<p>In going through the FAFSA and CSS queries, it seems that there is so much room for error.</p>
<ul>
<li>There is no information collect about state taxes and local taxes. The FAQ talks about "automatically calculating" it, but I find that VERY unlikely to be accurate. Local taxes depend on the actual locale of residence which is NOT necessarily the same as the mailing address (Post Office) for that residence. This can be a huge source of error.</li>
<li>No query about property taxes: How can that be ignored? The variance for that is huge.</li>
<li>There is a query about deductions, yet no query about AMT which effectively nullifies a significant fraction of those deductions.</li>
<li>It asks for monthly mortgage payments and I just <em>know</em> that most people will enter in the amount they pay their mortgage company each month, which usually includes not only mortgage interest, but also escrow for property taxes, insurance, etc -- another huge source of error/variance.</li>
</ul>
<p>I guess its summed up where I read that the EFC that comes out of FAFSA apparently makes NO CONSIDERATION(!!!) for WHERE one lives (and that its apparently based on 1967 COL figures). That's just outrageous...</p>
<p>
True. That is just the way it is at this point.</p>
<p>Isn’t AMT already included in your total tax figure? You report that on FAFSA. The tax figure is used to reduce income in the FAFSA EFC. Why would AMT need to be included elsewhere again?</p>
<p>I’ve gotten pretty mellow about the entire process…most of these differences make very small differences in the expected famly contribution computation. The only time it can be significant is if it tips one toward Pell eligible or not, but then at that income level if you are Pell eligible you probably aren’t paying AMT, your taxes are probably extremely low or zero and your motgage payments/property taxes if you have them are probably very low. Play with the calculators and you can see this. For the middle class it is what it is and you perhaps commute or go to a local college for two years and transfer to save money. I’m not coming from an elitist perspective either…far from it…I’ve just gotten very realistic about what it all means. Private colleges are expensive, public schools cost less and the two year and transfer option is the least expensive. Most middle class families will fit into one of those scenarios and it is what it is, tweaking your FAFSA or Profile to make a thousand dollar difference isn’t going to change the big picture and it won’t open up “gobs” of federal aid. Most decisions that impact the out of pocket funds available for college educations were made through the course of the child’s growth…you choose where you live, you choose your lifestyle, you choose the colleges where you apply.</p>
<p>"I’ve gotten pretty mellow about the entire process…most of these differences make very small differences in the expected famly contribution computation…tweaking your FAFSA or Profile to make a thousand dollar difference isn’t going to change the big picture and it won’t open up “gobs” of federal aid. Most decisions that impact the out of pocket funds available for college educations were made through the course of the child’s growth…you choose where you live, you choose your lifestyle, you choose the colleges where you apply. "</p>
<p>I realize you are right about what you are saying here… with the caveat that decisions made so early on as you suggest, are made based on information that has turned out to be wrong or significantly off-base. I doubt that most folks 20 years ago planned for the increases in COA to totally outstrip the ability of upper middle class families to pay (and remain upper middle class by other criteria).</p>
<p>“Isn’t AMT already included in your total tax figure?”</p>
<p>yes, of course, but I brought it up because at least CSS asks for the deductions figure but that number is meaningless without considering that a big chunk of the deductions figure is negated by the AMT. AMT is ridiculous in general because it renderless meaningless all those “Oh, its tax-deductible” incentives that one hears so frequently… what’s the point of this dual tax system, just more unnecessary work.</p>