<p>If a school requires both the FAFSA and the CSS financial aid form, which do they use? If my EFC is lower on the CSS, do they use that amount or the higher FAFSA?</p>
<p>If I understand it correctly, FAFSA provides guidelines for qualifying for any federal aid or loans and Profile is used for most private schools for scholarships when dealing with their own money. I still don't understand how on either you can have $50,000 in cash on hand and it's counted as an asset but if you spend it on a new Hummer it doesn't. Only one school ever asked me to list the cars we drive. Profile counts home equity but every school I've talked to seems to understand if you've been in your house for a while, your equity isn't always cash available to you in the form of a liquid asset. </p>
<p>It's getting close to that time of year again, isn't it! Seems like only yesterday....</p>
<p>Schools that require both use both. It's not like test scores; they consider them as a whole. And no, they don't use the lower EFC. They do their own calculations (I don't think CSS Profile even comes up with an EFC per se) and determine your EFC themselves. That's how different schools come up with different EFCs and different determinations of need.</p>