Item #1.  EFC WIZARD                       To Request Your Free Downloads:  click here


Expected Family Contribution (EFC) is a critically important number for all parents of college-bound students to understand - yet most families don't even learn what EFC stands for or its significance until it's way too late - too late to understand the financial impact on their family's cost of college and in many cases too late to influence it where they otherwise may have.

EFC is highly misunderstood by parents, yet is the determining factor for most college financial aid awards!  It represents what the family is ‘expected to pay’ and directly determines the family’s level of financial aid eligibility.

GetCollegeFunding is offering you the best EFC calculator software program on the market - and at no charge!  Created by Think Ahead, LLC, it’s the same one that we use at GetCollegeFunding.  When you use this tool - and we review the analysis with you - the results will clearly reveal if your family qualifies for need-based financial aid, and if so, to what degree!  This program will reveal your FAFSA EFC to within one dollar of the Dept of Education's calculation!

This program will calculate your EFC using both standard methodologies - Federal (FAFSA) and Institutional (CSS PROFILE).  By the way, if you’re not yet familiar with these terms, don’t worry.  Just watch our online presentation 'College Funding:  The Missing Link in Planning for College'.

If your EFC calculation seems unusually high, is it due to your income or assets?  Or perhaps your child's?  One of our specialties is counseling families on 'EFC Analysis'.  Remember – (like your golf score) the lower this number, the better - because it represents your family's minimum out-of-pocket costs when determining need-based financial aid eligibility.


Don't be caught by surprise - as most parents are - in January or February of your student's senior year of high school by becoming aware of your EFC.  Sometimes the number is so high that parents assume it's their Expected Family Contribution for all four years!  But it's not - EFC is an indication of one year's cost of college for the family.

Find out your EFC RIGHT NOW and let us help you understand it and assess if it can/should be reduced.  We can also help you develop a plan on how to meet the financial obligation your EFC represents.  EFC does not stand for 'Excessive' or 'Exorbitant' Family Contribution!  But it might feel like it if you don't start planning early enough.

Scroll up on this page and simply enter your name and email address - or click here to sign up for your free download(s).  You'll receive an email with a link to your free 'EFC Wizard' within seconds.  Click here to jump right to the step-by-step instructions and tips on entering your data into the 'EFC Wizard' program and how to email us your confidential data record when you're through.  As you'll see, it's very easy - and your data record will be automatically encrypted for email security.

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Item #2.  FINANCIAL AID STATISTICS '101'

If you do qualify for need-based financial aid this could be one of the most valuable reports you will ever receive!  We’re not aware of any other company or anywhere else on the Internet that provides this information in this easy-to-understand format at no charge, but the staff of GetCollegeFunding wants you to have it for free.  And we'll be happy to explain how the data translates into dollars and cents to you personally.

This report will show you the Financial Aid Statistics for 101 of the most requested colleges from parents and students we meet at GetCollegeFunding.  Financial Aid Statistics are based on historical data revealing the need-based financial aid performance that colleges have recently demonstrated .

The two key questions that can be answered by having Financial Aid Statistics for colleges in which your family is interested are:

• What's our financial aid eligibility at the school?  Stated otherwise - How much of our family's overall need is typically met by the school?
  
  
• What's the "mix" of the overall aid provided by the schools - how much is typically free money (grants) versus loans and work study?

The answers to these questions and more are answered for you when you download your free 'Financial Aid Statistics 101' report.  We have included Total College Costs (in-state-public/out-of-state-public/private) along with Percent Need Met, Percent Gift Aid (grants/free money) and Percent Self-Help (loans/work study) typically offered to students by these schools. We've even indicated if these schools require the CSS Profile Form.  If any of these are new terms to you, don’t worry!  Just watch our online presentation 'College Funding:  The Missing Link in Planning for College'.

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Item #3.  THE GETCOLLEGEFUNDING Weekly Q&A     

This weekly email provides a link to our current GetCollegeFunding column.  It's in a Q&A format where readers are invited to send in their College Funding and Financial Aid questions to us.  We publish between 1 and 4 questions and answers weekly.  Our readers find this column highly informative and relevant.  You'll receive your first email in about a day.  Past articles have included such topics as:

• Applying for aid even if you think you earn too much
  
  
• Low AGI families with high achievers should apply to private schools
  
  
• 401K contributions don't help financial aid eligibility
  
  
• High home equity doesn't hurt financial aid eligibility at most schools
  
  
• Don't wait to learn about the College Funding process
  
  
• Students' blocked trust funds hurt financial aid eligibility
  
  
• Step-parents' income and assets affect financial aid
  
  
• Students' income affects financial aid - after a certain point
  
  
• Interest rates have increased for student and parent loans
  
  
• Child support must be declared when seeking financial aid
  
  
• Some real estate must be declared, some not
  
  
• Always accept a subsidized loan

You can count on accurate, timely and relevant information for you and your family.  There’s never any charge for this, and if you ever want to unsubscribe, you can do so with just a single click.

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