In the phrase ‘Pell Grant EFC’, the term EFC stands for expected family contribution and it is one of the criteria which play an important role in determining the amount of grant to be awarded to a particular individual.

The determination of eligibility of a particular student not only for Pell Grant but also for other forms of college scholarships is based on the financial history of the family and an approximate estimation of the amount which the family can spare for the child’s education. This is because since the Pell Grant is one of the grant programs which need not be paid back, the financial history as well as the EFC demands serious consideration.

The calculation involved in the Pell Grant EFC is quite complicated but it is essential for the interested student to be aware of it in order to determine his own eligibility for the various scholarship programs. The EFC is derived by estimating the aggregate value of the assets, savings and other forms of property and wealth owned by the individual as well as his family.

Accordingly, the expected contribution of the individual is calculated at being 20% of the applicant’s wealth while his parents are expected to contribute only 5.64% of their total wealth towards their progeny’s education related expenditure. Therefore, the total EFC index would be the sum total of the two values and the range of the Pell Grant EFC generally is $4000 to $5000.

It is imperative for the student to possess a good understanding of the EFC as a proper and accurate calculation would prove to be of great help to identify the suitable financial aid program. In addition, an in-depth understanding of the calculation method for EFC could enable one to manipulate the figure and lower it so as to make oneself eligible for higher financial assistance.

An applicant who is not confident of calculating the Pell Grant EFC on his own could opt to use an online calculator which would provided the exact amount of EFC index on typing in the correct figures.

In order to gain access to such calculators and to find out which formula to use for calculation, the student needs to log on to reputed and reliable websites and read the detailed online information as to the Pell Grant requirements pertaining to particular educational institutions.

The value of the Pell Grant EFC inversely proportional to the amount of aid granted to the student, implying that the higher the value of EFC the lower is the amount of aid which is granted and vice versa , recommended reading  requirements for Pell grant , Pell Grant status , Pell Grant rules , Pell Grant requirements and Pell Grant guidelines .