Using the EFC Simulator in the School Portal

Using the EFC Simulator in the School Portal Presenter: Mark J. Mitchell, Vice President, SSS by NAIS The EFC Simulator allows you to quickly and easily generate an estimated family contribution without creating a student folder or record. The EFC Simulator simplifies the task of creating “what‐if” scenarios, and is most useful when you want to get a quick EFC estimate based on a few pieces of information, know what a family’s income needs to be to reach full‐pay status at your tuition level, or test the impact on an EFC if you added or changed a policy. 


I.
Quickly calculate an EFC for test cases Build an affordability range based on your school’s tuition Test the effects of policy changes on EFC and need EFC Simulator Navigation Click “EFC Simulator” on top bar Read “How This Page Works” for an overview On this screen, you will find: “Calculate All” button Click this to run a calculation once minimally required fields have been entered Four sections allow you to input data for your test scenario Family Information Income/Allowances Assets/Debts Professional Judgment Options Click the carat on the left of each heading to view the section fields You must enter a value in each asterisked field to generate an EFC Three sections show system‐calculated summaries of main categories of information Income Allowances Net Worth Click the carat on the left of each heading to view the section fields View calculation details but no data entry is done in these sections Estimated Family Contribution section on the right After entering data, click “Calculate All” button to see results displayed here Shows key results, including the Estimated Parent Contribution on the next to last line II.
Quickly Calculate an EFC for Test Cases Scenario: A family wants to know if it’s worthwhile for them to complete an application. They ask you to give them a ballpark of their possible eligibility. In the Family Information section, complete all fields with a red asterisk, based on the household characteristics of the family In the Income/Allowances section, complete the fields that are applicable Note the system requires at least one parent salary in order to simulate an EFC Enter as much or as little as the family situation reflects In the Assets/Debts section, complete the fields that are applicable Note the system does not require any entries in this section Enter as much or as little as the family situation reflects Click the “Calculate All” button Use the Professional Judgment Options section to include applicable Professional Judgment parameters, such as adding COLA View the results in the Estimated Family Contribution box on the right Note the Estimated Parental Contribution displays on the next to last line The PC is shown as a “per student” number The PC is shown based on the day or boarding status you indicate III.
Build an Affordability Range Scenario: You want to know what minimum income is required for a family to be able to fully pay your tuition and not be aid‐eligible. Before you start, consider a set of baseline assumptions you want your scenario to revolve around (e.g., two parents, one child enrolled, no net worth, both parents work, etc.) In the Family Information section, enter the required fields based on the assumptions you’ve designed In the Income/Allowances, enter the fields you want to include in your case study. In the Assets/Debts section, enter the fields you want to include in your case study. In the Professional Judgment section, enter the fields you want to include. Click “Calculate All” and note the Estimated Parental Contribution Does it equal your tuition? If no, return to the Income/Allowances tab and revise one parent’s salary and click “Calculate All.” Repeat until the Estimated Parental Contribution per student is equal to the tuition level you want to test. When the PC equals your tuition, you’re done. Note the Total Income in the “Income” section This is the income level at which a family stops qualifying for financial aid based on your case study assumptions If you’ve included student assets in your case study, look for the total PC PLUS the student asset contribution to equal your tuition IV.
Test Policy Changes on EFC Results Scenario: You want to propose to the head of school that you start including a Cost of Living Adjustment factor as part of our financial aid process. To help make the case, you need to know what kind of impact on the PC your recommended COLA will make for a family. Before you start, consider a set of baseline assumptions you want your scenario to revolve around (e.g., two parents, one child enrolled, no net worth, both parents work, etc.) In the Family Information section, enter the required fields based on the assumptions you’ve designed In the Income/Allowances section, enter the fields you want to include in your case study, including at least a salary amount for one parent In the Assets/Debts section, enter the fields you want to include in your case study Click the “Calculate All” button and note the Parental Contribution In the Professional Judgment section, select the PJ option you want to test. In this scenario, enter the COLA value you want to examine in the first field Click “Calculate All” and note the new Parental Contribution For testing policy changes, repeat these steps for several different types of scenarios that reflect the overall variety of households in your applicant pool, since the impact on individual families or types of families can be different. Create a separate document or spreadsheet for tracking your scenarios and effects on the PC to help project or simulate the aggregated impact on your pool.

Download Report