FAFSA's EFC- Now what?

Just 3 weeks ago, I urged you to start your FAFSA application for your Senior in high school. The reason for getting started so early was possible access to the limited state-wide scholarship pool. So, how’s it going?

Let me guess. It’s complicated. You had to chase down your numbers, then decide about a couple of schools your student might consider. If you got all the numbers in their right places, you clicked submit. The imaginary wheel spun around, and suddenly, back came a four or five-digit number. No commas. Just something that looks like this; 12376 or 7629. What does THAT mean?

Maybe you should sit down before the next step. This number is known as the Expected Family contribution or EFC. Count back three digits from the right, and put in a comma. Then in front of the whole number, put a dollar sign. In the above example, now it’s $12,376 or $7,629. Yep, that’s dollars Per year. Using a complicated pre-set algorithm, your number is the amount the Federal Government says you will be able to contribute to your student’s freshman year in college. Every academic year you need to borrow from the government, an updated FAFSA is required. That means the number can change up to or down, each year.

Savings alert! -BTW- In my state, North Carolina, many private AND public colleges and universities are WAIVING application fees now through October 30st. Jump on those applications right now, but do them well!

Officially, the US Department of Education says this is not always your EFC. So far, none of the parents I’ve spoken with have said it changed for the better. Finally, any school you are considering will get this magic number as a part of their financial aid calculations.

As I titled Chapter 3 in my book, ENOUGH! The College Cost Crisis FAFSA: It’s like playing poker with see-through cards. And, only YOU have the see-through cards.

Let me remind you of what you already know in your heart.

Every school has a target tuition + room and board number “average” they must get to offer their services. If they give some students grants & scholarships, others must pay full price to make up the difference.

Here’s THE most important thing to remember. Even if your student has the best grades, portfolio, or life story to earn some scholarship money, MOST schools will not discount their charges by more than one-third to one-half of their published costs. If your school costs $30,000 every year, they will seldom give you more than $10k-15k in grants or scholarships- if you are THAT lucky. Oh, and the scholarships don’t increase with the rise of tuition or room & board costs every year.

This pandemic is already turning families into new directions and financial paths. Everyone is mad about paying full tuition for some form of in-person plus Zoom classes. It has taught us that you CAN learn online. What if you started looking at well-established online PROGRAMS? What if you mapped out a personalized CLEP plan for your student to save over $40,000 in costs? What if your student worked part-time and did online college at a fraction of the costs? I’d call each of you brilliant. All these options are detailed for you in my book.

I submit the cookie-cutter assembly line format for higher education is crumbling right before our eyes. NOW is the time to think about options and cost-savings programs. I challenge you to do the work to keep your student on the right path for the lowest possible loan amount. If they are not ready to commit, pull the plug, let the water drain out, and start over. Please, please, don’t send them to school without a plan with boundaries, and the threat of a Plan B if they cannot or will not do their part.

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Breaking news! I am delighted to share THREE great podcast interviews about the book and my message of doing college differently. Please check out Bonnie’s Fun Podcasts. You will love Vince Carter at CFO@ Home, J. Rosemarie Francis of Solo Moms, and Rob Oliver of Learning From Smart People. (Not sure why he let me on the show, but, oh, well…)

Next week we talk about the latest trend, snowplow parenting. ( Just in time for the colder weather….)

Until next time,

All my best,

Bonnie Burkett