How The EFC or Expected Family Contribution Is Determined 2019

college expected family contribution 2019

One of the most common questions almost every parent has when the sign up to work with us is, How The EFC or Expected Family Contribution Is determined 2019? Various colleges will determine the financial need in different ways. It all depends on what form(s) the college requires.

First, let’s talk about the CSS Profile that the College Board will process. Under the Profile, the college will calculate the EFC (Estimated Family Contribution) using the IM (Institutional Methodology) or CM (Consensus Methodology) which will determine how much gift-aid (grants) the student will qualify for.

The second form, the FAFSA (Free Application For Federal Student Aid) that will calculate the EFC (Expected Family Contribution) using the Federal Methodology that will determine how much Federal Aid (Pell Grant, FSEOG, subsidize and unsubsidized loans, and work-study), the student will qualify for. If the college only requires the FAFSA, they will utilize it to determine all need-based aid.

Finally, some colleges who do not require Profile may have their own institutional form that will be required along with the FAFSA. If you would like more information or clarification on financial need, please contact our office staff.

How Much College Can You Afford?

Many factors come into play when comes to how much college tuition a family can afford.

  1. What colleges is the student applying to?
  2. What is families’ liquid asset situation like?
  3. How much was saved for college?
  4. What financial aid forms are required?
  5. Many colleges require more forms than the FAFSA. Who is completing the forms?

The bottom line here is the correct interpretation of the questions and know what information you do not have to disclose. The more mistakes made, the less aid offered. Families that utilize a trained expert in the process will historically retain more aid.  That is where College Aid Consulting Services has been assisting families for 28 years to avoid the mistakes and maximize the Financial Aid available to them.  Contact us today to learn more.

Client Testimonial

“Our “miracle” was a direct result from working with College Aid Consulting Services. Our financial planner gave us his name via several of her clients who had highly recommended him. After an exchange of information over the phone, he assured us we would see substantial savings in college costs with his help. Needless to say, we signed on the dotted line. Immediately my husband and I were impressed with Ronald’s service – always returning our calls promptly and doling out calming advice. He assisted us with college applications, financial aid forms, and other related documents. The most exciting time in this process was near the decision deadline. Even though we had received a generous financial package, our expected family contribution was higher than anticipated. With Ronald’s insistence and editing, we drafted a letter of appeal which resulted in an additional annual grant of $3,000.00! Now that the dust has settled, we realize with another daughter being a high school junior, this process will soon start up again. Knowing that Ronald will be able to guide us, makes this a worry-free experience. We could not be happier with all of his help.”

~ Dana L.

Colleges Mislead Students & Families In Their Financial Aid Awards

I recently came across an article on how colleges mislead students and families in their financial aid awards. This common practice by colleges has been occurring since I started College Aid Consulting Services back in 1990. Families should know what is expected of them. Many students that receive their initial awards have now idea what is a fair one. If you would like to know more about the money you spend for education and more, contact our office:

Report: 36% of colleges are hiding the cost to students
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Do You Know Your College Tuition Expected Family Contribution 2018?

expected family contribution

Do you know what your Expected Family Contribution (EFC) 2018 is? Most families don’t. Did you know that there are three EFCs in the financial aid process? Most families don’t.

The EFC(s) represents the families’ ability to pay for a college education. The Expected Family Contribution (EFC) is calculated via the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and the Estimated Family Contribution (EFC) is calculated via The CSS Profile under one of two formulas. The Institutional Methodology or the Consensus Methodology depending on the college. Families need to know that the three EFCs could vary widely. Moreover, many families are not told what their EFC is under the Institutional and the Consensus Methodologies by the college(S).

If you would like our staff to calculate your true EFC(s) and learn how to increase your financial aid eligibility, please contact our office.

2018 CSS Profile Filing Is Soon Approaching, What You Need To Know

css profile 2017Like the Free Application For Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), Families can file the CSS Profile as early as Oct. 1 for the 2018-19 academic year.

What you need to know: Like FAFSA, each college will have their own deadline which could be as early as Nov. 1 and will vary from school to school. Unfortunately some families don’t know about the Profile that is required at many colleges. Every year we talk to parents that say that they have no knowledge of the form and in some cases they have missed the deadline. If the college does require Profile, they will use it solely to determined how much institutional gift-aid (grants) the student will receive, not FAFSA.

Another important fact that parents should know is that unlike FAFSA, the CSS Profile is not mandated. Therefore the Profile will ask for considerable more personal information compared to FAFSA resulting in less financial aid for many families.

If you would like more information on how to properly deal with the Profile, please contact one of our staff.

2018 FAFSA Filing Is Approaching, What You Need To Know

2018 FAFSA Filing

The 2018 FAFSA filing is approaching here is what you need to know. Like for the current academic year, families can file the Free Application For Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) as early as Oct. 1 (instead of Jan. 1 as families have done in the past) for the upcoming 2018 -19 school year.

What you need to know: Each college will have their own deadline and will vary from school to school and some deadlines can be as early as Nov. 1 and as late as of Apr. 1. The second deadline is determined by the family’s home state. Starting Oct. 1, families can check their state’s deadline here. Some states have hard deadlines and other states have suggested deadlines to make sure you get priority consideration for college money. There’s also a group of states that offer first-come, first-served financial aid.

If you would like more information on FAFSA and how to properly file your financial aid forms, please contact our office.

Disparity In College Financial Aid Offers

Good news! Financial aid awards are starting to arrive in student’s in boxes. The bad news, unfortunately there is a lot of disparity in college financial aid offers due to the fact that the format of awards are dictated by each school so many factors and questions come into play when reviewing and comparing offers.

First the family needs to know if the initial offer(s) is a fair one. That’s tough because generally parents doing this for the first time don’t have anything to compare to.

Second, what methodology is the college is using? There are three possible formulas. There is the Federal Methodology (FAFSA), the Institutional Methodology (CSS Profile), and the Consensus Methodology (CSS Profile). If the CSS Profile is required, the college will calculate a EFC (Estimated Family Contribution) which many times will not appear on the award. So it would be difficult for a family to know how much of the true need was met. If the college requires only the FAFSA, the family will see their EFC (Expected Family Contribution) on their Student Aid Report (SAR). In this scenario, they will have a good idea if the award is fair and will be less difficult to compare with other offers.

Third, the family needs to know what is the college including or not including in their total college cost or comprehensive fee. Every college is different in what they include or don’t include which can make an offer look good on the surface when it is not.

In conclusion some good news. Our staff with 26 years of experience are here to advise you accordingly. If you would like us to confirm and clarify if your child’s award is appropriate, please contact our office.

What a Trump presidency could mean for student loans?

 

Trump presidency could mean for student loans

What will a Trump presidency mean for student loans? He has rarely mentioned higher education on the campaign trail, so the future is somewhat up in air.

With so much still unknown and to be worked out during the transition over the next few months, it’s too soon to know what student loan borrowers can expect. But here are a few items that could be possible priorities in the Trump presidency and Republican-controlled Congress.

During the campaign, Trump proposed slightly modifying income-based repayment for federal student loans by allowing borrowers to pay 12.5 percent of discretionary income with any remaining balance forgiven after 15 years.
Current income-based plans allow for payments of 10 to 15 percent of discretionary income and forgiven balances after 20 to 25 years. Unless the proposal is meant only for existing borrowers, it is unclear how he would carry this out since earlier in the year his campaign said he wanted to reduce or remove the government’s role in student lending.

In May, Sam Clovis, the national co-chairman and policy director of Trump’s campaign, stated that the Trump team wanted to remove the government from student lending and restore that role to private lenders. Prior to 2010, federal student loans were either originated directly by the government or they were made by private banks with the backing of the federal government.

The Trump administration has not said it would fight to remove all federal involvement from student loans, making it a system of only private loans advocate for a federally insured program similar to the previous FFEL. Either way, student loan experts thinks it would be incredibly difficult – and likely very expensive – to walk back the transition to 100 percent direct lending that’s occurred over the past six years, given that the Republicans don’t hold a filibuster-proof majority in Congress.

It is also worth mentioning here that Republican Presidents going back to the Reagan days have stated that they would like to abolish the Department of Education which would have a major affect in education in our country.

Regardless of what happens, know that College Aid Consulting Services can help you reduce the out of pocket expense for your family utilizing our 26 years of experience.  Besides advising clients on FAFSA and the CSS Profile, we know many other ways to make college more affordable.   Contact our office today to learn more.

Amazon Prime Student Loans. What You Need To Know.

Amazon is stepping into the student-loan marketplace with Wells Fargo to offer discounts to customers of the online retailer as Amazon Prime Student Loans.  A student-loan discount will be offered to Amazon Prime Student members. The online retailer has entered into a partnership with San Francisco lender Wells Fargo& Co. in which the bank’s student-lending arm will offer interest-rate discounts to select Amazon shoppers.

Before considering private loans for college, families should always utilize all  Subsidize Federal Loans (Stafford and Perkins) offered. With that said, if a family still needs additional educational loan assistance, they should shop around at various lending institutions large and small  for the best terms.  Over 70% of families borrow less when their financial aid forms are filled out correctly. Unfortunately the majority of families who do not retain professional guidance will make mistakes. Please contact our office to lower your out of pocket cost for your child’s education.

Amazon Tiptoes Into Banking Business Through Student Loans
News Source: Wall Street Journal

When Financial Aid Offers Doesn’t Meet Expectations

College Financial Aid Offers

Since early March our students started to receive their initial financial aid offers from various colleges. Like previous years, many of the financial aid offers are not meeting the appropriate need for the student based on one of the three formulas that colleges utilize. We review all of our student’s awards and if we feel the college can do better, we will then initiate a proven approach of communication with the college(s) to increase the amount of gift-aid originally offered. Over the last two weeks our students have been receiving their amended awards that contain more financial aid.

Families who do not utilize professional guidance are more likely not receive a magnanimous award(s). If you would like our staff to review your award letters, please contact our office. The bottom line here is, the more families know about the true aspects of the financial aid process , the less money out of their pockets for a college education.

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