What to do about a high EFC?

lalaloo6
Tue, 19 Feb 2008 19:37:23 +0000

So, the EFC generated by FAFSA and my financial aid estimate from Caltech were very scary for me, as the EFC for my family is a very high percentage of our income, and we don’t have much assets, save money that is saved for my sister and me for college (and that we did have to report on FAFSA).

My question is, what to do to pay off the EFC, and where do schools think the money is going to come from? My mom showed me exactly her financial resources after taxes and insurance, and it boils down to the fact that it will not be possible for her to pay nearly all of the EFC with just income alone.

Ok, so options:

-I can work more. Check. I have a well-paying job set up for the summer and I’m already working two jobs. However, this just “hurts” my chances for aid for next year, as my college will see that my income went up, and therefore it will calculate that I can pay more, and decrease aid.

-I can apply for scholarships. However, it seems like scholarships don’t decrease EFC until EVERYTHING else has been decreased (work study, and school aid inclusive). Am I wrong about this? If this is the way it is, then don’t scholarships help the school, not me, for the most part??

-My mom can work more. YAY THEN THEY TAKE MORE OF OUR MONEY. sigh This doesn’t seem like an option that will actually help at all.

-Go to Harvard. Ha! If I get accepted, though, their new aid plan will probably be irresistible, I must say.

-Spend all of the money that we have saved for my sister and me in one year. Then, upon recalculating aid next year, we will have pretty much 0 assets, and we might get more aid. We do have enough to pay for 1 year of EFC with the money we have saved. But what about my sister, who will start college the year after I graduate? (Terrible timing, I know). It seems like a risky idea to spend it all at once - but then, does saving ACTUALLY help pay for college?? It seems like saving just decreases financial aid, making you have to pay more in the long run!

Loans, Loans, Loans. I really want to avoid them, but unless there are options that I haven’t considered, it seems like loans will be the only other way to get rid of that gap between what colleges CALCULATE that my family can pay, and what we can actually pay.

What do other people do in this situation? How can I avoid loans? Is there any way to use scholarships to help contribute to the EFC part of the cost? Where do families find the money to meet the EFC?