<p>I had to laugh at myself today…jumping over to the Financial Aid board looking for a FAFSA answer. For me…when I started here, I just read. Then I posted on the Parent’s forum, then once the acceptance my d was looking for got here, I jumped over to her school specific board, with a sprinkling of Parent Cafe along the way. I guess I have to wonder when they will open a retirement board…lol.</p>
<p>Laughing along with you, collegeshopping. Although I’ll be going through the process two more times…</p>
<p>haha…me too…but I have 7 & 9 more years…life’s surprises…who would have thought!</p>
<p>See–I think this is a serious suggestion, and one I’ve made on several different threads. I think CC needs to expand the parents forum to special places for after the kids have graduated from college, retirement issues, grandparent issues, . . . I still have several years to go too but HATE to think there will come a day when I really <em>don’t</em> have a need to check CC every day. (Except maybe for the cafe–always fun there!)</p>
<p>Actually, there are several current threads in the Parent Cafe about retirement-type issues & our aging parents & in-laws & similar topics.</p>
<p>Yup–and several of us here haven’t had kids in college for years. It really is nice to have a community of familiar “faces” to discuss the other stuff with–so glad they’ve got this Cafe for that.</p>
<p>The other evolution on the CC board is the finaid reality check. Early on people discover their EFC and the whining and complaining begins, most people feel it. </p>
<p>Depending on your category most people feel that they either cannot afford 100% of that $50k+ COA even if they make solid 6 figures or if a lower income and EFC, feel that EFC of perhaps 1/3 their current income is crazy and undoable.</p>
<p>Initially many people are aghast at their EFC and express anger and frustration at the system. The old timers on CC then educate that newbie on the realities of the world of finaid. That the EFC is supposed to be made up of 1/3 current earnings, 1/3 savings and 1/3 loans to be repaid out of future earnings sounds reasonable on paper, but can hurt in reality, especially when a 1 formula fits all does not really fit a given student’s situation.</p>
<p>But you cannot fight city hall and the old timers have evolved to accept the reality of EFC, ‘fair’ or not</p>