After submitting my online fafsa form, I get an EFC of 4665, what does this mean?

Question

Is this too high to qualify for financial aid? Will I have to pay any amount out of pocket? The whole college thing is very new to me, any help would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

You are out of range for a pell grant I believe, but you can check online or call FAFSA-help line to be sure.

You are probably eligible for subsidized stafford loans, and you are certainly eligible for un-subsidized stafford loans (the only advantage to those is that you can get them with bad credit and the terms are a little easier than a regular school loan).

Grants are free money you don;t have to pay back, loans you have to pay back. A subsidized stafford loan means the interest is paid for you while you are in school. With the un-subsidized stafford, you pay interest off the bat.

With an EFC like yours, you are in danger of being "gapped" by colleges (that is, have a portion of your tuition not covered by grants, loans, or the school--that sum must then come out of your pocket directly). Given the crappy quality of tuition-dependant schools, I would not go to a school that gapped me unless I didn't care about money at all and couldn't get in a better school.

School's with good aid programs will give institutional aid (in-house grants) to students they really want (or if they are having a hard time recruiting, or if they are really tuition dependant and they think they can graduate you and earn cash of you for four years). In any event, give your school every reason to believe you will stick around for four years--have extra-curriculars, good grades, show that you are mature, yet very social.

Whatever you do, don't give up, and don't accept your school's first offer for aid--appeal for more (it can rarely hurt you to try).

Check out Princeton Review and look at the school's under the list "happy with financial aid." Lake Forest College is always at the top of the list, but beware their inflated sticker price which allows for generous "institutional aid" (a dropping of said inflated sticker price. which they actually get suckers to pay).

Answer 2

Not to burst your bubble, but you do want your EFC to be as low as possible to qualify.  Mine is a little less than yours (about 4100) and I do NOT qualify for financial aid :(

There are some other factors that play into the whole process - like school you are attending, number of other people needing and qualifying for fin. aid; I was also told the sooner you file your FASFA application the better your chances.  

Call your Financial Aid Services office for the best answers to any questions you have on your specific situation.

Good Luck and God Bless!

Answer 3

An EFC is your Estimated Family Contribution. So, you're out-of-pocket cost will probably be in the ballpark of $4665 (could be a little higher or lower than that).

You will be able to qualify for financial aid.

Answer 4

EFC just tells you ABOUT how much you are expected to contribute to your college cost. The FAFSA gets sent to the school that you listed on the form and it all comes down to your school to decide how much fin aid (loans, grants, scholarships) to give you and how much you have to pay.

This doesn't mean that you are going to have to pay about $4,500 for your educational cost, but your college will try to come as close to match your EFC.

Speaking from personal experience, one college came very close to match my EFC, while another college did not and I had to pay double my EFC.