Just got my EFC back...it seems way too high for what my family can afford. So, this is a question worth asking if you expect to have two kids in college at the same time, and even if your kids are looking at schools that generally offer good aid packages. This student may need to be more concerned about how his blended family will pay for college. If your EFC is high, you should not expect to receive a large need-based financial aid package. That means that at a minimum, a school will expect you to contribute at least this much for one year of college. Behind the scenes, the EFC you receive is based on a complicated formula. Is your father alive? how much was put into retirement accts this year, did the parents accidentally put income in student section. I was talking to a mom from Northern California last week, for instance, who is a massage therapist and her husband makes an average salary. My parents made about 120,000 in gross income together this year. Right…earned income…plus child support. The formula is used to highlight which students should most receive assistance (the lower the EFC, the higher eligibility for financial aid). Your EFC can provide a decent idea of what a college will assume you could pay for one year of college. What should I do if my EFC is high? just now. Student Loan Hero logo. One of the most common issues is not reporting applicable information from an IRS filed Schedule 1 form. For example, if you need a new car or computer, buy it before you file the FAFSA. The higher your EFC, the more the federal government estimates your family can pay for your college education. Client Portal . Most families are stunned when they see their EFC for the first time because they feel it’s much too high—that it would be impossible for them to contribute that much money every year toward college costs. In fact, by starting when their children are young maximum results occur; “mother time” compounds the money efficiency for the planning efforts the family put forth. What are my options? Here are five ways to pay for college when your FAFSA EFC is too high. Student Loan Hero logo. Did you put the numbers in or did your parents? Most schools will require more than that contribution, but at least this gives you a starting place. You’ll be full pay at almost every school, those that cost $30k and those that cost $65k. In those cases, the government assumes … Fed grants are for LOW INCOME people. HS Senior. There is no EFC cutoff, so you'll just have to wait and see. Myth #2: Our assets disqualify us from aid If you missed the post, here it is: Is Your EFC Too High? If your EFC is low, you are more likely to receive a larger need-based financial aid package. When the son graduates, however, the family’s EFC will rise again so it makes sense for the girl to look for schools that would also give her merit aid, which she can hold onto no matter what her EFC is. First check that FAFSA for errors. No wonder many families are caught off guard by an EFC they believe to be too high–this could indicate that colleges will be less generous when making financial aid offers to their students. I have been hearing from families of high school seniors who have calculated their preliminary EFC or Expected Family Contribution and are now panicking. I applied to fafsa and my efc turned out to be 11442. All Rights Reserved. If your EFC is abnormally high, you might have made a mistake. So if the previous EFC was $48,000 for her son, with two in school the EFC for each child would be $24,000. Because the EFC formula for a dependent student uses parental data and the two formulas for independent students do not, the first step in calculating a student’s EFC is to determine his or her dependency status. I’m just so lost I don’t even know what else to say because the EFC is so high. share. So if you are wondering how much income is too much to get financial aid from the FAFSA, it all depends on the cost of attendance for the school you are applying at versus your calculated EPC. That’s great inside info! If not, ask them. My EFC is 8423 something like that and i know that's too high but what really made me mad is that i seen that i was approved then the next day my school took it away now i have to pay out of pocket i think i made a mistake and cause it to be high. Filed my FAFSA yesterday, my confirmation email said that my estimated pell grant was $600. I haven't seen a table, but from some googling, it seems like if you make $40-60,000 EFC might be around 25% of income, above $80,000 then maybe it goes to 33%. How … What should I do if my EFC is high? … Unlike a lot of heavyweights, Vanderaa is durable and has an iron chin. Behind the scenes, the EFC you receive is based on a complicated formula. It is likely their income is $190 and your mom receives child support. What do I … Yours is $14,432, you are way over. This is a big surprise to us as everyone is telling us it will be cheaper so… why it is more? Anyway, EFC is based on family income and certain factors such as family size and number of children in college. Even though 500 is a fairly low EFC number, if your family already lives on a tight budget, finding an extra $500 may seem impossible, making it a bad EFC number. The most common way for parents to assist you in paying for college is to open their checkbook. If both children attended schools that just use the FAFSA, The EFC for each child would drop by half. A simple way to figure out your client's EFC is to take advantage of an online calculator like this one. If you missed the post, here it is: Is Your EFC Too High? Myth #2: Our assets disqualify us from aid Expected Family Contribution (EFC) “Affordable. Anyway, EFC is based on family income and certain factors such as family size and number of children in college. There is no EFC cutoff, so you'll just have to wait and see. I’d go over it carefully because your EFC should drop by roughly half. Regardless, with that high income it’s unlikely you’ll qualify for anything but a $5500 student loan. That is a pretty high EFC, it could be because of how much income you're making and everything else. When your oldest child begins high school, you may never have heard of the acronym, “EFC” before. Right…on a bare $190k income the EFC is too high…but we don’t know many other aspects…assets, child support, retirement acct contributions. Here’s how: under the formula, the EFC is for the total family contribution, not per child. That’s a whole separate dept. If so, will he help pay for college? Public Flagship/R1: Other. Im single working 36 hrs a week @ 13 hr and im barely getting by i don't work for the same company im making less money i don't have kids. In my next post, I’m going to keep writing about Expected Family Contributions. The EFC (expected family contribution) numbers have shocked many a parent who go through the trouble of completing FAFSA. When parents calculate what their Expected Family Contribution is, they discover it’s far higher than they anticipated.. Top 20 schools are need-blind. Our EFC is higher than the annual cost of the schools our daughter is accepted in. I had an EFC of about 2000, and sometimes I got it, sometimes I … My brother is going to college too. Contact your financial aid department. My last college blog post focused on a dilemma that many families face. Find the exact moment in a TV show, movie, or music video you want to share. Your EFC is too high to qualify for free grants, but you WILL qualify for other forms of financial aid like low interest (no cosigner needed) federal student loans called Stafford loans. I guess I never looked at it from that perspective, I was just hoping to get even a little bit. What a ridiculous system. What was put in for child support? With that sort of EFC, the family could qualify for need-based aid for their daughter from expensive private colleges. If you have a high EFC, it means the feds think your family will be able to cover a bigger portion of your cost of a higher education —especially if your EFC is more than the cost of the college your student is attending. Your Expected Family Contribution determines how much need-based aid you can receive. Net Price” Individual Net Price. EFC is expected student contribution plus expected parent contribution. I just got finished filling out the fafsa and my efc was at 26,000. The college determines the aid for which you are eligible based upon the EFC and COA (cost of attendance). That is probably too high to get the pell grant. Your “expected family contribution,” is a measure of your family’s financial strength in relation to paying for college. If your EFC is high, you should not expect to receive a large need-based financial aid package. Accelerate necessary expenses, to reduce available cash. Your EFC score will undoubtedly affect your bank account, one way or another. Today I want to stay on that topic and share an email that I received from a dad, who has a daughter in 11th grade and another in seventh grade. Your Expected Family Contribution is $12,210. Mistakes aren’t easily identified because most EFCs feel high, but if yours seems too high, check if you unintentionally included retirement assets like a 401K or IRA, Falcon suggests. We just found out that our EFC is $108,000 (split among twins). He’s flat-footed and is extremely easy to hit. Never the less she is going to attend the school that gives her the most merit scholarships, because she deserves them. Estimated Expected Family Contribution (EFC)= 012210. They can’t believe how high their EFC is. Have your parents said how much they’ll pay each year? What should I do if my EFC is low? I have been hearing from families of high school seniors who have calculated their preliminary EFC or Expected Family Contribution and are now panicking. You’ll have to look for merit aid, a cheaper school, or be prepared to pay. My parents' income combined is just barely over $200,000, but … Today I want to stay on that topic and share an email that I received from a dad, who has a daughter in 11th grade and another in seventh grade. The maximum amount for the Pell for the 2006-2007 school was announced by Congress in January. The problem is he’s relying on his toughness way too much. The Expected Family Contribution is a measure of how much money a family might be expected to contribute to one academic year's worth of college expenses. EFC way too high Hi guys, My parents have been making roughly $55k combined the past few years so my EFC was usually around 3000-4000, however this year my parents got raises and only raised the family income to about $62k. And if the student’s EFC is too high when she is alone in college, dividing it in two or three when her siblings enroll in school might not be enough to create aid eligibility. I don’t see how my EFC is almost 60% of my parents income before taxes. The only reason they’d care about a higher EFC is if you were in development, donate a building territory. So if any of that changed, then your EFC would too. Days at a time were spent away at age-group national team camps, too. She had worked at Pomona before Oxy. there are just too many unknowns... parents assets who put the info into FAFSA how much was put into retirement accts this year child support payments did the parents accidentally put income in student section But either way, EFC will be too high for aid, so the biggest question is how much will parents pay. Most schools in that range are need-blind. This is impossible for us as I have no extra money after paying my bills and no savings. She is extremely smart, giving, loving and very social person, and any school should be happy to have her as a student. My EFC for this year is in the 5000's and last year it was 0. A major factor in determining your financial aid award is the expected family contribution (EFC). The mom, however, is now stressing because their daughter is a high school senior and they can’t afford to pay full price for their daughter, who would love to attend a college outside California. Up until now the family’s high EFC didn’t hurt because their son, who attends St. John’s University, has received athletic and merit scholarships from the school. Does a higher EFC even play a role when applying to top 20 colleges in admission selection? Student Loan Hero logo. But, she indicated this is not true for all schools – even those with generous financial aid. I think FAFSA mixed my form up with this guy’s because that EFC is WAY too high. Once you are over a certain number, it really doesn’t matter how high the number is because you aren’t going to get a Pell grant, you aren’t going to get subsidized loans, and you aren’t going to get work study. Remember that a high expected family contribution can result in low financial need. My Expected Family Contribution is way too high? That number is about 40% of our annual GROSS income. If you find yourself in this situation, it helps to know what are your options. . They can’t believe how high their EFC is. We ended up with an EFC exceeding 150K even though the income was only about 225K. If you aren’t sure what an EFC is, here are some of my previous college blog posts on the subject: There usually is a reason why a family’s EFC is high even if initially it seems puzzling. Also, did you include any spousal or child support on your FAFSA…because those count too. EFC numbers are calculated by schools using the same scale as does the government. Thanks for this info, Lynne. The only dilemma I have is if the high EFC will reduce her chances for merit aid. Remember that a high expected family contribution can result in low financial need. A low EFC means you may be eligible for a larger financial aid package, while a high EFC means you may have to rely on unsubsidized loans to cover any costs your family can’t afford. When you get into the world of college applications, the acronym “EFC” comes up constantly. However, in cases of divorce, unusual assets, a business, ownership of land or rental properties, more than one home, etc., the formulas change quite dramatically. Why is the efc that high, and should it be? Thanks for sharing. … Shitpost Wednesdays. Figuring out the number in middle school is a good idea—way before your client's college search begins. You could make well over $350,000 and qualify for need-based aid with 2 children in college at the most elite schools. Went from $15,000 to $21,000. You will get a $5500 Direct Loan in your name. Your EFC can provide a decent idea of what a college will assume you could pay for one year of college. Knowing all this, it seemed bizarre that the family’s EFC was in the $40,000’s. Avengers: Infinity War (2018) - Yarn is the best way to find video clips by quote. To be eligible for the grant, your EFC must be under $3850 once again. We also own an apartment complex and that helps us financially, but it doesn't really contribute to us very much in the end. That is often a problem that blended families face. The EFC is the number that results from filling out your FAFSA. It frustrates me that because we spend within our means and have saved for the girls’ college, we are frighteningly ineligible for need-based aid. And now our two will be forced to go to an in-state school which does not match their academic desires. There are lots of numbers to consider when thinking about paying for college.Probably the most important number is your Expected Family Contribution, or EFC.Understanding your FAFSA EFC number will help you navigate the financial aid process so you can maximize the amount of aid that you will receive. I think it likely one of your parents put their info under student. Mostly you’ll hear parents bemoaning how high theirs is and why it’s unrealistic for them to pay. Unless any of those top 20 colleges are need-aware (and I don’t remember), no, it doesn’t matter. If much of that income is stepdad’s then who knows how much he’s willing to contribute…if anything. But either way, EFC will be too high for aid, so the biggest question is how much will parents pay. Especially at heavyweight, and especially in the UFC. The admins making the decisions will not have seen your FA paperwork. Financial Aid. Here’s how: under the formula, the EFC is for the total family contribution, not per child. We were concerned because our daughters are just one year apart in school. Replies to: EFC Way Too High 1. Follow Lynn on other social media platforms or subscribe to The College Solution RSS Feed below. If you or your family believe your EFC is way too high, you’re not alone. Pell Grant was estimated way too low, EFC is way too high? I called the Financial Aid department of one of the girls’ colleges and was told to not think of it as a dollar amount… even though it’s clearly used as a dollar amount in the COA – EFC = NEED calculation. Time to have a sit down with your folks and ask how much they are willing to pay. Still, 110,000/190,000 doesn’t sound right. Use this Valuable College Admission Checklist, How to take advantage of college admission changes during COVID-19, During a pandemic, getting more money from a college, SwiftStudent: New tool to appeal financial aid awards, Shrinking the Cost of College: 152 Ways to Cut the Cost of a Bachelor’s Degree. No matter how tough he is, getting hit the way he does is not good. Say your EFC is $65k. And, in fact, they’re right. MANY people are full pay. It’s worth the investment of time to calculate the EFC to avoid major sticker shock when applying for a particular school. If your financial need turns out to be too low to receive need-based aid, you might qualify for federal assistance programs that are non-need-based . Last year, my pell grant was $6000. Student Loan Hero logo. Don't wait to calculate your client's EFC. A second home could also up the EFC pretty quickly. Could I have done something wrong or is there something I’m not seeing? That make sense. Either way, your EFC would be far too high to get Fed aid. Your Expected Family Contribution determines how much need-based aid you can receive. Lynn O’Shaughnessy is the author of The College Solution, an Amazon bestseller and a workbook, Shrinking the Cost of College: 152 Ways to Cut the Cost of a Bachelor’s Degree. Out Within 1-2 Years 50/50 Winner Bonus Winner (Get info on FAFSA here.) © 2021 The College Solution. Others may take into account their relative costs and make less of a reduction for, say, a sibling in community college vs. a student at a more expensive state college. A simple way to figure out your client's EFC is to take advantage of an online calculator like this one. Make sure when you calculate your EFC that you’re careful and pay attention to details. I’m not saying I absolutely need this money, as we are a decently well off family, but I’m just confused as to why it would be so high and if there is something I missed. The bare bones EFC would be about $65k…but another $45k in EFC could be added from some combo of the above list. Don't wait to calculate your client's EFC. If my numbers where this what does this mean 0 comments. After aid, the tuition fees and living expenses are still too high for the family to afford. One other thing, 70,000 sounds way too much. Follow her on Twitter. Is your EFC too high? What is the definition of an independent student? How can you lower this to maximize your loans. If your EFC is abnormally high, you might have made a mistake. They owe more on their home than it’s worth and they don’t have lots of money in the bank. That is probably too high to get the pell grant. That is one of the most common concerns about the EFC. 2. Even for schools that are need-aware, the check is usually needs aid or doesn’t need aid. Does that gross income include contributions to tax deferred retirement accounts? Trusted Fiduciary & Fee Only Advisors Call Toll-Free 877.848.3330. Life the way you planned it. I know this question probably is asked a lot but I can’t find anything similar to my problem. I think FAFSA mixed my form up with this guy’s because that EFC is WAY too high. I don’t get a Pell Grant and FAFSA recommends to look into scholarships and apply. Even though it is not on the tax returm, it counts. In general, most families feel that it’s too high. So if any of that changed, then your EFC would too. As a counselor in private practice, I can relate to this. The student will still be full pay but s/he should still check was s/he input ito FAFSA - an extra zero or the student/parent confusion could be culprits. I'm going to be a freshmen undergraduate and our family doesn't have very much money. Estimated Family Contribution (EFC) is how much a family is expected to pay out of pocket towards tuition. Your Expected Family Contribution (“EFC”) is the “major driving factor” in determining financial aid eligibility and the structure of the financial aid award. If it’s an elite school (such as Ivies and other schools at the very top of U.S. News’ college rankings), the need-based aid is often excellent and these schools do not give merit scholarships. Why is the efc that high, and should it be? What EFC Is and How it Relates to Paying for College EFC is the number calculated with information from the FAFSA used to determine a student's eligibility for financial aid. The Expected Family Contribution — a dreaded and confusing term for parents about to send their children to college — made little sense in the best of times.