Expected Family Contribution and Established Financial Need
The U.S. Deptartment of Education uses the information you and your parents (if required) provide on the Free Application for Federal Financial Aid (FAFSA) to calculate your Expected Family Contribution (EFC).
Your EFC is not the amount of money your family is to pay to the University. The EFC is the number that is used to determine your eligibility for federal, state and University need-based aid. Your EFC is reported to you on your Student Aid Report (SAR) which the U. S. Department of Education provides you. Your EFC is also reflected on your UGA financial aid Award.
The Federal Methodology (FM) is the statutory formula used to calculate your EFC. The FM considers your family's taxable and untaxable income, assets, the number of household members and the number of those members other than parents who are attending college. By you providing UGA's Federal School Code (001598) on your FAFSA, the Federal Central Processing System (CPS) electronically transmits your processed FAFSA data and EFC to OSFA.
As previously stated, your EFC does not represent an amount of money owed to the University.
Your Established Financial Need (EFN) is the difference between your Cost of Attendance (COA) at UGA and your EFC.
Your EFC is a primary determinate of your potential eligibility for the Federal Pell Grant. Your EFC and EFN are two of the factors used in determining your potential eligibility for the:
- Federal Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG)
- National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent Grant (SMART)
- Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG)
- Federal Work-Study Program (FWS)
- Federal Perkins Loan
- Federal Direct Subsidized Loan.
- Georgia Leaveraging Educational Assistance Partnership Grant (LEAP).