OppenheimerFunds

Financial Aid Evaluator

Will my family qualify for financial aid?
When designing a college savings plan, you and your financial
advisor will want to know whether financial aid should be con­
sidered as a component of your plan. The OppenheimerFunds
Financial Aid Evaluator can serve as an estimate based on current
financial aid rules. Because financial aid eligibility requirements
and family circumstances can change, the results of this test—
which should be conducted on an annual basis—are not a
guarantee of future financial aid eligibility and should be used for
planning purposes only.

In order to complete the Financial Aid Evaluator you will need

the following information:
■T
 otal
family income—from all sources, both taxable and nontaxable. W-2
income should include pretax contributions to retirement savings plans
and cafeteria plans, as the financial aid system adds these back to income
■P
 arent asset balances—cash, checking, savings, stocks, bonds, mutual funds,
home value minus mortgage balance, other real estate values minus mortgage
balances, business assets minus business liabilities, qualified tuition savings
plans, etc.
■P
 arent retirement account values—plus life insurance cash values and
annuity values. Although these assets are not usually included in financial
aid calculations, providing these figures separately will enable your financial
advisor to ensure that they are not inadvertently included in the nonqualified
asset balances
■S
 tudent asset balances—cash, checking, savings, stocks, bonds, mutual funds.
Also include any qualified tuition savings plans

1234
Instructions
Once you have collected the financial information, enter the totals on the appropriate lines in Table 1
and follow these simple steps:
■ Total columns A, B, C and D
■ Answer the four questions in Table 2

Table 1: Income and Assets Data Sheet

Parents’ Last Name:

Student’s First Name:
A B C D
Parents’ Adjusted Gross Income:
Parents’ Assets
Cash, checking, savings, money market accounts
Stocks, bonds, mutual funds, CDs
College savings vehicles (529 savings plans,
Coverdell Education Savings Accounts)
Retirement accounts
Family home (net of mortgage)
Other real estate (net value)
Business value (assets minus liabilities) x 0.5
Trust funds
Student’s Assets
Cash, checking, savings, money market accounts
Stocks, bonds, mutual funds, CDs
College savings vehicles (529 savings plans, UGMA/
UTMA Accounts, Coverdell Education Savings Accounts)
Retirement accounts
Real estate (net value)
Trust funds
Other assets
Totals
Parents’ Parents’ Non-counted Student’s
Income Assets Assets Assets

Table 2: Questions

1. Expected increase in income (choose one) 3. Expected increase in parents’ assets

■ Much greater than inflation ■ Inheritance (amount) $________________
■ Greater than inflation ■ Legal settlement (amount) $________________
■ Equal to inflation ■ Other (amount) $________________
■ Less than inflation 4. Expected increase in student’s assets
2. Years until college (choose one) ■ Inheritance (amount) $________________
■ More than 10 ■ Legal settlement (amount) $________________
■ 5 to 10 ■ Other (amount) $________________
■ Less than 5

Not FDIC Insured May Lose Value Not Bank Guaranteed

Instructions
■G
 o to Table 3 and find the number in the left ■ T
 ake
the total amount from column D in
column that most closely matches the total in Table 1 (Total Student’s Assets), multiply it by
column A of Table 1 0.35 and enter the result on line 6 of Table 5
■R
 ead across that row until you reach the ■A
 dd lines 5 and 6 and enter the result on line 7.
column that most closely matches the Total This is the amount the financial aid system
Parents’ Assets in column B feels the family can afford to pay for one
student in college if he/she were attending
■E
 nter the amount in this cell on line 1 of Table 5 college this year
■F
 ind the factor in Table 4 that corresponds to ■E
 nter the current cost for one year of the
questions 1 and 2 in Table 2. Enter that factor college you are targeting on line 8
on line 2 of Table 5
■E
 nter the amount from line 7 on line 9
■M
 ultiply line 1 by line 2 and enter the result
on line 3 of Table 5 ■S
 ubtract line 9 from line 8 and enter the
amount on line 10. If the amount on line 10 is
■ I fthe family expects to have more than one positive, the family is a potential aid candidate.
student in college in any year, enter the total If the amount on line 10 is negative, the family
number of students that will be in college on is not a likely aid candidate
line 4 of Table 5
■ D
 ivide line 3 by line 4 and enter the result on
line 5. This is the parent portion of the EFC for
that college year

Table 3: Basic Expected Family Contribution (EFC) Calculator1

Assets
Income $50,000 $100,000 $150,000 $200,000 $250,000 $300,000 $350,000 $400,000 $450,000 $500,000
$ 20,000 $0 $555 $1,875 $3,195 $3,852 $5,650 $7,972 $10,792 $13,612 $16,432
40,000 2,700 3,289 4,912 7,036 9,735 12,555 15,375 18,195 21,015 23,835
60,000 5,725 8,076 10,896 13,716 16,536 19,356 22,176 24,996 27,816 30,636
80,000 12,056 14,876 17,696 20,516 23,336 26,156 28,976 31,796 34,616 37,436
100,000 18,143 20,963 23,783 26,603 29,423 32,243 35,063 37,883 40,703 43,523
120,000 24,511 27,331 30,151 32,971 35,791 38,611 41,431 44,251 47,071 49,891
140,000 30,955 33,775 36,595 39,415 42,235 45,055 47,875 50,695 53,515 56,335
160,000 37,218 40,038 42,858 45,678 48,498 51,318 54,138 56,958 59,778 62,598
180,000 43,380 46,200 49,020 51,840 54,660 57,480 60,300 63,120 65,940 68,760
200,000 49,541 52,361 55,181 58,001 60,821 63,641 66,461 69,281 72,101 74,921
220,000 55,514 58,334 61,154 63,974 66,794 69,614 72,434 75,254 78,074 80,894
240,000 61,205 64,025 66,845 69,665 72,485 75,305 78,125 80,945 83,765 86,585
260,000 66,897 69,717 72,537 75,357 78,177 80,997 83,817 86,637 89,457 92,277
280,000 72,589 75,409 78,229 81,049 83,869 86,689 89,509 92,329 95,149 97,969
300,000 78,281 81,101 83,921 86,741 89,561 92,381 95,201 98,021 100,841 103,661
Assumes a family of four—two parents age 46, two children, one in college.

1. Source of chart data: College Money, 2008.

 Important
Table 4: Adjustment Factors This test estimates a family’s
ability to qualify for need-based
Increase in Income Years to College financial aid at some point in
(From question 1) (From question 2)
the future. It is not a guarantee
>10 5 to 10 <5
of financial aid. The purpose
Much greater than inflation 1.20 1.15 1.10
of this test is to determine
Greater than inflation 1.15 1.10 1.05
whether financial aid may be
Equal to inflation 1.00 1.00 1.00
a consideration. If it is, you
Less than inflation 0.85 0.90 0.95
and your financial advisor may
want to consider using savings
vehicles that will be least detri-
Table 5: EFC Calculation
mental to your ability to qualify
for financial aid. Furthermore, in
1. Parent EFC (from Table 3) 1. $___________
the process of designing a plan
2. EFC adjustment factor (from Table 4) 2. $___________
that is accommodating financial
3. Adjusted parent EFC (line 1 x line 2) 3. $___________
aid, you will want to plan on
4. Number of children in college at same time 4. $___________
exit strategies in the event that
5. Parent EFC per student (line 3 ÷ line 4) 5. $___________
financial aid becomes unlikely
6. Student assets (Table 1, column D total) x 0.20 6. $___________
at some point in the future.
7. Family EFC (line 5 + line 6) 7. $___________

Financial Aid Evaluation

8. Current annual cost of college 8. $___________

If line 10 If line 10 is
9. Less EFC (line 7) 9. $___________ is positive, negative, do
10. Financial need (line 8 – line 9) 10. $___________ plan for not plan for
financial aid. financial aid.

If the potential financial aid amount is small, your financial advisor may help
you judge whether or not to plan for financial aid. At the very least, it is
important to do a regular test to watch for changes in eligibility. When
your child reaches age 14 it is very important to do a full-fledged financial
aid test that will be more accurate.

Shares of Oppenheimer funds are not deposits or obligations of any bank, are not guaranteed by any bank, are not insured by the FDIC or any other agency,
and involve investment risks, including the possible loss of the principal amount invested.
Before investing in any of the Oppenheimer funds, investors should carefully consider a fund’s investment
objectives, risks, charges and expenses. Fund prospectuses contain this and other information about the funds,
and may be obtained by asking your financial advisor, visiting our website at www.oppenheimerfunds.com
or calling us at 1.800.525.7048. Read prospectuses carefully before investing.

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CC0000.021.0309   April 1, 2009