My FAFSA score is 18696. What does that mean?

Question

I know I don't qualify for grants. But does my high score mean I won't be able to get loans?

Answer 1

This represents your Expected Family Contribution or EFC. Your EFC is the dollar amount that your family should reasonably be able to contribute to your own education based on all the income, asset, and family information you provided on the FAFSA.

An EFC of $18,696 means that you will not qualify for most grants, but you will still qualify for federal Stafford student loans.

There are two types of Stafford loans: subsidized and unsubsidized. Subsidized loans are based on financial need. Financial need is determined by taking your Cost of Attendance (which varies from school to school) and subtracting your EFC. If this results in a positive number, then you may be eligible for subsidized loans. If this results in a negative number, then you can still take out the Stafford loan, but it will be unsubsidized.

SUBSIDIZED: based on need, the federal government will subsidize the interest during period of at least half-time enrollment and deferments, meaning that no interest will accrue at your expense. The loan balance will remain the same until interest begins to accrue at the start of repayment. Repayment starts 6 months after you stop attending school at least half-time.

UNSUBSIDIZED: although you do not have financial need, you can still receive the loan, but the interest will accrue from the date is is disbursed. You are still not required to make payments until you enter the repayment period 6 months after ceasing at least half-time enrollment. This will result in the interest being capitalized, meaning that at specific time increments the lender will collect the accrued interest then add it to the principal balance, leaving you paying higher interest on a higher balance during the next period of time between capitalization (this is commonly referred to as "paying interest on interest.") It is best to make interest only payments even while attending school to avoid capitalization of interest.

So, whether your loan will be subsidized or unsubsidized all depends on your school's COA. Each school comes up with an estimated COA which includes all expenses for a student to attend their school for a full school year. The more expensive the school or the living expenses for the area it is located, the higher the COA will be.

For example, I work at a California Community College where our COA is only 14500 for a student who lives in off-campus housing. Therefore, if you were attending my school, 100% of your Stafford loan would be unsubsidized (14500 COA - 18696 EFC = -4196 no Financial Need!). But, if you go to a school with say a 30000 COA, then the loan could be fully subsidized (30000 COA - 18696 EFC = 11304 Financial Need.)

The calculation that determines whether the loan will be subsidized or unsubsidized will be done by your Financial Aid Counselor/Loan Specialist when you apply for the loan. Contact your financial aid office to inquire on how to apply for a federal Stafford loan.

Answer 2

Fafsa Score

Answer 3

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
My FAFSA score is 18696. What does that mean?
I know I don't qualify for grants. But does my high score mean I won't be able to get loans?

Answer 4

no. there are two kinds of federal student loans, subsidized and unsubsidized. with a subsidized loan, the fed is making interest payments as long as you're in school half time. these loans are based on need. so, the lower your efc (expected family contribution), the better. if you do not qualify for a sub loan, you can always get an unsub loan. it will, however, earn interest as soon as it's disbursed. you can get an unsub regardless of your efc. put it this way, Michael Jordan could get an unsub loan. good luck.

Answer 5

The answer really depends on what the school tuition is per semester. The full answer will not be known until you receive the financial aid award letter from the college itself. However, you could still look for outside scholarships. I will include some informational pages below. Good luck!

Answer 6

It means you won't qualify for grants, but you will probably qualify for unsubsidized Stafford loans. Here is a good publication about the max amounts you can borrow, but sometimes it's a lot less if your school is less expensive.
Good Luck,

Answer 7

Have financial aid check and make sure that you filled it out correctly!I made a mistake and took it to financial aid and they fixed it for me and gave me all my options!