What does my EFC mean?

Why is my EFC 500? What does this mean?

• I plan on going out of state to Kingsborough Community college in NY. My mom is a housekeeper who made $12,000 last year. I myself made, $6,000. She claimed me on her tax return... but in all actuality I'm supporting myself and her. On top of that, I have a brother who hasn't been working for the past 4 years because of a record.. he's now 24, but another mouth to feed. Why is my EFC $500? I don't get it. How much will FAFSA pay for if the school i plan on going to is $190 per credit and I plan on taking the maximum amount of credits... which I think is 18 (if i'm not mistaken) Total for me would be. $3,420. If my EFC is $500 how much will they pay for? I understand EFC stands for Expected Family Contribution, but I heard that I may end up paying way more than that... to never go by that number. Also... line F of my 1040 EZ form was not filed with my tax return. But the "You" box was checked. I put '0' on my FAFSA application when it asked for my 'exemptions.' Is this right?

• Answer:

  Your EFC is not only just based on your parents income, but it is also greatly affected by your income as well. My parents income was just right at average but because I was making about $6000 a year as well it put me right just under the bracket to earn pell grant too. Plus, your brother isn't in college, so yes he is in your household, but because the household cost of living only includes one person going to college that is subtracted from the calculation. Your probably going to receive just a little under $4000 in pell grant, and that's divided in half for both semesters (full pell grant is around $4700). And full time status is around 12-18 credits which should be the same price, I believe that if you do go over 18 credits that is when the university charges more. Pell grant usually doesn't pay for full cost of tuition. It used to when tuition wasn't soo expensive. And it sucks too because you work to support yourself, and you can't afford for all of the expenses of school. But the government takes away more because you "make too much." A lot of students have the same problem. You should really try to see if the school still has funding for work-study because that doesn't count as income, you would list it under worksheet C when you re-new your FAFSA. And it wont affect your EFC so much.