Estimated Financial Packages?

Parents Forum
1

<p>That website which shall not be named here, College P**, has a function which provides estimated financial aid packages and COA after you input minimal data.</p>

<p>I cannot find any details on how this is calculated.</p>

<p>I can guess that there are some problems with it - for instance you don't know a break down of the FA package loans vs grants or work study. I also can't tell if it inlcudes any Merit based upon the fact SAT data is entered.</p>

<p>Has anyone tested this & knows if this "feature" provides a decent baseline? </p>

<p>Would you discourage a high school student from using as part - not all - of their search?</p>

2

<p>The FAFSA website has a “FAFSA 4caster” function. You put in a lot of detail (as if you were filling out a real FAFSA, and it gives you your EFC and what grants/loans you are likely to be eligible for.</p>

<p>I don’t know if that’s the same…</p>

3

<p>Thanks CIA - I just advised the student to not really too much on College Pr*** numbers.</p>