How do I decrease my EFC?

thumper1
Tue, 27 Jul 2010 08:47:24 +0000

This thread is TWO years old…you would be better served to start a new thread where current information can be posted.

Bottom line to the poster above if the FAFSA calculates an EFC for your family, that is the minimum your family is expected to contribute to college. If the family income supports a higher EFC, there is an expectation that the parents will contribute towards college costs.

The FAFSA didn’t “shut you down”. The FAFSA provided information that when computed yielded an amount your family won’t pay. There is a difference.

You need to know that truthfully, the only grant that is guaranteed by the FAFSA computation is the Pell. Your EFC would have needed to be less than $5200 to qualify for that. To get the full Pell of about $5000…your EFC would have needed to be $0.

What special circumstances did you have? Typically these are undue medical expenses or expenses related to job loss or some other disaster. And special circumstances considerations are done at the discretion of the college(s). They do not have to consider them at all.

Living “on your own” does not constitute independence for financial aid purposes.