EFC Error

Paying for College
1

Let me start off by saying, this is the most stressed I have ever been in a long time. The school won’t help me whatsoever and I am really needing some answers. I’m a kentucky student, so I have the ability to do my FAFSA on the main website and on the KHEAA site. I did both, and the number for my EFC is so drastically different and only one of them matches mine and my family’s financial situation and I dont know what to do.

I went into the Aid office yesterday and the woman at the desk gave me a little bit of an attitude about, “your parents make way too much money,” referring to why I can only apply for loans and dont qualify for any student aid besides my KEES, which I can only use half of for each semester.

My family’s income is around $79,000, $19,000 being my father’s disabled military income, current assets are pretty much rock-bottom due to the amount of health bills we have gone through in the last 5 years. Ive looked up the statistics and income brackets for the FAFSA aid, and we dont fall out of the bracket whatsoever.

On the KHEAA site, it says my EFC is around $3,500, on the official FAFSA website it was $20,000. I think you can see my issue here. The FAFSA has either errored or there’s something strange going on. The KHEAA site gives me all of my information like what grants I am eligible for, how much aid I should receive, includes everything. The only difference between the FAFSA information and the KHEAA is the tax years; FAFSA asked for 2015 (for whatever reason) and the KHEAA asked for 2016.

Also there is not a difference between the two years either, they’re pretty much exactly the same, give or take about a whole $1,000 in gross income. I don’t know what to do at this point. There is clearly something very wrong and I am not in the financial situation at the moment to mess around and sit here for a week trying to figure it out myself. I think the error can be contributed by my huge error when I was filling in my family’s current assets with numbers that were meant to be a decimal and I went back and fixed it, but my EFC went unchanged and typically that number sets in stone your eligibility for financial aid.

She I am 95% sure I qualify, but no one is listening to me. I really do appreciate the help. Thank you very much.

2

Actually…with an income of $80,000 a year…your EFC would likely NOT be $3500. Is this the AGI from the tax return?

Your FAFSA for 2018-2019 school year will not be available for filing until October 2017. It will use 2016 income tax info…and assets as of the day of filing.

The other thing you need to remember…the instate public universities in Kentucky do NOT guarantee to meet full need. So regardless of your “EFC” from the Kentucky site…you could be offered loans only anyway. Plus any KY grant for which you are eligible.

What college year are you talking about?

ETA…all student financial aid you receive will,be divided into terms…and you will only get a portion for each term. If your school is on semesters…the school will use 1/2 of your aid to pay for each term.

The fafsa currently up and running is the 2017-2018 fafsa…and that DOES use 2015 income tax year information. The 2018-2019 FAFSA is NOT yet available…and won’t be until October 1. That one will use 2016 tax year info.

It sounds like KHEAA has updated for the 2018-2019 year…plus uses different criteria for determining grant aid from Kentucky.

It sounds to me like you did something wrong on one of those forms…data entered incorrectly.

3

Agreed. With that income your EFC should be about $20,000.

4

But I think the OP is saying that much of that $80k income is from disability and shouldn’t have been included in income on the FAFSA.

If the FAFSA is using 2015 income and the Kentucky form is using 2016, you can’t compare them. You need to make sure the FAFSA is correct and that’s what the school will base federal FA on. You can then file an appeal and point out any changes in income from 2015 and the financial aid officer and use professional judgment to award federal Pell grants or SEOG or work study.

5

Well I understand the income part, I do. But its about my family’s current assets and current financial situation. It’s not accurate. The KHEAA asked for my parent’s current assets, while FAFSA asked me to tick a section about whether or not my parent’s assets were over $21,000, which is No. So when you tick that you cannot put in your parent’s current assets, its unselectable.
I want to complete start my FAFSA over because I just want to be %100 about this, but the button is nowhere to be found.

6

I am currently enrolled in classes at Elizabethtown Community and Technical College.

7

@mmp2016

Yes…and on the FAFSA when you check that assets are less than $21,000, your parent assets are not counted AT ALL on the fafsa…because that amount is below the asset protection allowance.

So for FAFSA purposes, your assets were listed as $0.

But WHAT FAFSA ARE YOU COMPLETING? The cirrent FAFSA available is for 2017-2018 and uses income from 2015.

If you aren’t heading to college until fall 2018…you have completed the WRONG FORM…and for no purpose at all.

The 2018-2019 FAFSA will be available on October 1.

There is a Net Price Calculator on every college website. How about if you do THAT. See what your estimated net cost will be. But please…be very accurate about what you enter, and use 2016 tax year information.

8

Adding…when you did the fafsa…be sire that you put parent income in the parent section…and student in the student.

9

But I think the OP is saying that much of that $80k income is from disability and shouldn’t have been included in income on the FAFSA.

VA disability is reported under parents’ veterans noneducation benefits. SSDI is not reported at all on FAFSA. All other disability is reported (either in AGI if taxed, or in untaxed income if not taxable).

I am not quite sure what you did on KEES to get an EFC - did you complete the FAFSA4Caster? The 4Caster doesn’t ask all the same questions as the actual FAFSA (it’s more of a quick & dirty estimate), so you could get different EFCs depending on what is not reported on 4Caster that is reported on FAFSA.

The FAFSA is the EFC that counts.

10

try my spreadsheet:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/19992257/#Comment_19992257

11

Hello Everyone who replied: I figured out the error I made and it was definitely my own error, a huge one. I’ve never done taxes and reading my parents was like reading a foreign language I’d never seen before. I really appreciate all the help. It has all been worked out. Thank you!!! :slight_smile:

12

Glad you figured this out NOW!

Hope your aid works out too!

13

@rgosula Just wanted to thank you for the spreadsheet - extremely helpful and very much appreciated!