I’ve seen advice in several places that recommends putting zero in for this question.
“This is a ridiculous question that does not clearly indicate that the amount is to the EFC. Answering anything other than zero will reduce the amount of financial aid for which you are eligible.” (emphasis is mine)
Is this a correct interpretation of the question?
No. How any particular school will use the answer to this question is a mystery. I see no indication that any school interprets the number reported here to be in addition to a school calculated EFC.
Assuming that it is not in addition to a school-calculated EFC, perhaps the best answer is to run the net price calculator on each CSS Profile school being applied to and then give a number no higher than the lowest school-calculated EFC from any of those schools’ net price calculators.
We put down what we thought we could contribute.