How is Financial Need Determined?

Eligibility to receive federal grants, loans and work-study is given to students who demonstrate financial need. A formula in which a number of factors such as family income, assets, number of family members, number of students in college, and the age of the older parent is used to determine how much each family is expected to contribute toward the student’s education.

The amount of expected family contribution is then subtracted from the cost of attending a given institution. The difference between the expected family contribution and the cost of attending the institution is considered to be the amount of financial need.

A simplified definition of financial need is:

Education Costs – Family Contribution = Financial Need