EFC is an acronym that stands for Expected Family Contribution. It helps to ascertain whether a student is qualified for the different types of the federal grants that is available.
FAFSA is a student report sheet where the student enters his or her details concerning the EFC.Â
The information provided by the student on the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) is used for the calculation using the EFC Formulae. This is mostly used in the United States anyways.
In the secondary or post secondary system of education, the EFC, is used mainly for the students and if a student is dependent on the parents thereby becoming a dependent student, the parents ability to foot the ward’s academic expenses is calculated.
As you read through this article, I will explain more on EFC, how it gets to students and the considerations for EFC.
What does EFC stand for?
How does the EFC get to the students:
The form is not distributed by the Federal Government themselves, thus it is gotten through the colleges.
Most of the times, what happens is that the colleges combine both the state financial aid and that of federal student aid eligibility with their own aid to create a full financial aid package for their students.
When the EFC goes very low, then the financial award increases but when the EFC is high the financial award is reduced.
The highest EFC number is 999,999 while the lowest or the barest minimum is said to be 0 which indicates that the family with the score cannot afford to foot the academic fees at all.
Now, some rich and influential universities and colleges use a different method entirely called CSS profile to calculate their own EFC.
The FAFSA does not have a slot that determines how much the parent or student can pay, but the CSS has a slot that determines how much the parent of the student can afford.
What does EFC stand for?
The different Grants available for Students in the United States:
- Federal Pell Grants.
- Subsidized Loans through the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program.
- Federal Supplement Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOG)
- Federal Work Study.
- Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education Grant (TEACH); although this isn’t a federal grant,you can apply to this grant using the FAFSA application.
To determine a student’s need for the federal assistance offered by the government, the EFC is subtracted from the student cost of attendance.
Read this: Does FAFSA cover housing? (Quick answer)
Ways of submitting a FAFSA:
FAFSA could be submitted through either of these means:
- By making use of the website
- The app mystudentAid application.
- By going through the colleges where you fill an application electronically through a school.
- By sending your FAFSA mail to the central processing system CPS.
Application for the FAFSA is free, so the students who have applied in the previous year can reapply using a renewal FAFSA online. To be considered for the non-federal, you might have to pay for some charges.
Normally, filling the FAFSA online and electronically is encouraged because it can be easily edited thereby reducing applicant errors and the questions presented can be customized based on your previous answers.
On the other hand, it is a quicker and easier means for the departments to send the results to the various schools involved and to the students individually too.
What does EFC stand for?
Who is in charge of processing the FAFSA:
There are so many bodies incharge of the FAFSA because it goes from one body to another. Central Processing System (CPS) receives the FAFSA after it has been submitted either through the paper application or the electronic means.
The summary of the information filed on the application will be sent to the student to make sure the information given was accurate and signed.
This document is called SAR which is an acronym for Student Aid Report.
The student has to carefully go through the SAR to make sure the details are accurate, because it can be difficult to effect changes once the document has been finally submitted.
Basic Considerations for the EFC
Apart from the question, “What does EFC stand for?”, most students want to know the “Basic Considerations for the EFC“.
The formula for computing the EFC is not consistent. It changes annually, thus there are different formulae for the different categories of the students. We have the;
- Dependent Students
- Independent students without dependents other than a spouse
- Independent students with dependents than a spouse
The income, size of the family, living expenses and even the family and students savings are put into considerations too.
Read this: What is College Readiness? (Major tip and boosts)
Criteria for being qualified as an independent student for the year 2021-2022
- The student will be 27 years and above.
- He or she must have reached the age of maturity and is no longer under the control of the parents.
- The student should be enrolled either in a master’s program or a doctoral program.
- The student should be either married or separated.
- An unaccompanied student who has been ascertained by the college financial aid administrator who is homeless or at the risk of being homeless.
- The student should be a veteran of the US Army.
- The student should be serving actively in the armed US forces or national guard called into federal active duty. He or she could be a reserve enlistee on active duty, not training.
- The student would have kids or children who would be receiving at least half of their support from him.
What does EFC stand for?
The Simplified or the Automatic zero:
The automatic zero:
A student is qualified for the automatic zero if the family’s income is below $26000. They receive funding from the SSI snap which was Food Stamp Program WIC.
They were not required to fill out a tax return. The independent students without dependables other than a spouse are not eligible for this.
The simplified test
The families earn between $26000 and $50000, and the assets are not included when calculating the formula. These are the things that when considered reduces or lowers a student’s EFC:
- When the student earns poorly
- When the student has few or no assets at all.
- Loss of child support.
- When the student isn’t the only one in college.
- When there is a sudden loss of employment.
- Having a huge medical bill which is not covered by insurance.
- When there is a divorce or separation.
The lower a student’s EFC number, the more likely it is for the student to receive financial aid.
Final tips:
The Expected Family Contribution is a major factor that is put into consideration to help students with their financial needs and problems. It is an index number that a college considers before providing financial aid to her students.
On the other hand, FAFSA plays a major role in sorting the students to know the ideal ones that need financial aid.
Read this: Reasons why College is Hard
Awesome one, I hope this article answered your question.
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