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<li><p>Private colleges can do anything they want to with their own money ("University Grants", i.e., discounts off sticker price). They are strictly regulated, the same as public colleges, as to how they calculate EFC for disbursing government aid. Government aid is maxed out at about $20,000 a year.</p></li>
<li><p>The appeal process, in one aspect, is used to convince the FA officer that professional judgment is warranted in determining eligibility for government aid. Example, assets on the FAFSA were inflated by an insurance settlement in the base year that will be spent on Mom's heart transplant the following year. Professional judgment will allow the FA office to ignore the settlement. </p></li>
<li><p>The point of this thread is that professional judgment will not be used to offset consumer debt, like high credit card balances or car loans, against assets, or payments on consumer debt against income, absent some special circumstance like this. The OP "heard" from a coworker that going into debt to buy a new roof or better car will allow a professional judgment adjustment, but the overwhelming chorus of replies are that he heard wrong or was told wrong.</p></li>
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