How to Cut the Estimated Family Contribution (EFC) on Your Child's FAFSA

Once again the time of year is upon us where students all across the US are deciding how much to borrow on their FAFSA Stafford Loans. A lot of us still get hurt by the silly standards our government uses to determine the Estimated Family Contribution (EFC). Families with $60,000 earned income are seeing EFCs as high as $15,000-$20,000. How unreasonable is that? Well, if you're willing to be a bit immoral there's a new step out there people are using to get around these high EFCs.

If you had a child trying to fill out a FAFSA a few years ago the financial aid office at the college may have told you about going to school yourself, as a parent. They didn't mean to enroll and actually take the class, but simply enroll and never pay. Thus on the FAFSA your child could list an extra person or two going to college, which lowered their EFC tremendously. As you can imagine this loophole has now, for the most part, been fixed. However, as with any system, as holes are fixed new ones are found.

How's your marriage? Oh, a little bit rocky? Did you just have an argument? Do you remember that box on the FAFSA about the parents' marital status? It's a little known fact that, while legally married, you can claim separation. Let me repeat that in another way. You don't have to be legally separated from your spouse to file the FAFSA as separated. All you have to do is determine the date your marriage couldn't be reconciled. For that you can just list a time a few weeks or months ago.

Even living together is still okay. In all of America there are a lot of weird situations with parents, marriage, and their children. Some women wind up staying in their ex-husbands residence because of the housing market. Really it's not all that uncommon and won't raise any red flags for a while.

You won't have to actually get separated either. Sometime during the course of the year you two managed to work out your differences. Personally I'd work out my differences with my spouse a few weeks before next year's FAFSA. There's no sense putting up red flags continually. Being separated for a year or two is okay, but staying that way without getting divorced for four years might start to get suspicious.

Some people may call it fraud; it's no more fraud than the last evasion scheme I listed. Legally there's no reason you can't do it. How you see it depends on how morally strict you are. People who enrolled in school without paying will grasp at this opportunity while others will shun it.

Regardless of your view we're talking about the Federal Government. Why shouldn't we stick it to them whenever we can? They aren't doing a whole lot to help our higher education system. Maybe if they stopped using federal tax dollars to buy their hookers and mistresses presents I'll stop finding ways to cheat their system. Until then I'll fight back every way I can!