<p>IF the federal form says you have an EFC of $15,000 and the private school form says $22,000 , which will be used? </p>
<p>Appears that the private schools penalizes those who pay off their lower middle class home and actually have equity.</p>
<p>Generally a school that asks for both FAFSA and profile, the FAFSA is used to determine eligibility for federal funds (Pell/ACG/subsidised loans etc) while the profile is what they use for determining any school based aid.</p>
<p>Yes private schools look at a lot more than FAFSA. There was even one thread where the poster had to report how much they paid for their cars.</p>
<p>At a private school, the federal form will be used to qualify the student for government aid, like the Pell, ACG, work-study, and subsidized loans. Then the private school form is used to evaluate need for the school's own money. So it is a hybrid process.</p>
<p>You are absolutely right about home equity. The reason as I understand it is Uncle Sam's desire to encourage people to buy homes, like the income tax deductibility of home mortgage interest. Private schools could care less about that, so home equity is fair game.</p>