Expected Family Contribution (EFC) is a term used in the college financial aid process in the United States to determine an applicant's eligibility for need-based federal student aid, and in many cases, state and institutional (college) aid. It is located on the Student Aid Report and Institutional Student Information Record sent after the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is processed. It is an estimate of the parents' and/or student's ability to contribute to post-secondary education expenses. If the FAFSA has not yet been filed, there are a number of calculators on the Web (see links below) that will give a good approximation of a family's EFC.