How do they get the estimated family contribution (EFC) for the fafsa?

Question

They say mine is $8749! Theres no way i could afford to pay that, i live paycheck to paycheck as it is, i hate how I feel like Im punished because I was smart enough not to get knocked up and have a kid, if I had a kid, id have a free ride basiclly thru school! How do they expect me to pay for school with no help! I swear sometimes I feel like they dont want you to go to college!

Answer 1

What's happening here is that YOU are killing your chances of getting grants, not your mom.  Since you're considered a dependent student YOUR income is being looked at as if YOU have a LOT of money to spend on your school.  If FAFSA was just looking at your mother's income and you had none you'd be grant eligible.  FAFSA isn't taking into consideration that you live on your own and pay all of your own bills.  

Student’s Contribution from Income

To determine the student’s contribution from income, the

student’s available income (AI) is first calculated by subtracting total allowances from the student’s total income. The AI is then assessed at a rate of 50% to obtain the student contribution from available income.

Student’s Contribution from Assets

The student’s assets are treated the same way as the parents’ assets with three differences—there is no adjustment to the net worth of a business or farm, there is no education savings and asset protection allowance, and net worth is assessed at the rate of 35%.

The student’s net worth is calculated by adding assets reported on the FAFSA. Then, the student’s net worth is multiplied b y the conversion rate of 35% to obtain the student’s contribution from assets, which represents the portion of the value of student’s assets that may be considered to be available to help pay for school.

So, if you listed on the FAFSA that you made $12,000 a year and had $500 in savings then FAFSA calculated $6000 from income and $175 in savings that you could contribute for school so your EFC, just in the student contribution area would be $6175 and then that is added to your MOM's EFC.

Move home, quit working, spend your savings, then next year apply again except this time use only MOM's income. Then you'll be able to get help for school.

Answer 2

You might want to watch how you rant.  Those who got pregnant and had a child are not all dumb.  Trust me, Im 23 and have a 4.5 month old.  They go by your parents income.  If your parents make enough money to send you to college, why should the gov. give you money so you can go for free, when theres families out there who really need it.  Theres other ways for you to pay for school like loans.