by Brett E. Kennedy, Managing Director
The online portal for completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) opens today for students planning to enroll in college for the 2021-2022 academic year. Parents and students can complete it at this FAFSA website. The FAFSA uses the information from your most recent tax return to calculate an Expected Family Contribution (EFC), or more simply, what your family is capable of paying for college for a year. Every EFC is different because it is based on your family’s particular circumstances including assets, income, family size and even age of the parents. I always pause here to share that in my 25 years of working in admissions and aid on the college side of the table I rarely met a family that agreed with their EFC. Your capacity to pay and your willingness to pay are very different things.
The colleges use this data to try to put together a scholarship and aid package that will enable the admitted student to enroll. Importantly, just as every EFC is different, every scholarship and aid package is different. Students bring to the table different academic credentials, and this can shape merit based awards. Likewise, the differing financial circumstances of families mean that the need-based or financial-driven portions of aid awards are individualized to reflect those different circumstances. The decisions are made fairly and equitably by the colleges but different students will be offered different scholarship and aid awards based on their situations.
Sound confusing? It can be. The main thing to remember is that colleges that admit a student try to put together a scholarship and aid package to make enrollment possible for the family. Will all the colleges offer a scholarship and aid package that is doable for a family? Probably not. That is where that notion of willingness to pay comes in. The strategy is to find a mix of colleges to apply to that are actual financial possibilities for your family. Someone like me can help. I understand the nuances of family financial circumstances. I also have the knowledge and data to compare your student’s credentials to who typically attends a particular college. This all informs finding that right fit academically, right fit culturally, and the right fit financially,
Call me at 765-721-1212 or email me at kennedybrett5@gmail.com today to set up a free, initial consultation to understand how I can help your family.