Financial Aid: EFC?

[mdquestion]

So I have no idea how Financial Aid works. I was on full scholarship as an undergrad and took out my living expenses from my parents.

My calcuated EFC is $14,000. What does that mean in terms of getting grants? Am I screwed? lol.

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[Poliscidoc]

So I have no idea how Financial Aid works. I was on full scholarship as an undergrad and took out my living expenses from my parents.

My calcuated EFC is $14,000. What does that mean in terms of getting grants? Am I screwed? lol.

Yes you are, one of my roommates is 15k and he doesn't get a dime.

 

[armybound]

grants aren't going to happen. I'm not sure if it impacts your ability to get subsidized loans, too.

 

[organdonor]

I too have a relatively high EFC. How in the world did you get one that high? If you marked the "independent" box as you should have (being in graduate school makes you independent) then only your income/savings should have been used to calculate the EFC. Online calculators assign 20% of your savings to your EFC in addition to a portion of your income. If you were taking livings expenses from your parents, I would assume that you didn't have much savings of your own.

Assuming you didn't mess up and mark the dependent box (which would include your parents income for your EFC, for which you should immediately amend your FAFSA), I don't believe that you or I will receive any need-based scholarships through our schools based on our EFC's.

As far as eligibility for loans, you will be able to take out loans based on the following:

Cost of attendance (given by your school to include tuition, housing, etc) LESS your EFC.

This will be the maximum amount available to you, so you should expect to pay the EFC out of pocket.

Please PM me, I would like to discuss some details about high EFC's and how to deal with them.

 

[dreezy10]

damn, how'd you get such a high efc? you better cash out that savings and then re due your fafsa!

 

[illegallysmooth]

I made ~15k working part time last year and my EFC is 2616. Unless you made a LOT of money last year or have a ton of money in the bank, your EFC shouldn't be that high.

 

[Sesom]

So I have no idea how Financial Aid works. I was on full scholarship as an undergrad and took out my living expenses from my parents.

My calcuated EFC is $14,000. What does that mean in terms of getting grants? Am I screwed? lol.

No chance. I usually get a pell grant but I make like 11 - 12 thousand a year and my parents taxes come out as them makes zero with their business. It highly depends on your school and where you live too.

My school claims that after tuition, books and supplies and living that It would cost me $20,000 a year. So with my 11 - 12 thousand and my parents zero I usually get the full pell grant. I make sure I keep my hours and work below 25 hrs a week to make sure I can get a grant.

 

[organdonor]

No chance. I usually get a pell grant but I make like 11 - 12 thousand a year and my parents taxes come out as them makes zero with their business. It highly depends on your school and where you live too.

My school claims that after tuition, books and supplies and living that It would cost me $20,000 a year. So with my 11 - 12 thousand and my parents zero I usually get the full pell grant. I make sure I keep my hours and work below 25 hrs a week to make sure I can get a grant.

I assume from the 20,000 figure that you are answering the question in regards to undergrad. I got the impression that the OP did it for Med school, although on a second look, he doesn't REALLY specify. OP, you are speaking med school right?

If you are going to be attending med school (or any graduate school) parents income/finances don't mean squat to the EFC, only your own does. (although most med schools will ask parents finances for their own scholarhips)

 

[sunsfan]

As far as eligibility for loans, you will be able to take out loans based on the following:

Cost of attendance (given by your school to include tuition, housing, etc) LESS your EFC.

This will be the maximum amount available to you, so you should expect to pay the EFC out of pocket.

Please PM me, I would like to discuss some details about high EFC's and how to deal with them.

Good Lord! I hope you are mistaken. My EFC is 80000 because of my spouse's income. Are you sure about this??? I've never applied for fin aid before, and this is a shocker to me.

 

[missbones]

I don't know if this is state specific, but just in case I live in California.

Grants are only available up to $5500, so if your EFC is above that you get $0 in grants. If it is below that you get the difference. And depending on your school's cost of attendance you may not even qualify for subsidized/unsubdizied loans. My school's cost of attendance is $14k so with your EFC I'd be out in the cold.


edit: didn't read the thread closely enough when I posted this. I am talking about undergrad. I was under the impression that graduate students don't get grants?

 

[sunsfan]

I live in CA, too.
So, are you saying I may not qualify for loans at all? How do people finance their schooling if that happens? Is there any other type of loan?
Dang, I'm freaking out here!

 

[illegallysmooth]

I live in CA, too.
So, are you saying I may not qualify for loans at all? How do people finance their schooling if that happens? Is there any other type of loan?
Dang, I'm freaking out here!

You will qualify for some loans, but you need to address why your EFC is so high. Did you file as a dependent?

 

[sunsfan]

EFC is high because I'm nontrad - I earn a bit and my spouse has a well-paying full-time job.
I've always known I won't qualify for grants and subsidized loans, but I've been assured by relatives, counselors, that I can always take unsubsidized loans. Was I misinformed?

 

[thesauce]

EFC is high because I'm nontrad - I earn a bit and my spouse has a well-paying full-time job.
I've always known I won't qualify for grants and subsidized loans, but I've been assured by relatives, counselors, that I can always take unsubsidized loans. Was I misinformed?

You should get the standard $8500/yr in subsidized loans and the rest in unsubsidized loans.

 

[thesauce]

I remember my EFC being in the $15k range. I remember the conversation with my Dad afterward:

Me: "hey Dad, they expect you to give me $15k/yr"
Dad: "boy are they in for a surprise"

 

[missbones]

You should get the standard $8500/yr in subsidized loans and the rest in unsubsidized loans.

This has not been my experience. When I was a dependant my EFC was always in the high 20k range because of my father's income. I was never able to get subsidized or unsubsidized because my EFC outweighed my estimated cost of attendance.

Again could be related to my state or my school.

sunsfan--> if you don't qualify for an federal loans you will have to take out private loans with a higher interest rate.

 

[organdonor]

Good Lord! I hope you are mistaken. My EFC is 80000 because of my spouse's income. Are you sure about this??? I've never applied for fin aid before, and this is a shocker to me.

Well you will only be able to borrow your schools cost of attendance minus your EFC. That said, I would run this question past a fin aid officer.

If your spouse has a career that gives you the highest EFC I've ever heard of, do you NEED loans?

 

[missbones]

Well you will only be able to borrow your schools cost of attendance minus your EFC. That said, I would run this question past a fin aid officer.

If your spouse has a career that give you the highest EFC I've ever heard of, do you NEED loans?

Good point. My dad made around 120k and his EFC for me was in the 20k range. Your spouse would have to be making 4 x 120 in order for your EFC to hit 80k.. in which case I agree with organ donor, why can't you pay out of pocket? I've managed to pay out of pocket for my entire UG education on my own by working sh*tty call center jobs. But I go to a state school...

Or did you mean to type 8k?

 

[sunsfan]

Sigh, now I can't wait to hear from my school's Finaid office. I hope it's coming soon!

 

[sunsfan]

No, it really is 80000. I now get a nagging feeling there must be a mistake in my FAFSA. Are there nontrads on here who can give their opinion? Up to this point, everyone I talked to assured me my EFC, though high, is not extraordinary for a nontrad with working spouse, and that I would still be able to take unsubsidized loans.

Our combined income was 150-200K range, plus savings/investment say in the 150-200K range as well.
Why can't I pay out of pocket? It is unrealistic to expect us to take out our savings and investments just so I can pay for medical school out of pocket. There are other things to worry about - mortgage, regular financial support to our families in a foreign country, emergency fund, retirement, and possibly a child in the near future.

 

[thesauce]

This has not been my experience. When I was a dependant my EFC was always in the high 20k range because of my father's income. I was never able to get subsidized or unsubsidized because my EFC outweighed my estimated cost of attendance.

Again could be related to my state or my school.

sunsfan--> if you don't qualify for an federal loans you will have to take out private loans with a higher interest rate.

I'm talking about med school here, it's a different system. The standard Stafford loan amount is $8500 for subsidized and up to ~$37k in unsubsidized.

 

[kia ora]

No, it really is 80000. I now get a nagging feeling there must be a mistake in my FAFSA. Are there nontrads on here who can give their opinion? Up to this point, everyone I talked to assured me my EFC, though high, is not extraordinary for a nontrad with working spouse, and that I would still be able to take unsubsidized loans.

I don't know if this will change your efc or not, but take a look at the fafsa question that asks about your eligibility to file a 1040A or 1040EZ. when I checked "not sure" my efc was over $50,000; when I checked "yes" my efc went to $0.

 

[orthomyxo]

Somebody's loaded

 

[JJMrK]

This has not been my experience. When I was a dependant my EFC was always in the high 20k range because of my father's income. I was never able to get subsidized or unsubsidized because my EFC outweighed my estimated cost of attendance.

Again could be related to my state or my school.

sunsfan--> if you don't qualify for an federal loans you will have to take out private loans with a higher interest rate.

Financial aid for med school will be completely different. Since it's grad school, you will automatically be considered independent. The only income that will contribute to your EFC will be your own (or your spouse's if you are married).

 

[aarm08]

I don't know if this will change your efc or not, but take a look at the fafsa question that asks about your eligibility to file a 1040A or 1040EZ. when I checked "not sure" my efc was over $50,000; when I checked "yes" my efc went to $0.

ditto. HUGE difference in my EFC when i switched to "yes" for 1040A/EZ eligibility. the dept of ed is tricky having that "i don't know" option...seems like the easiest thing to mark when you aren't sure and want to get the application done as fast as possible...but clearly, it makes a big difference.

 

[missbones]

Financial aid for med school will be completely different. Since it's grad school, you will automatically be considered independent. The only income that will contribute to your EFC will be your own (or your spouse's if you are married).

Right right. I get now that he was talking about medical school not UG, however my calculations were pretty close and are supported by his comment by having 400k in income/assets. (which is ~4 x 120k)

Follow up question, won't the $80k EFC disqualify him from taking out the $37k???

 

[organdonor]

No, it really is 80000. I now get a nagging feeling there must be a mistake in my FAFSA. Are there nontrads on here who can give their opinion? Up to this point, everyone I talked to assured me my EFC, though high, is not extraordinary for a nontrad with working spouse, and that I would still be able to take unsubsidized loans.

Our combined income was 150-200K range, plus savings/investment say in the 150-200K range as well.
Why can't I pay out of pocket? It is unrealistic to expect us to take out our savings and investments just so I can pay for medical school out of pocket. There are other things to worry about - mortgage, regular financial support to our families in a foreign country, emergency fund, retirement, and possibly a child in the near future.

I am very interested in how your financial aid turns out. Please keep this thread (or another) updated with your information.

As an aside, I must say that with 200k in the bank and that much coming in every year, you should be expected to pay more out of pocket than someone with, say, 0 and 0. You have to see some logic there.

 

[missbones]

I am very interested in how your financial aid turns out. Please keep this thread (or another) updated with your information.

As an aside, I must say that with 200k in the bank and that much coming in every year, you should be expected to pay more out of pocket than someone with, say, 0 and 0. You have to see some logic there.

I don't see the point of accruing interest/paying loan origination fees etc when you have the money in the bank..

 

[thesauce]

I don't see the point of accruing interest/paying loan origination fees etc when you have the money in the bank..

You should. Stocks are seeing huge returns right now. Why would you pay to avoid 6.5% interest when you could pull in 20-50% growth in the market?

 

[Poliscidoc]

So I have no idea how Financial Aid works. I was on full scholarship as an undergrad and took out my living expenses from my parents.

My calcuated EFC is $14,000. What does that mean in terms of getting grants? Am I screwed? lol.

That EFC is not that high. My roommate and I stopped filling out the FAFSA because his EFC was $53,000 and mine wad $48,000. Which I think the FAFSA is a crock of ****, I mean just because my parents make a lot doesn't mean they give it all to me. My roommate's dad is a high profile D1 football coach and he works at a grocery store just to further my point about how parents don't just hand fist fulls of money out.

 

[illegallysmooth]

That EFC is not that high. My roommate and I stopped filling out the FAFSA because his EFC was $53,000 and mine wad $48,000. Which I think the FAFSA is a crock of ****, I mean just because my parents make a lot doesn't mean they give it all to me. My roommate's dad is a high profile D1 football coach and he works at a grocery store just to further my point about how parents don't just hand fist fulls of money out.

This is for undergrad, correct? It's different for graduate school - your parents' income is not counted and you are independent. The OP's EFC is quite high due to the fact he is married and they both make a decent check.

 

[Poliscidoc]

This is for undergrad, correct? It's different for graduate school - your parents' income is not counted and you are independent. The OP's EFC is quite high due to the fact he is married and they both make a decent check.

O ok my bad