Colleges will ask families to complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form in January of the student's senior year. The main function of the FAFSA form is to calculate your EFC, Expected Family Contribution. This represents the base out-of-pocket amount your family is expected to pay for college per year. Many colleges will ask you to pay more than this base amount. You will need to do some homework ahead of time to avoid this and pay the least amount possible. Colleges take your EFC and subtract it from their cost of attendance (tuition, room & board, computers, health insurance, etc.) to calculate your financial need.

Here are a few issues you need to be aware of when planning for the cost of college:

• Sometimes families can lower their EFC. Many families plug their numbers into a calculator or the form and give up when they see a high number.
• Colleges do not always meet all of your financial need, plus what they do meet can be in the form of loans.
• Private scholarships are often considered a resource, and are subtracted off your financial need rather than your EFC. In other words, the college benefits from your child earning private scholarships because it can pay out less in financial aid.

To find out how low your EFC could be, contact us for an EFC analysis.

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