If my EFC on the fafsa is 1906 is that good or bad??

Question

If my EFC on the fafsa is 1906 is that good or bad??

Answer 1

It can be bad or good. Honestly, the best EFC is $100,000 which would mean that your family could pay for any college in the Country. The worst is a low EFC if you don't have excellent grades, it means you will not be able to attend the majority of private colleges, and even expensive public ones without enormous loans.

Your EFC being $1906 means that your family will be expected to contribute that to your college this year if your school costs that much or more.. It means you will get some amount of Federal money in the form of a Pell Grant, a loan and work study. What it doen't tell you is where the rest of the money for college will come from. That's the bad part.

If you are going to a community college and your parents can afford your EFC you'll be fine. If you're dreaming of a $50,000 private college, things could be hard.

When you have a low EFC as you do, the key is to look for colleges that meet 100% of need.

Answer 2

An EFC is neither "good", nor "bad". An EFC is an index of you and your family's financial aid need. The EFC is used by your school's financial aid office to determine what types of financial aid programs you are eligible for.

Some financial aid programs are offered only to students whose families demonstrate "exceptional need" - these programs include the Pell and FSEOG grants, subsidized Stafford loans and Federal Work Study. In one way or another, all of these need-based programs represent some form of "free money" from the government (which is why they are only given to applicants who demonstrate exceptional need).

Federal financial aid is not only for families with exceptional need - in fact, the federal government has educational assistance for almost every single US college student. Most of that money comes in the form of loans. You might ask why it's so great to get a loan from the federal government, when you'll only have to pay it back in the end, but the government's loan program is the BEST educational loan program that is available anywhere. The interest rates are low and fixed, you don't need a credit check or a cosigner to qualify, repayment doesn't begin until 6-9 months after you finish school, and you have the right to temporarily postpone repayment if you experience financial hardship when you finish school.

An EFC of 1906 falls within the range of applicants who qualify for certain forms of need-based aid. You will definitely be offered a Pell Grant (which does not need to be repaid). If you attend school as a full-time student, your Pell award should be $2781 this year, which would be paid to your school (and credited to your student account) in two equal checks of $1390.50, one for the fall semester, and one for the spring.

You will also be offered an opportunity to borrow up to $5500 from the Stafford loan program. Part of that sum might be in the form of a subsidized Stafford loan, which is attractive, because the government pays the interest that accrues on a subsidized loan, for as long as you remain in school.

If you are just now receiving that EFC score, I'm guessing that you applied for financial aid very late. That delay might have cost you some money, because there are forms of need-based aid that are available only to applicants who beat the "priority aid" deadline, which was a few months ago. Had you met that deadline, you might have qualified for other free sources of aid, including state and institutional grants. I'd highly recommend that you make it a point to apply for financial aid early next year - the new FAFSA will be available soon after January 1st - you can fill it in as soon as you and your parents have completed your 2008 tax returns.

I hope this helped you - good luck in school!