What Can Be The Family Contribution You Will End Up Paying?

By Author: Elizabeth Reed
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You have done your homework well, researched various programs, chosen the programs right for you and have submitted your FAFSA. You will then receive the Student Aid Report or SAR which will provide you the Expected Family Contribution or EFC. EFC is an estimation of the possible contribution of your family towards your education based on the details you provided in the FAFSA. This amount is sent to the state scholarship agency as well as to the colleges that you have listed on the FAFSA. Based on the EFC, your financial aid package will be determined. However, it is not certain that the EFC is what you will actually be contributing. This article explains why EFC can change and how to deal with it.

Different Aid Policies

Each college has its own policy for assessing the financial need of a student as well as for awarding the financial aid. Hence, the financial aid offered by each college would be different and so the family contribution would vary accordingly.

Financial Limitations

Even if the financial need of the student and the award policies of a college are in favor of a student, it is important ...
... to remember that there may be many such students. The college may just not have enough funds for every student and hence, your family may be asked to contribute more than the EFC.

Special Cases

If you have some specific financial conditions that put a restraint on your ability to you're your college education and warrant a reconsideration of your financial aid, by all means approach the financial aid office. These conditions could be unexpected medical expenses, layoff or unemployment, etc.

Dealing with the gap

If you are unable to pay more than the EFC, then try the following to deal with the gap:

1.Request your parents to pay more.

2.Take up a part-time job.

3.Find ways to reduce costs such as buying used books or renting them, etc.

4.Take up a loan.

Elizabeth Reed is an experienced researcher and essay writer. Elizabeth has been providing assistance to students with essay writing uk and annotated bibliography mla for over 4 years. She is always ready to provide custom writing thesis help and writing tips to students.