Financial Aid not provided despite demonstrated need

austinmshauri
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 12:51:20 +0000

I don’t understand how we got to this point, nor do I understand how the institution determined its own EFC that was so different from FAFSA.

I know this is frustrating. Financial aid terms need better explanations. The FAFSA EFC is misnamed. It’s not really an estimated family contribution; it’s a Pell Grant eligibility index and that’s all it’s used for. If the number it spits out is under 6000, students may be eligible for Pell. If it’s higher then they’re ineligible. That number is unrelated to the EFC that’s generated by college financial aid offices.

Colleges that meet need define need based on their own calculations. It has nothing to do with the FAFSA EFC or with what families feel they can pay. You aren’t a low income family with no assets. Your parents own a primary home plus additional rental properties. Multiple real estate holdings are considered assets. Your reported income is $10,000, but that’s only after deductions are taken out. I wouldn’t expect a financial aid office to treat your family like one who owns no assets and whose total income is $10,000.

It’s unfortunate that these things are so complicated and I hope it works out, but I think you need to be prepared for the possibility that any additional aid they offer may not be enough.