I had family come see me the other day asking why their daughter's financial aid package for 2008-09 was less than 2007-08. After reviewing and anlyzing the FAFSA information for both years, I deduced that the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) was higher for 2008-09 because their son graduates college this year and cannot be included in the number in college for 2008-09. One less family member in college in this case means their daughter has a higher Expected Family Contribution, which is the figure used to calculate financial aid eligibility.

This is not the first time I've had this question, so I thought I'd list some reasons why your financial aid may be different from year to year:

• I mentioned the number in college. The Parent Contribution is divided by the number of dependent family members in college, thus reducing the Expected Family Contribution if more than one family member is in college. Remember, a parent in college cannot be included in the number in college on the FAFSA. If you have a parent attending college and you included that parent's information on your FAFSA, contact your financial aid administrator to see if you can file an appeal to include that parent in the number in college.
• Any change in household size can affect your eligibility. Usually, the more listed in the household, the lower the EFC. While this is not always the case, you can use it as a general rule of thumb. If you have siblings who move out, it could reduce your financial aid eligibility. The same concept applies if you have siblings move home--your Expected Family Contribution may decrease, thereby increasing your eligibility.
• Even a slight change in income reported on the FAFSA could affect your eligibility. I've seen as little as a $5,000 increase in adjusted gross income make a difference, regardless of whether it's student or parent information. It's very important that you review the dollar figures you report on the FAFSA, because financial aid administrators cannot always tell if you've made a mistake.
• Federal and state funding is another major issue. Many schools impose a priority deadline for filing the FAFSA. This is to encourage students to file early. Federal aid such as Federal Work Study, Perkins Loan, and Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG) are severely underfunded, which means dollars go very fast. Receiving one or more of these awards this year doesn't mean you'll automatically get it next year. If you don't, ask your financial aid office to put you on a wait list. If your state is anything like mine, funding for grants and scholarships is also in jeopardy. My state has historically had to suspend making grants and scholarships to students long before the published deadline on the FAFSA because funding has been exhausted.
• Lastly, a change in your assets could make a difference. A certain portion of assets for students and parents is protected, so you may not see a drastic difference in aid eligibility if your assets change only slightly. However, if you inherit some money, be prepared to have it impact your financial aid eligibility.

These are the most common situations that affect financial aid eligibility from year to year. If you do see a change, ask your financial aid administrator to explain why. I do have to throw in a couple of caveats: 1) I mentioned in a prior post that the type of school you attend can directly impact your aid eligibility depending on your student budget, and 2) the aid administrator at your current school can't analyze different years' FAFSA information if you have transferred from another school because they don't have the prior year FAFSA information (unless you maintain your own records to provide).

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