College Confidential - View Single Post - financial aid-is everyone returning to USC?

alamemom · 07-01-2009, 03:50 PM

^"Paying for College Without Going Broke" is an excellent one. There is a new, updated edition every year in October. The $17 it cost is the best investment we ever made. One of the (many) strategies mentioned in the book is for families with kids fairly close in age and high EFCs to have the older sibling take a gap year, or even two years, to maximize the financial aid for which the family is eligible by having them attend at the same time. A family with an EFC of $50,000 would qualify for no aid with one student at a private university costing $50,000/year, but they would qualify for $50,000 in need-based aid if they have two attending private, $50,000/year universities at the same time. (The aid would be spread over both students.)

One student @ $50,000 minus EFC of $50,000 = 0 need.

Two students @ $50,000= $100,000 minus EFC of $50,000 = $50,000 need.

A key point is that this only applies to undergraduates. Graduate students are considered independant - regardless of age - for financial aid purposes and do not figure into the family's need formula.

07-01-2009, 03:50 PM	#15
alamemom Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 1,197	^"Paying for College Without Going Broke" is an excellent one. There is a new, updated edition every year in October. The $17 it cost is the best investment we ever made. One of the (many) strategies mentioned in the book is for families with kids fairly close in age and high EFCs to have the older sibling take a gap year, or even two years, to maximize the financial aid for which the family is eligible by having them attend at the same time. A family with an EFC of $50,000 would qualify for no aid with one student at a private university costing $50,000/year, but they would qualify for $50,000 in need-based aid if they have two attending private, $50,000/year universities at the same time. (The aid would be spread over both students.) One student @ $50,000 minus EFC of $50,000 = 0 need. Two students @ $50,000= $100,000 minus EFC of $50,000 = $50,000 need. A key point is that this only applies to undergraduates. Graduate students are considered independant - regardless of age - for financial aid purposes and do not figure into the family's need formula. Last edited by alamemom; 07-01-2009 at 04:00 PM.
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