<p>ED is not binding in any sense in that the school isn’t going to haul your kid off and make him go there and force you to pay. But you had better get your release from them before your kid is put on the ED Accept LIst that does get circulated to certain schools and those that do subscribe to it will flush your kid from consideration from admissions there as someone who is accepted ED to another school. If you can’t come to agreement on need and the cost, I’ve yet to see a school that will not release you. Just make sure your kid is not on that list, or the other choices might not be there. </p>
<p>However, as I said earlier, if the NPC was off for a school like Midldlebury, Penn, Swarthmore and the like, due to owning a business or other situation not addressed on the estimator but used in coming up with the school’s definition of need for you, it is highly likely that other schools in the same category are going to come up with the same. Hopefully, there are some schools that have heavy merit, are FAFSA only, have lower sticker costs on your student’s list, and if not, it might be a good idea to start looking for some.</p>