use the profile and if your parents have substantial equity and retirement, that could be the answer.</p>
<p>Or maybe an errror. ...you can hope!</p>
<p>Emory uses the Profile to calculate the EFC, so it could be that you used the FAFSA calculator on collegeboard. There is a difference and it can be significant. Profile does take into account home equity -- so if you have alot of equity in your primary home, it makes a big difference.</p>
<p>Also -- many people make the mistake of estimating the numbers they put into the EFC calculators. That gives you a false answer -- the calculators really need accurate numbers and you need to have a tax form when you are figuring it all out.</p>
<p>Get the tax forms and other documents and try this calculator FinAid</a> | Calculators | Expected Family Contribution (EFC) and Financial Aid </p>
<p>select "institutional methodology" and use accurate numbers and see what your EFC is. If it still is around $35,000 then there is probably a mistake somewhere along the line. If it is closer to the $75,000 mark -- then Emory is probably on target.</p>
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<blockquote> <p>Emory finaid office, and they said to expect my EFC to be around $70k!!! That's twice what college board estimated!!!>></p> </blockquote>
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<p>Remember that schools using the Profile can use that information any way THEY choose to as they determine your need. I would recheck my Profile to be sure the information is accurate on it...it may be that Emory is just using that information in their way. The institutional methodology calculators only provide estimates as they are not able to factor in what the schools do and don't do as part of individual school formulas. Remember, the schools using the Profile are giving out their money.</p>
<p>With an EFC of $70,000, I would expect your family to either have significant assets (home equity, savings, college savings, a second home...something in that category) and have significant income too. Without any significant assets, that income could be about $200,000 per year. With the assets it would be less income. Also, do you, the student, have any college savings in YOUR name...anything you have is expected to be used more substantially than parent savings.</p>
<p>Phonyreal, it sounds to me like you're a junior who has not applied to Emory yet; you just got an estimate from Emory FA. Is that right?</p>
<p>I'm a senior...I applied RD to Emory, and was a semifinalist for Emory Scholars and won a $12k per year scholarship. This would cover most of my financial aid...but I'm scared that other schools will calculate my EFC to be similar.</p>
<p>Thumper, I know we don't have a second home...not really sure about the rest. My parents, combined, made about 200k this past year, but that's not a normal year....and my dad explained that to the financial aid offices. A good estimate of what my parents make each year is probably closer to 150k.</p>
<p>Phonyreal...an income between $150,000 and $200,000 per year is VERY high. To be honest, your EFC would minimally be the range you posted. Even with an income of $150,000 per year, there would be the expectation that some of that could be used as college savings. I think your EFC would likely exceed the cost of attendance at many if not most schools.</p>
<p>I ran some scenarios recently using the College Board calculator, and the figure of the mid-thirty thousands was what I came up with too for a high income ($180k) but no assets. I was trying to generate different examples to get a feel for the relative impacts of savings and income. Even when I added home equity of $200k, the institutional method came up with an EFC in the mid-thirty thousands. Adding cash savings of $100k and home equity of a half-million dollars still only brings the EFC to the mid-fifty thousands. So the Emory figure seems confusing to me too.</p>
<p>Try the finaid calculator. For FAFSA I have found it to be pretty accurate. I don't know about for institutional. If you put $200,000 income in the finaid federal methodology it comes up with an EFC in the mid fifty thousands and that is with no parent assets and no student income or assets. Mid 30s would seem very low to me for a $200,000 income. </p>
<p>FinAid</a> | Calculators | Expected Family Contribution (EFC) and Financial Aid</p>
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<blockquote> <p>$180k>></p> </blockquote>
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<p>Our income isn't nearly that high and our EFC is in the 40K range. </p>
<p>Emory's finaid is right on...the $12K scholarship would reduce her need by that amount.</p>
<p>My concern is the parity between what Emory says is my EFC (in the 70ks), and what the calculators say is my EFC is(in the 30ks). Our income is generally closer to 150k, however, this year was an unusual year. I (or my dad rather...) used the college board calculator, using institutional methodology, come up with the 35k EFC.</p>
<p>Phony...I don't understand something. You say you got a $12000 scholarship for the upcoming year. Where does the $70,000 EFC come from? Is this a number that Emory gave you? If so, it may be just how EMORY is computing your financial aid. Remember that Profile schools can use the information on that form ANY way they choose to compute need based aid. </p>
<p>Your family's annual income is THREE TIMES the national average.</p>
<p>I'm going to say what I said originally, however. With an annual income of $150,000 (and an even higher one for 2007), your EFC at most schools will be in excess of the cost of attendance.</p>
<p>Did you think you would qualify for need based aid??</p>
<p>My family income is under $150,000 and using estimated calculator with insittutional methodology it looks like we can pay $50,000.00/yr for the oldest child. So I'm surprised you only got $35,000. Congrats on the merit aid though!</p>
<p>Maybe the variations people are coming up with are due to either the state you live in, the distribution of income across the two parents, or the age of the older parent.</p>
<p>Calreader, some of the variation could be because of what you mentioned. BUT I will say again...a family with an income of $150,000-$200,000 will likely have an EFC in excess of the cost of attendance. Typically families in this income range do not qualify for need based aid...and if they do, it's not very much.</p>
<p>It seems like the OP had an expectation that she/he would qualify for need based aid. I'm not sure I understand that. I do think it's wonderful that she/he got a $12,000 merit scholarship from one school. Perhaps others will also give her merit aid.</p>
<p>The problem is not a disparity between the calculators and Emory; the problem is a disparity between what you expected and reality. Emory is not bound by the calculators; those are estimates based on some standard assumptions and formulae. But Emory doesn't have to use those assumptions or formulae. It can use its own, which apparently it has. The only "carved in stone" EFC is the one from your SAR from FAFSA; that's for Federal money and eligibility for Federal loans. For its money, Emory can do whatever it wants. We can speculate until the cows come home as to how Emory got its figures; we'll never really know. And it doesn't matter anyway. And if Emory doesn't promise to meet 100% of need, then the EFC is also irrelevant. It doesn't matter if Emory says, "Your EFC is $30K, but we've gapped you for about $20K," or ""Your EFC is $50K, so we've met 100% of need."</p>
<p>While frustrating, this is the financial aid reality: It's their game, their rules. You have two choices: Take it or leave it and go somewhere else.</p>
<p>I think Chedva has nailed the issue - Emory can set their own rules and that's probably what happened here. But it does seem worth checking all the numbers from your side to make sure you didn't make any mistakes, and to ask Emory if their numbers match your numbers.</p>
<p>Thumper, you can say it as many times as you like, but that doesn't make it right :-). Just try running the FinAid EFC calculator with these assumptions: 4-person household, 1 person in college, lives in California, age of older parent is 50, parents income is $150k divided $80/$70, federal income tax paid is $25k, no savings or students assets. I have no idea if these assumptions match the situation of the original poster, but they are similar to the ones I used for a workshop I gave last week. Under these assumptions, the EFC for the federal and institutional methodologies is $30,909. (Oops - add $1k for student income under the institutional methodology.) That is well under the cost of many private colleges.</p>
<p>Many private schools expect the student to contribute more than $1K to cost of education-
Also for a couple making $150,000 , I would also expect some assets, a house for instance where equity can be accessed for tuition, even if they don't have a college fund.
When using the finaid calculator I got an EFC of $49,535 for the above stats, but I assumed that they had equity of $200,000.</p>
<p>Maybe the variations people are coming up with are due to either the state you live in, the distribution of income across the two parents, or the age of the older parent.</p>
<p>When I used the finaid.org calculator I used 50 as age of older parent, CA as residence , No as eligible to file short form, $200,000 in home equity, $2,000 in cash/savings.</p>
<p>Most places a couple making $150,000 which is more than double average median income, are going to have home equity and some available cash.</p>
<p>If there were more dependents, then that would affect the EFC.</p>