SARs AND EFCs THE STUDENT AID REPORT (SAR) THE ESTIMATED FAMILY CONTRIBUTION (EFC) The SAR is a report that each student who completes a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) receives each year. We ask that students seeking financial assistance for college include a copy of their SAR with their scholarship application. It is most often used to determine the level of an applicant’s need for financial need-based scholarships, but it can also be used in a tie-breaker situation for scholarships which do not list financial need as a criterion. The EFC is a measure of the family’s financial strength and is calculated according to a formula established by law. It considers the family’s taxed and untaxed income, assets and benefits (such as unemployment or Social Security). Also considered are the family’s size and the number of family members who will attend college during the year. EFC is expressed as a six-digit number on the SAR (shown below) and is the amount that the family can be reasonably expected to contribute towards the student’s educational costs for one year, although not a guarantee of what the family will actually pay, nor is it a guarantee of any amount of financial aid. The lower the EFC, the more significant the need. The EFC is the most comprehensive way to measure a student’s financial need when used in conjunction with the Estimated College Costs on page 18. 17 SCHOLARSHIP HANDBOOK APPENDIX 2018-2019 Comments About Your Information The SAR summarizes the information you submitted on your 2018-2019 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Learn about federal tax benefits for education, including the American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC). Application Receipt Date: 10/05/2017                                   XXX-XX-1234 Processes Date: 10/10/2017                                              EFC: 004321 DRN: 1234  Electronic Student Aid Report (SAR) Federal Student Aid FAFSATM