If you’ve been looking into financial aid for college, one ominous sounding acronym almost certainly popped up: EFC. EFC stands for expected family contribution, and plays an important role in determining how much financial aid you are likely to get.
Right off the bat, students often assume that the EFC is either how much money you’ll get from the government, or how much you’re going to have to pay for college. These are both wrong. The Expected Family Contribution represents the amount that your family is expected to contribute to your education. It is by no means a guarantee, but rather a very rough estimate used to help the Government assess how much aid you are in need of.
As the deadline approaches for the first payment on our student loans, I’ve been getting an increasing number of official looking letters – I always rush upstairs to tear them open, worried that Ive missed a deadline or forgotten a form, to discover that they are just advertisements – advertisements for debt consolidation.
While its true that we’ll likely be looking into consolidation of some sort down the road - as I understand it, it usually makes sense – I’m pretty put off by the sneaky tactics these loan consolidation companies are using. How many people get duped and think they’re calling the government or the private entity they’ve taken out a loan with when in reality they’re calling a debt consolidation company?
I’ll be looking long and hard before we choose a company to consolidate our loans – anyone who is willing to trick you to get you in the door will have no problem lying to you once youre a customer.
My wife graduated last May, and we’ve really been dreading the next few months – we know that her student loans will be due soon, but we don’t really know when, or what will happen. Finally we got a statement in the mail today giving us more information and a deadline.
FAFSA, short for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, is the application form for federal studnt grants, work study aid, and loans. In some msituations, the application can be used to apply for private aid as well. In short, its a big deal, and everyone looking to receive some form of financial aid for college will likely need to fill one out.
Because of its popularity, there are many methods available for filling out the FAFSA.
An option common with graduating high school seniors is the Electronic Data Exchange for schools. High schools often provide a method for students to complete and enter their FAFSA forms to ensure they are done correctly, and in a timely manner.
You can also complete a FAFSA application on the web – simply go to http://www.fafsa.ed.gov, and follow the instructions there. If you need to renew your FAFSA application, this is where you do it.
You can complete it on paper and mail it in, ensuring that even if you dont have an internet connection or a school which participates in the Electronic Data exchange, you can still apply.
The FAFSA is also available in Spanish.
There are a few different deadlines to keep in mind when filling out a FAFSA form: First, there are School aid deadlines – these are the deadlines a school imposes for students requesting aid from them. Second, there are Federal student aid deadlines. These can be viewed by clicking here. Last, there are State student aid deadlines. These vary by state, and are often earlier than the Federal deadlines. To be safe, always try to submit your FAFSA application by early January.
Before you apply, Federal Student Loans, Understanding Your Loans | admin, 22 Aug 07 | 
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