<p>Probably FA Officers do not want to give out that information, due to “Preferential Packaging”. Applicants are treated differently! An applicant they will truly want, will no doubt get a better FA package than one that is at the bottom of the applicant pool. They want room to wiggle & they certainly don’t want you calculating your EFC (IM) Institutional Methodology, to see whether or not you were gapped! </p>
<p>Speaking of which, I am rather mad about the College Board NOT releasing their info on Asset Allowances, Income Protection, etc. in order to calculate your own EFC (IM) in “Paying for College Without Going Broke 2011 Edition”. </p>
<p>When we buy a house or a car, we are allowed to see how much it is going to cost over a period of time! But now if we are looking at private colleges who use the CSS Profile & the IM formula, we are not allowed to calcuate our own EFC (IM), just to see if our home equity matters or if our state & local income taxes are any where near the correct number that we actually paid. </p>
<p>You could use the College Board’s website EFC calculator & maybe get a ballpark number, if all their information is up to date. Really, what does the College Board have to hide?
Evidently the College Board does not want us to be informed consumers!</p>