Preparing for College Financially
One of my State Data Center colleagues, Dale Miller, pointed this out to me. He thinks this is important to share, and I quite concur. Moreover, this being the graduation season, it’s timely! He has discovered that many parents are quite surprised about how much they are expected to contribute to their kids’ college costs. Dale writes, "This is referred to as their Expected Family Contribution (EFC). What typically happens is that parents bumble along (I know we did) until their child is a junior in HS and then they go through the process of applying to colleges and for financial aid at the FAFSA.gov website when WHAM >>>> - they get a reality check upside the head when it comes to how much the federal government thinks THEY can contribute toward attending school." I can imasgine there are MANY parents sitting in financial aid office with tears in their eyes over this. What can the schools or government could do to reduce this sticker shock when it comes to EFCs?