<p>I sent in my FASFA stuff and it said i have to pay $17,000 something. I put down that i applied to three schools. If i end up going to a community college, how do i pay $17,000 for a school thats $4,000?</p>
<p>If the EFC (expected family contribution) exceeds the cost of the school (tuition, books, room & board, misc expenses), you’ll likely not receive any financial aid offer from that school. So in this case, you’d pay the full amount of college.</p>
<p>BUT-- if you get accepted to a college where the full cost is 40K per year, you could receive a financial aid package (grants, loans, and work study) of the difference between your EFC and the cost of college. So, depending on the school, you could be offered a package worth 23K in this example. Remember that some schools don’t cover the full difference between the EFC and the cost of college, and that the FA package will include grants (best), but also loans and work study (you work during college as part of the financial aid plan).</p>