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i'm filling out applications, and they're asking me if i'm a financial aid candidate...

what exactly is financial aid? my parents are not familiar with this either, since they are not from the u.s.

is it money that the college gives you, or are they student loans?

i'm not sure how much aid any colleges will give me, because i know my parents will be able to pay for my college tuitions... but is it better to just apply for financial aid anyways?

By Reveler (Reveler) on Thursday, September 30, 2004 - 07:33 pm: Edit

no it depends on your family's income those making $20 million per year are not eligibe for financial aid.

By Achat (Achat) on Thursday, September 30, 2004 - 11:14 pm: Edit

Stuckat, there is a term called EFC. EFC stands for Effective Financial Contribution. Based on your parent's income and savings, colleges determine how much your family can pay. FAFSA is a govt. provided agency that provides a service where you fill up a form and the agency based on a formula calculates your EFC. FAFSA requires you to submit your parents 1040 form from the tax year. This is what it is in very layman's terms. If your parents EFC is greater than the total cost per year of education at a college, the college will in theory not give you any need-based aid. Here is a site that helps estimate your parent's EFC:
http://www.finaid.org/calculators/finaidestimate.phtml

I'd suggest you run this by your parents. If they have high income and high savings, then you will not get any aid and there is no need to apply.

By Achat (Achat) on Thursday, September 30, 2004 - 11:21 pm: Edit

I explained it in very basic terms and forgot to answer many of your questions. Ask your guidance counsellor in your school about this. Need based financial aid is given by many colleges based on parent's EFC as I said.

By Achat (Achat) on Thursday, September 30, 2004 - 11:24 pm: Edit

And only if you apply for financial aid (check the 'are you applying for financial aid' question) will all this apply.

By Thumper1 (Thumper1) on Friday, October 01, 2004 - 07:14 am: Edit

I just learned something new....I thought EFC stood for Expected Family Contribution.

By Achat (Achat) on Friday, October 01, 2004 - 08:21 am: Edit

Ok, sorry, you are right, EFC stands for Expected Family contribution. Does it matter?

By Dt123 (Dt123) on Friday, October 01, 2004 - 10:12 am: Edit

Good question. Does being accurate matter? Do details matter?

By Achat (Achat) on Friday, October 01, 2004 - 11:17 am: Edit

Dt123, I posted this late at night. Yes, I got mixed up with the acronyms (being old is what caused it). Can you help this girl? Looking at this girl's question, she is first generation, Korean, parents cannot help her and her question is very very basic. I was surprised by how basic. So if you can help her by being more articulate than I was, it would really help her out. Thanks!

I do know about the finaid process, I have a kid going to college this year, class of 2008. I just wasn't very articulate and a little frustrated, since she just sent her app to U Mich (after about 5-6 huge threads asking for help on her essays that took up a lot of parents' time). Sorry about that.

By Achat (Achat) on Friday, October 01, 2004 - 11:21 am: Edit

And I also wonder what she put in her U Mich app. regarding finaid, since she does not know what 'financial aid' is.

By Stuckat410 (Stuckat410) on Friday, October 01, 2004 - 06:45 pm: Edit

there was no part about financial aid on the umich app

By Thumper1 (Thumper1) on Friday, October 01, 2004 - 07:11 pm: Edit

I do not know U of Michigan's policies, but some schools do require the completion of the FAFSA for all aid including merit aid. When DS applied to colleges, we indicated he was applying for finaid on all applications. We KNEW we would not qualify for need based aid. However, just by filing the FAFSA, one does get an unsubsidized Stafford Loan, which is DS's loan contribution to his college education. He also receive merit aid. I would say that unless you absolutely plan to NOT take any aid offered to you, you should indicate YES you are a finaid candidate.

By Achat (Achat) on Saturday, October 02, 2004 - 10:00 am: Edit

Some schools also required something called CSS Profile which has a different way of calculating parent's contribution to college costs. Many selective colleges like Northwestern, Chicago require CSS Profile. CSS profile is administered by the College board. Here is the link (but check your college's web pages to see if they require it ):
http://www.collegeboard.com/highered/fa/css.html

By Achat (Achat) on Saturday, October 02, 2004 - 01:04 pm: Edit

Thumper1 is right, if you want Stafford loans, do check 'financial aid required' on your application. Have a discussion with your family before applying for college about college costs etc.

By the way, there is a forum 'Financial Aid and Scholarships' on collegeconfidential which is worth checking out.