Financial Aid & Education Funding
How federal aid is calculated, what counts against you, and how to build a funding plan that actually covers the gap.
FAFSAEFCFederal AidStudent LoansPell Grant
The aid formula rewards strategy — knowing the rules can shift your expected family contribution by thousands.
✓Your Expected Family Contribution (EFC) is calculated from income and assets using different rates — parent assets are assessed at a maximum of 5.64%, while student-owned assets are assessed at 20%.
✓Retirement account balances are invisible to the FAFSA formula, but any distributions taken during the application year count as income — a costly trap for parents drawing from IRAs to cover tuition.
✓A 529 plan owned by a grandparent used to count as student income when withdrawn. Under FAFSA Simplification (effective 2024-25), that penalty is eliminated — grandparent contributions are now strategically attractive again.
Unlock the full breakdown: how the EFC formula works step by step, which assets hurt and which are sheltered, how to calculate the funding gap with a real 5-step framework, and how Stafford, Pell, and work-study fit into an integrated college funding plan.
Upgrade to Golden — Unlock Full NotesFor educational purposes only. Not financial advice. CFP® is a registered trademark of the CFP Board.