<p>I applied for the 06-07 and 07-08 FAFSA with my 2005 tax return. My EFC was 63 and 556 respectively. This was back in early January.</p>
<p>Now. Today, I went back on fafsa to make a correction on my 07-08 fafsa with my 2006 filed tax return. My EFC for 07-08 fafsa dropped down to 0.</p>
<p>My question: My family income in 2005 was 12,000. My family income in 2006 was 23,000. What I don’t understand is this: Why did my 07-08 EFC drop down to 0 if my income nearly doubled?</p>
<p>FAFSA looks at other things besides income…number of dependents, taxes paid, total assets, age of parents, etc. and makes some allowances for these. Perhaps, while your income went up a bunch, other factors mitigated its relative importance resulting in a lower EFC. I’d double check your FAFSA info to make sure it is correct…and if it is and your EFC is 0, I’d just be happy.</p>
<p>If family income was about $23,000, most likely the EFC of 0 is correct.</p>
<p>Does an EFC of 63 seem correct for a family income of about 12,000? The only difference I see between my 2005 tax return with an income of 12,000 and my 2006 tax return with an income of 23,000 is the “Earned Income Credit” which dropped by nearly 1000.</p>
<p>When comparing the two years, you must consider that many of the regulations and formulas have changed. New HERA regulations and modifications of existing regulations can change a person’s EFC in a heartbeat. During 2006-2007 FAFSA year I saw many students whose EFC increased despite their income levels decreasing. One also must look at the other information presented in the FAFSA, not just earned income. Did your household size change at all…what about information from Worksheet ABC…your total tax. These are all placed into a complicated formula for determining a students EFC. Also, certain changes with the 2007-2008 FAFSA mean that if certain questions are answered in certain ways, an student will receive an automatic zero EFC. If you ar esure all of the information was inputted properly, then your EFC’s for both years are accurate.</p>
<p>To add just a little more detail to NikkiiL’s excellent response, w/o getting personal, a major change that our students are seeing is by answering Yes to the question “Does your family qualify for free/reduced lunch?”, your EFC is knocked to zero. There are definitely other factors that can contribute to a zero EFC, but this new one seems to be very common this year.</p>
<p>lil_killer, if you don’t mind me asking, how much financial aid do you plan on getting for psu? I hope you get a lot of money and become really successful here bro! What do your folks doing back in NY?</p>
<p>bus52, answering yes to that questions does not provide one with an automatic zero EFC for 2007-2008. My children receive Free/Reduced Lunch and my EFC wasn’t zero. My EFC instead was 386. I know that with the new processing year, it was claimed that those who receive Free/Reduced lucnh would qualify for an automatic zero EFC, but it has turned out NOT to be the case…unfortunately!</p>
<p>I did a EFC for the 07-08 and it was 4308. Is this low, uncommon, or about what is usually calculated. Do you think i’ll get a lot of gift-aid? I know it varied by institution, but what is the general consensus?</p>
<p>The way I understand the changes to the Simplified Needs Test is this… If you make under $50K and can either file the short form or receive some sort of federal money (i.e. free/reduced lunch) then they won’t count your assets in determining your EFC. They WILL assess your income.</p>
<p>NikkiiL - Thanks for that info. That is absolutely contrary to what’s been said at every financial aid conference I’ve been to this year. Our county scholarship group came in last week and did a presentation and relayed the same facts…It’s very annoying when the DOE does this. Kids who really need the $ get turned off by hearing one thing then getting something entirely differently back. To some of them, $386 is a fortune.</p>
<p>can i apply for FAFSA? (parents combined make a little over 100k)</p>
<p>Anyone can apply TO FAFSA. It is a free gov’t clearinghouse for the info that schools use to determine need. Even making $100K, depending on the school you want to attend, you may be able to get some need based aid.</p>
<p>Bus-That is one reason I complete a FAFSA every year…the other being I am still enrolled in school. I actually like that. I get to experience things from both the professional and student perspective. And I agree, this whole zero EFC thing is being told incorrectly based on how FAFSA is actually processing. I know that just answering yes to the question, while having a large income could result in an EFC other than zero…but my income is only a mere 24k with four in the household. At my next conference, I plan on speaking up when they bring up the zero EFC/Free/Reduced lunch line.</p>