What are some reasons that your financial aid calculator might be different from your actual aid package? Are there more variables that aren’t accounted for in these calculators?
If your parents are self employed or own a business, own real estate other than your primary residence, or are divorced…the NPCs will not be accurate.
In addition, they are less accurate for international students in some cases.
The reasons…for business owners, and owners of multiple real estate properties…some deductions allowed by the IRS for tax purposes are not allowed for financial aid purposes and are added back in as income by some schools.
Most of the net price calculators are not set up for divorced families.
Yes – the calculators often ask for 12-25 data items. The actual financial aid forms (especially for colleges that use Profile) can ask several hundred questions. The questions that aren’t (usually) asked relate to students with divorced parents, students whose parents own businesses/real estate other than your home, and deductions/credits valid for income tax that are not valid from a financial aid perspective.
Also, people tend to run the calculators using less accurate data with approximations for income and assets.