specific question about EFC and the FAFSA

[mmcnam]

I am the oldest of eight children, most of which are very young, but one will be an undergraduate for the last two years of med school. My first question - does anyone know the extent to which such a large family factors into EFC? My family's EFC was about 37000 and I thought this was a lot considering how many kids we have. As I understand it, this goes down by half when my sister starts college. (I might be wrong on this one, but I think I got that from my interviews...) Anyways, if the EFC goes down to 18500, does that mean I'm more likely to be eligible for grants or will my federal loans simply increase? I'm guess what I'm really asking here is how do I benefit when my sister ends up in college?

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[TMP-SMX]

First of all, you will be eligible for the full amount of subsidized and unsubsidized stafford loans up to your cost of attendance minus other aid. Second, your EFC as given in the FAFSA is only based on your own income. (If you file a 1040-EZ you are automatically at a 0 EFC.) In other words, you are considered an independent for the FAFSA and your EFC will be 0 unless you made a lot of money/investments personally.

Next, some schools have certain minimums for your campus-based aid EFC. This different EFC has nothing to do with your federal EFC. It includes your parents and many schools take into account the number of dependents your parents have and the number in college. Depending on your school's minimum you may or may not be eligible for perkins loans at 5% and insitutional grants.