Questions about calculating EFC

[shiningstar17]

<p>I’ve done a few EFC calculators online and I have a few questions about financial aid. </p>

<p>1) When your parent’s are divorced, does your non-custodial parent’s spouse’s income count as well as your parent’s?</p>

<p>2) On EFC calculator’s they ask for the number of people in your household. Do I put 2 (me and my mom) or do I include my dad and his wife and daughter as well. They don’t live with us but if they’re taking his income into account when calculating how much I can afford to pay for college, shouldn’t they also count him in the number of people in the family?</p>

<p>Sorry if that all sounded extremely confusing, I hope some of it made sense. Any answers would be a big help! Thanks in advance.</p>

[emeraldkity4]

<p>no & you count just you and your mother
this is for FAFSA
However the Profile I believe does want to know what your fathers income is-
<a href=“http://www.finaid.org/[/url]”>http://www.finaid.org/&lt;/a&gt;

If your parents are separated or divorced, the custodial parent is responsible for filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The custodial parent is the parent with whom you lived the most during the past 12 months. (The twelve month period is the twelve month period ending on the FAFSA application date, not the previous calendar year.) Note that this is not necessarily the same as the parent who has legal custody. If you did not live with one parent more than the other, the parent who provided you with the most financial support during the past twelve months should fill out the FAFSA. This is probably the parent who claimed you as a dependent on their tax return. If you have not received any support from either parent during the past 12 months, use the most recent calendar year for which you received some support from a parent.

</p>

<p>

Obligation to Help Pay for College</p>

<p>Is the non-custodial parent required to help pay for college?</p>

<p>The Federal government does not consider the income and assets of the non-custodial parent in determining a student’s financial need. However, it does consider child support received by the custodial parent.</p>

<p>Many private colleges do consider the non-custodial parent as a potential source of support, and require a supplemental financial aid form from the non-custodial parent. This affects the awarding of the school’s own aid, but not Federal and state aid.

</p>

[Roger_Dooley]

<p>Nice answer, ek… I’d just add that the EFC is a starting point. Some colleges use the CSS Profile data, and even when two colleges start with the same data they may arrive at quite different aid numbers. If finances will be tight, it’s a good idea to include a couple of extra safeties,including at least one “financial safety”.</p>