• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Bank of North Dakota

  • College Handbook
  • Blog
  • Video
  • Get Educated
  • Contact
  • bnd.nd.gov
  • Search

FAFSA

How Do Colleges Determine Financial Need?

By Amanda Woidyla

Most financial aid is based on financial need. Financial need is the difference between the college’s cost of attendance and your Expected Family Contribution or EFC. The cost of attendance is determined by the school. This includes tuition and fees, books, supplies, room and board, personal expenses and transportation. 

Financial-Need-post

The EFC is calculated from the information you put on the FAFSA. It is affected by dependency status, household size, income, assets and the number of household members enrolled in college or trade schools. You will receive this number on the student aid report (SAR) you receive from the schools you apply to. Starting in July 2023, the EFC will be replaced with the Student Aid Index (SAI). SAI is similar to EFC. However, the SAI provides a different measurement and methodology to determine the aid a student is eligible to receive. 

Many families are unable to help their child with college or they may not want to help depending on their personal philosophy. These students need to look to grants, scholarships, personal savings or College SAVE 529 account, money they earn at a job or student loans to fund their education.

Amanda Woidyla

Amanda Woidyla is the University and Student Development Coordinator at BND, which is a long title for “I help students plan and pay for college and plan TO pay for college.” She coordinates College Application Month, North Dakota’s branch of the American College Application Campaign and REALLY likes public speaking. Outside of work, Amanda likes to ride bikes, do yoga and pet other people’s dogs.

You will also like:

Resume-Building-Stand-Out-post
Housing-On-Off-Campus-post
Tax-Time-post

Primary Sidebar

Get Educated

Sign up to get email updates

Most Popular

  • Why Choosing a College Major is Important
  • What Every College Student Should Think About Before Getting A Credit Card.
  • The SAT®: What It is and Why It’s Important?
  • 9 Tips for a Winning Scholarship Application
  • 7 Technology Tips All College Students Should Know

Categories

  • College Prep
  • College Savings
  • FAFSA
  • Managing Finances
  • Nontraditional
  • Scholarships & Grants
  • Student Loans

Bank of North Dakota

Copyright © 2023 · Bank of North Dakota

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT