EFC, FASFA Question?

Question

I filled out a FASFA and my expected family contribution is 06522. It's just me and my mom. I don't understand what my number means, is it too high? Can someone please give me some information about it? My mom is in no situation to pay for my college. She pays all the bills on her own every month. I live in the great ole state of Oklahoma if that helps any...

Answer 1

ej is sort of close, but not exactly.

The EFC is an index used by your financial aid office to determine what kinds of financial aid you are eligible to receive. EJ has a common misconception, that the EFC number is a dollar amount that you have to pay towards school. That's not true, and if you read this page: http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/s... from the Federal government's Student Aid website, you can confirm this for yourself.

The federal government offers two types of financial aid, need-based aid, and general aid. Need-based aid is available only to those applicants who are classified as having "exceptional" need. For the most part, that means low income households. The government determines your need by calculating your Expected Family Contribution score.

This year, an EFC of 6522 is above the cutoff for need-based assistance. The best known need-based program, the Pell Grant, has an EFC cutoff of 4041 this year, so you can see that your 6522 is above that. That doesn't mean that your EFC is "too high", but it does mean that you will not be offered the forms of aid that are only available to applicants with "exceptional" need.

Fortunately, the government has a great financial aid offer for students who don't have exceptional need, too - that's known as the Stafford Loan program.

Think about college as an expensive purchase - if you couldn't afford to buy a new car, but you really thought you needed one, you would have to consider whether you wanted to borrow the money now, and pay it back later. College works the same way. If you place a high value on a college degree (and you should!), and you can't afford to pay cash for it (almost no one can), you will probably need to borrow now, and pay it back later - that's where Stafford loans come in.

The Stafford loan program is the best educational loan you can find anywhere. It has a low and fixed interest rate (that remains the same for the entire life of the loan), you don't need a credit check or a co-signer to qualify, your obligation to begin repayment doesn't begin until a few months after you graduate (or drop out), and you have the right to request a temporary postponement of your payments if you experience financial difficulties after you finish school. No other loan program has all of those benefits.

If you are a first year undergrad, the maximum amount of Stafford loan you can borrow for this year is $5500. Next year, that amount will increase to $6500 - and then again for your 3rd year and beyond.

Keep something very important in mind. If you don't have the cash to pay for college and you'll be relying on financial aid, you need to be frugal with your college choices. Financial aid - even if it's just Stafford loans - can pay a big chunk of your annual expenses if you choose a cheaper college - or they can pay a tiny, insignificant, oh-my-god where-am-I-going to-get-the-rest-of-the-money part of a more expensive school option. If you're borrowing responsibly, you need to make some tough decisions about how much debt you can afford to take on.

If you haven't already, you will receive an aid offer letter from the financial aid office at your college. As I said earlier, they will use your EFC score to figure out what kinds of aid you qualify for - and how much. When you receive the aid offer, you will need to notify the financial aid department whether you wish to accept any, all, or none of the aid they have offered. At that point, they will have additional instructions for you about how to complete the paperwork. They'll also be able to explain how the money from your aid will be applied to your tuition and fees - and if there is any "left over money", how they will go about refunding those leftover funds to you.

Wait for the aid offer letter (or contact financial aid and ask when you can expect to receive it), but keep one thing in mind ...the EFC of 6522 is not a dollar amount that you have to pay - it's an index used by financial aid to figure out what types of financial aid you are qualified for.

What you have to pay is determined by the difference between your "Cost of Attendance" and the aid you are offered.

One more thing - suggest to your mom that she read up on the PLUS loan program - it's kind of like the Stafford program, but it's only for the parents of undergrads.

I hope that helped you - good luck in school!!

Answer 2

This is the amount that your family, your mom in this case is expected to contribute to your education for the year. What your school and FAFSA will do is calculate the amount of your educational expenses (tuition,books,etc.) and subtract your EFC from that amount.This will be the amount that you will be receiving in financial aid. You can do this yourself to get some sort of idea of what your benefits will be. Also, if your EFC is too high a notation will be added to your student aid report (SAR) and it will say that you are not eligible for any federal aid. I think your good though. Don't worry. If the amount that you are given isn't enough there are many grants,and work study programs that you can apply for that will cover the the additional cost.