<p>iCalculus it is difficult to read the websites and apply what is being said on those websites to your own “real life” situation. I’m going through that with S2 right now. The “examples” on the website and the “words” on the website one of the colleges would lead me to believe that we should be paying out of pocket around $10,000 per year. The EFC for this son (we have 2 in college) was darn close to the $10,000 because I had a period of unemployment last year and I am the sole income earner. The reality is that it will be slightly over $20,000 just for that son…on income pretty darn close to your parent’s income last year but clearly we have assets that the college feels is “fair game” and/or they “speculate” that my income this year will be higher due to full employment. Unfortunately it’s a college that is not as generous as Princeton. The only reason I share because I tend to want to be more private is that the proverbial “unknown” is how an individual college assesses your situation based on the paperwork you submit which is income plus everything else going on. You can’t base your situation on anecdotal reports from other students reporting their “EFC” or family income. On the surface and given only the tibits you’ve shared 'rentof2 is correct, you can make this work with not a ton of difficulty, but that is a discussion for you, your parent and maybe the finaid office if you feel you need that closure or you have specific questions how they arrived at that package.</p>