I filled out my fafsa application for 2008-09?!?

Question

Based on the information we have on record for you, your EFC is 30 . You

may be eligible to receive a Federal Pell Grant and other federal student aid.

Your school will use your EFC to determine your financial aid eligibility for

federal grants, loans, and work study, and possible funding from your state and

school.

Your FAFSA has been selected for a review process

called verification.

i dont get it? and why wasnt i allegible for a full grant im the first to grad high school and go to college and my mom salary is less that 15000 a year ?

the school a year will cost around 24,000 and if i do get the efc the school will only give me 750, which is nothing!

Answer 1

EFC stands for Expected Family Contribution.  So, if your EFC is 30 then your family is expected to be able to afford to contribute $30.00 towards your tuition.  Have you recieved a finacial aid award letter from your school of choice?  If not, you need to call that office and tell them what your EFC score is and that you have yet to recieve your award letter.  Something sound off with what you wrote so I would strongly suggest you get ahold of a financial aid officer at your school asap.  It sounds like you will qualify for a good amount of financial aid-maybe full scholarship based on need.  Don't give up!  There are people at the school who can help you!

Good luck:)

ps-I was like you-I was the first to graduate from a college in my family:)

Answer 2

First off, have you completed the verification process?  Speculating about what you'll receive is pointless until that process is complete.

Once that is complete I recommend you and your mother sit down with a financial aid officer at the college you wish to attend.  Your FAO will be able to lay out the big picture of costs, grants, etc that you were eligible for.

The FAFSA is based on a formula of numbers and family criteria.  Pell grants were never designed to pay for your entire education.   Title IV funding has not changed for over 30 years.

The last thing you need to remember is that you've completed the FAFSA 8 months later than most people.  Pell funding does not have a never ending supply of cash.  Think of it as first come first serve.  At this point in the year, you are very lucky to get any funding at all.

Answer 3

First of all, you will have to satisfy the verification process. That's nothing to be alarmed or upset about, because 30% of all FAFSA applicants are randomly selected every year for verification. You will need to follow the instructions on the verification form, and submit certain documentation to the financial aid office at your school - they are the ones responsible for doing the actual verification.

Now - the EFC score. People here will tell you that the EFC is the amount of money that you have to pay for school. That's wrong. If you read the FAFSA website, you will find this exact paragraph:

"The EFC is not the amount of money that your family must provide. Rather, you should think of the EFC as an index that colleges use to determine how much financial aid (grants, loans or work-study) you would receive if you were to attend their school. If your EFC is below a certain number, you’ll be eligible for a Federal Pell Grant assuming you meet all other eligibility requirements."

As the paragraph explains, the financial aid office at your school uses your specific EFC code to determine what forms of aid you are qualified for.

An EFC of 30 is low - the minimum possible score is 0 and the highest score is 99999. A score of 30 identifies you as an applicant with what's known as "exceptional need", which means that you will qualify for all of the forms of financial aid known as "need-based" aid.

The best known form of "need-based" aid is the Pell Grant - which is offered to only about 1/3 of all financial aid applicants. If you attend school on a full-time basis this year, your Pell Grant should total $4681, which will be paid to your school in two checks of $2340.50, one for the Fall semester and one for the Spring. Pell Grant funds are free assistance from the government - you will not need to repay your Pell Grant.

Other forms of need-based assistance are Federal Work-Study, Perkins loans and subsidized Stafford loans. Again, these forms of assistance are only available to students with very low EFC scores. Your school's financial aid office will determine which of these forms of aid are available to you - but do keep in mind that some forms of aid are limited, and are only distributed to students who apply before the priority financial aid deadline each year. (That's long since passed for this year). It's always a good idea to complete your FAFSA as early in the year as possible.

On top of any need-based aid you receive, you will also be offered the opportunity to borrow an unsubsidized Stafford loan - those funds are available to all students, regardless of financial need. The Stafford program is a government-sponsored loan program that offers the BEST educational lending terms that are available to any one.

Now - as far as your "first generation college student" question - that's something that you and your mom should be incredibly proud of - however - the government does not - and can not afford to pay for students to attend school - no matter what their personal circumstances. That's why the program is called "Financial AID" - as in "assistance" - and not "Financial We Will Pay For You To Go To School If You're Poor".

You won't get any argument from me about whether or not it is a wise choice for the government to provide higher education to the poor, so that those individuals can lift themselves up to a better life, but, unfortunately, there is nowhere near enough money for the government to pay for every deserving student to go to college. Rather than help a few with a lot of money, the government chooses to help as many students as possible with a little money.

One reality that many prospective students don't accept is that there is only so much financial aid available. Students who anticipate the need to rely almost entirely on financial aid need to choose inexpensive schools that can be paid for with the available assistance - the financial aid program does not reward students for choosing an expensive schooling option. $24,000 a year is an awful lot of money for someone who has little or nothing to contribute to her own educational expenses - and I can tell you right now that you're not going to qualify for $24,000 a year in financial aid, regardless of your mom's income, or the fact that you're a first generation college attendee.

Remember - financial aid is not some kind of guarantee program that makes up the difference between what your mother can afford and what your school costs. Financial aid is an assistance program that will help you pay for a college education.

Complete the verification process as quickly as you possibly can, and your school will send you an aid offer letter that tells you what forms of aid you qualified for, and in what amounts.

Answer 4

First off, you may BE eligible for the full Pell Grant amount, but the processors that handle your FAFSA aren't at your school, so they don't know how much more Pell Grant money the school has to hand out. Grant money is on a first come-first served basis, meaning the students with the greatest financial need that turned their paperwork the soonest will get first dibs. It has nothing to do with the fact that you're the first in your family to go to college.

The FAFSA processors can't tell you exact amounts of what you'll get because that's all determined by your school's financial aid office. They are the ones who will create a financial aid award package for you.

Since your FAFSA has been selected for Verification, it means you're going to have to provide your school with copies of your mom's tax return, and any other paperwork they require. Basically they want further proof that the amount of income you put down for your mom is correct.

As a first time college student, here are the amounts you will be eligible for...I'm not saying you will definitely get the maximum grant amounts since I don't know how many people got their forms in before you, but it will give you an idea of what amounts are out there.

Just keep in mind that unless you have extremely high grades and test scores to qualify you for academic scholarships (and since those usually have a deadline close to a year before the term you're attending starts), you're not going to get a full $24,000 in federal financial aid.

Here is what is out there:

$5,500 in Stafford Loan Money:

($3,500 between subsidized and unsubsidized, plus an additional $2,000 unsubsidized in an increase that the government recently approved...I believe beginning last spring term)

Pell Grant Money:

(Based on need, and since your EFC is ZERO you would be eligible for UP TO the maximum amount, which is $4731)

FSEOG Grant Money:

(Short for The Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant. This is for students with the MOST financial aid need, and amounts vary from $100-4000 a year).

So assuming they did give you the maximum amounts (although the only person I know that got the full $4000 FSEOG Grant was a single mother with two children. Dependent students like yourself might qualify for up to $2000 though) would be $14,321 for the school year.

Your state may also have additional grants. You would have to contact your school's financial aid office to find out.

Answer 5

Don't worry just yet, a EFC score of 30 is good, the closer you are to 0 the better.  

The EFC is estimated financial contribution, and if your school sees its low, you should get more money. Contact the financial aid department of your school and talk to a counselor there; I am sure they will be more than happy to help you figure this all out. :)

Answer 6

Hello,

It is very hard to determine how much you will get, but here is something I found very helpful.

go to this website http://ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/attach...

There are forms attached that you plug in your information and it will tell you how much $$ you should contribute.  Then contact your school (i do mine on line) and find out what the estimated cost of attendance is.  You subtract the cost from the amount and that will tell you how much they should give you.

It tells me I should get $3000 because my estimated family contribution was 10,600 and my estimated cost of attendance is 13,600.  I will most defiantly let you know if I actually get $3000 in a couple of week!  :)