How does the financial aid process work?
Written By: aaren on October 18, 2009
2 Comments
I recently applied for financial aid for school. I received an email back with a EFC = expected family contribution and it said 00.00 . As far as I know that means that I will not have to contribute anything for school..right? My only question is where do I go from here? Do you receive something in the mail confirming this, how do you get the money? Is anyone familiar with this process? Thank you –
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Just because your EFC is zero, doesn’t ALWAYS mean you won’t have to pay anything for school. Your EFC is just a code uses to determine what kinds and how much federal and state aid you’ll get. It is not what you will have to pay for school.
Reason? Schools vary greatly in cost and there is a max on the amount of federal and state help you can get. So…which school you choose is very vital if you want to pay nothing. If your EFC stays zero after your school reviews the information you will be eligible for the maximum Pell grant of around 4,700 a year if you attend full time. (Or half of this if you are just now starting in the spring… and an addtional 1/4 of that if you attend full time in the summer)
An EFC of zero is fantastic, but most schools are more expensive than what you can get in federal Pell grants and state grants. You will be able to take out student loans to make up the difference… which is hardly "not contributing anything for school?
What will happen next is your information will be sent to the schools you have listed. They will look at it and question you to fill out additional paperwork for them and sometimes turn in other things as well. If you want to speedy up the process you won’t wait for them to contact you… but call them and question them what they need.
Any finanical aid you get will be sent to the school to pay for your tuition and fees and sometimes if you get enough, to pay for your dorm room and meal plans and such.
This is a excellent publication to read if you want more detail. There is a excellent flo chart in the front that clarifies the process as well. It also lists all the grants and loans you are applying for when you fill out the fafsa application and what is the range you might get.
You will not get anything else in the mail from the Dept of Ed (FAFSA)… the email conformation is it…. since you chose the option of recieveing info by email. You WILL but get an "Award Letter" from your school, detailing what kinds and how much fin aid you will get from them. But they will only send you this award letter after you turn in addtional paperwork beyond the fafsa.
Hope it helps.
http://studentaid.ed.gov/students/attachments/siteresources/FundingEduBeyondHighSchool_0809.pdf
you would have to fill out the financial aid form online