Help!! EFC number was 1140..what does that mean!?

Question

I applied for the Fafsa and it came back with my EFC being 1140. I have no idea what the means. I am going to attend a public University next fall and tuition will be about $8,000. How much am I going to have to pay?!

Answer 1

The letters "EFC" stand for "Expected Family Contribution." I essence, an EFC represents the dollar amount that the government feels you and your family can reasonably expect to contribute towards your college education for the upcoming year.

It's important to know what, just because your EFC is $1,140 doesn't mean that you won't have to pay more than that. An "EFC" is simply an estimate of a student's ability to pay for college. It should not and cannot be seen as "the amount that financial aid will not cover." Some schools will simply not be able to meet your "full need" (i.e. the difference between your costs and your EFC). Sadly, at these schools, you might have to pay most of your educational costs. This is simply because not all schools are able to offer all types of Financial Aid programs.

For 2007-08, assuming you are a full time, first-time Freshman and, you should receive a Pell Grant of $3,160, and a Subsidized Stafford Loan of up to $3,500. If you are an independent student (officially, as determined by your FAFSA), you can receive an additional $4,000 in Unsubsidized Stafford Loan funding. These two types of funds together should meet a lot of your financial need. Moreover, these are the only types of aid that you can be fairly certainly of receiving.

There are other types of aid that you might be eligible for, assuming your school has an allocation (i.e. allotment, "chunk of money to give out"). If your school has an allocation of Campus-Based Aid, you might also be eligible for a Perkins Loan and an SEO Grant. The maximum undergraduate award for both of these funds is $4,000 but most schools will offer substantially less (perhaps 1/2 the maximum). Schools with Campus-Based Aid may also have Federal Work-Study funding to give you. The amounts of this funding will vary widely from a couple hundred to a few thousand.

Many schools offer their own institutional funding, but the criteria for this funding vary so widely (from $0 to full tuition) that I can't even speculate as to how much your school can provide. Some of these awards might not be need-based, either.

Answer 2

An EFC, also known as Estimated Family Contribution, score of 1140 is great. However, it does not mean that you will get the maximum Pell Grant. On the other hand, the financial aid package will contain at least $6,860 depending on the timing. To fill in the gap, it might be an idea to look for outside scholarships, and I will enclose some free sources to locate scholarships.

First, the college's financial aid office and website has a list of private scholarships offered from outside organizations and companies. Sometimes a college major's website will list scholarships, too.

Second, the public library has a book listing scholarships with some not even listed on the web.

Finally, I recommend joining several free membership scholarship search websites. There are scholarships for a variety of things including ethnicity, clubs, hobbies, and even wearing duct tape to the high school prom. Most are updated on a regular basis. Most offer a customized search based on information entered onto a form on the website.

Good luck!

Answer 3

It means the government thinks you should contribute $1,140. It doesn't necessarily mean you'll have to contribute that much.