Expected family contribution

In the post-secondary education system of the United States, an expected family contribution (EFC) is an estimate of a student's, and for a dependent student, their parent(s)' or guardian(s)', ability to pay the costs of a year of post-secondary education. The EFC is used in the United States student financial aid process to determine an applicant's eligibility for need-based federal student aid. In most cases, the same estimate is also used for state and institutional (college-based) financial aid. The EFC is included on the Student Aid Report and Institutional Student Information Record, which are sent after filing a form called a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

There are a number of free calculators on the Web to help applicants estimate the EFC before filing the FAFSA. Recipients of need-based financial aid must reapply for each year by completing a new FAFSA.

The term and concept of Expected Family Contribution was replaced by the term Student Aid Index (SAI) in 2024. While the minimum EFC was zero, the SAI can be a negative number as low as -1500.

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