Your Personal Financial Aid Offer
It is important to understand how your financial aid is calculated and offered to your account. Your financial aid is based on your Free Application for Student Aid (FAFSA) results as well as your “cost of attendance”, a figure that is estimated based on your tuition & fees, housing, transportation, and other expenses.
Financial aid programs were created with the idea that the primary responsibility for paying college costs rests with the student and his or her family. Need-based financial aid is available to families who demonstrate a need for additional resources to help pay college costs. The formula used to determine whether a student is eligible for need-based aid is:
Cost of Attendance (Budget)
– Expected Family Contribution (EFC)
– Scholarships/Other Resources (Sponsored Tuition Payments, Book Vouchers, etc.)
= NEED FOR AID
Information on the budget and EFC can be found on the Award Offer screen on Student Information System (SIS) (see Finding the Information You Need on SIS for assistance). Components of the budget can also be seen on the How Much You Will Need to Pay or Borrow section.
Your financial aid offer is based on the following factors that determine financial need:
Cost of Attendance (Budget)
The budget on SIS represents a reasonable estimate of the cost of attending UM-Flint. Please note, the budget has different amounts for room and board depending whether you live on your own, are living with your parents, or living in student housing as reported on the FAFSA. Dependent students may be asked to provide a lease agreement to document living arrangements.
Expected Family Contribution (EFC)
The information you reported on your FAFSA, along with other documents on file with the Office of Financial Aid, were used to calculate your EFC. A formula called Federal Methodology, legislated by the U.S. Congress, uses information from your FAFSA and a consistent analysis of your family’s situation to calculate the EFC. The EFC is made up of two parts:
- Parent Contribution: For dependent students this portion of the EFC is calculated from parental resources (taxable and non-taxable income, and assets). Allowances for living expenses (based on family size), taxes paid, the number of siblings in college, and asset protection for retirement, are built into the formula.
- Student Contribution: This is the portion of the EFC that you, the student, are expected to contribute from your income and a percentage of your savings and other assets.
Scholarships/Other Resources
Students are encouraged to seek scholarships from private sources and UM-Flint, as well as to utilize other resources such as sponsored tuition payments and veterans’ benefits. Federal regulations and university policies require that these forms of assistance be counted as financial resources when determining eligibility for need based Title IV financial aid, however some federal veteran’s educational benefits are excluded. These scholarships and other resources will first be used to meet any gap between the budget, the EFC, and the financial aid offered. Next, they will reduce the amount of loan or work-study offered. Only if all loan and work-study have been replaced by scholarships or other resources will the amount of grant/scholarship aid be reduced.