EFC = $1666, question on Pell availability.?

Question

Greetings all,

Just completed 08-09 FAFSA, freshman this fall. My EFC = 1666. According the the community college I plan on attending, the average COA (cost of attend) is as follows:

Tuition/Fees $1,722

Books and supplies 1,200

Room and board 1,771

Transportation 1,400

Personal and miscellaneous expenses 1,571

Total budget $7,664

Now my questions:

1) The community college I plan on attending doesn't even offer student housing, why do they have the 'room and board' estimation? Is it for #s sake?

2) Based on this info, with an EFC of $1666, will Pell cover my tuition and books?

3) Any left over?

4) Assuming that Pell covers books/tuition, can I still get Stafford loans to cover other items like childcare, computer, etc?

I appreciate everyone's response very much!

Answer 1

Your EFC is how much YOU are expected to pay. Minus your EFC from tuition, Pell is basically saying they will only pay about 100 bucks of it. Room and Board isn't a real price neither are books and supplies or the other prices. They are all estimations, the only real price is tuition. Room and Board is them assuming that you will get an apartment/pay rent.. Transportation is their estimation of you going back and forth to the school ect... You actually don't owe them any other money besides the 1,722 in tuition. Seeing as they are not paying your full tuition, they will not pay for your books and you won't have any money left over.

Answer 2

First of all, an efc of 1666 does not mean you will have to pay 1666 to the school.  An EFC is just a code your school uses to determine what kinds and how much fin aid you will receive.  The cost of a school is best determined by looking at the schools tuition and fee rates. 12 credit hours is full time.  So is 21 credit hours, but the cost will be different.

Okay, that being said if you meet about a million requirements (all correct and no estimated info on your fafsa, no bachelors degree, no defaulted student loans, not too many attempted hours and decent college grades etc.) with an EFC of 1666 you will likely qualify for $1,540.50 in the fall of 08 and another 1,540.00 in the spring 09 if you attend full time.  

Your question about if Pell would cover all your tuition and books would be best answered by looking at your schools tuition and fee rates.  Some schools would be totally paid for with $1540 a semester, some more expensive schools would not.  If your tuition, fees and books are less than the 1540 you would get this money from the school to pay for other expenses like childcare, computer, etc.  

If you do not qualify for enough grant money to cover your "cost of attendance - $7,664.00 " you can opt to take out student loans.  As a freshman you can borrow up to 3,500 a year if you are classified as a dependent student.

Here is an outstanding book about the different kinds of loans, the max you can borrow, the types of grants you are applying for when you do the fafsa and more.  Hope this helps.