fafsa

You'll be shocked at how little it covers. For us, the school is about $24,000 incl. room & board and it says we're responsible for $19,700 of it. And the state we live in, PA, for 2 yrs. so far has said we make too much for any state aid. And we haven't quite hit $100,000 a yr. in income and that's with 2 people working.
Yes, it's quite a shock when you see it.

Check out the http://www.finaid.com web-site. They have an area for financial aid calculators. You plug in the numbers for either federal methodology (fafsa) or institutional (some schools use an additional form). I've found that it gives a very good idea of where you'll stand, and gives you a chance to see if there are some financial moves you could make before the end of the year to make things look better.
Each school treats that information differently. If you have more questions, please feel free to pm me.

BTW, I noticed that you are from Vista! My son played at RBVHS.

wavehog,

The FAFSA form is a federal calculator that estimates each family's "Expected Family Contribution" - how much the government estimates your specific family could manage to scrape up per year from your paycheck, savings, home equity loans, etc., to help pay for your child's education. Each college then uses this info to figure out what amound of Financial Aid to TRY to award to you.

The equation:
COA (Cost of Attendance at each college)
- EFC (Expected Family Contribution per the FAFSA)
-----
= Need (The Financial Need that a college will TRY to meet with a package of grants, loans, work study, etc.)

Here's an example: Say your child did not qualify for an academic scholarship and was not offered an athletic scholarship, and was most interested in two colleges, College 1 with a total cost of $20,000 per year and College 2 at $40,000 per year. You filled out the FAFSA and your Expected Family Contribution was calculated at $20,000 per year. (Don't fall out of your chair, that is actually not an unusual result for moderate income families where both parents work fulltime.)

Based on this example, theoretically College 1's financial aid office would expect you to pay the entire $20K per year, while College 2 would probably TRY to offer you a financial aid package of $20K per year in loans, grants, etc., while expecting you to pay the other $20K.

Some colleges may offer grants which bring your cost a little lower than the calculated Expected Family Contribution, while some colleges may not be able to offer you the entire amount of the calculated Need.

You can find out more information about the FAFSA and how to apply for many scholarships at http://www.fastweb.com (you'll need to register, but it's free).

When you are ready, you can go to http://www.fafsa.ed.gov to fill out the real FAFSA online.

But you can also get an idea of your FAFSA amounts in advance by going to http://www.educationquest.org/ and clicking the estimator button to fill out a pretend/estimated version of the FAFSA.

(I see that some other members provided additional info while I was typing, but since we all have a little different input to offer, I'll still post this.)

One of the dirty little secrets out there:

All the money you saved up for your kids, starting when they were 6, counts against you when it comes to calculating the EFC. I'm not advocating not putting something away, because it can give you choices you otherwise might not have had.

But don't impale yourself to save it, either, because if you've got it, they'll get it.

I believe the FAFSA form just gets you in line for federal loans (subsidised and unsubsidised) and Pell Grants. I also undertand that the maximum earnings to qualify for a Pell Grant is $59,000 a year, although consideration is given to having more than one family member in college at a time.

Whatever your circumstances, it's a good idea to fill out the FAFSA if you will need a loan. Forms are accepted from January 1 - June 30 for the school year beginning in the Fall (you will need to have submitted your tax forms before filling out the FAFSA), although I believe you can apply for previous years.

Should your circumstances change (extended unemployment, divorce, death) before the school year, there is an additional form (called, oddly enough, the Change of Circumstance form) that can amend your original FAFSA.

MOMX4, My son played at Vista High last year- My work is in Riverside and He will play at Temecula High Valley high school this year. RBV has had some excellent teams the last 4 or 5 years. Did your son play on the team with Mitch Einerstein?

Wavehog,
Rusty played with, or against, Mitch from the time they were 9yo's in RBV Little League. He and Mitch were the only sophomores on RBVHS's CIF Champion team. Lots of good times.

quote:

Originally posted by OldVaman:
One of the dirty little secrets out there:

All the money you saved up for your kids, starting when they were 6, counts against you when it comes to calculating the EFC. I'm not advocating not putting something away, because it can give you choices you otherwise might not have had.

But don't impale yourself to save it, either, because if you've got it, they'll get it.

You have the option of saving the money in the parent's name to help around this scenario.

But not saving because of this is a huge mistake.

momx4-Rusty H? Did he go to Palomar or is he at a 4year now??

Rusty's in his second year at USD. I sent you a PM

MOM X4-Ireplied to your PM but not sure if i did it properly.

PABBMOM

My wife and I are in the same boat. We are told we make too much so in order to afford to send our son to college we both work second jobs. I guess if you make too much you have to work more. Not logical but the reality of the situation.

I have mentioned it here before, but this seems like a very appropriate thread to bring it up again.

I strongly recommend a book titled Paying for college without going broke published by The Princeton Review.

You should read this early in your child's High School career.

It does a very good job explaining the Financial Aid Game, and it is a game!