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Hi, I went through some of the calculators on finaid.org, and they said that my family's EFC would be 0 or close to it. What exactly does this mean? I understand that my family is expected to pay whatever EFC it applies to, but where does the rest of the money come from? I'm applying to Harvard, for example. Say that my EFC is 5,000 then where does the other 35,000 come from? Grants? Loans? Do certain schools give better money? What kind of money does Notre Dame give?

Thanks

Adam

By Shennie (Shennie) on Tuesday, October 28, 2003 - 12:13 pm: Edit

The rest will come as a combination of merit, grants, and loans. Some schools give more of one thing than another. Be aware, also, that what you come up with for EFC may be very different from what the colleges come with for EFC. And some schools may want you to assume a large quantity of debt. You really won't know until you have the offers in front of you in the spring.

By Justin185 (Justin185) on Sunday, November 02, 2003 - 02:30 am: Edit

The EFC tells you what your family should be able to afford but things like the FAFSA don't dig too deep into the real financial situations. And listen to what Shennie said. Don't expect the college to meet your financial need.