<p>So instead of being reduced by 20% each year, it’s reduced by 20% over 4 years. Still kinda crappy, especially if you have more than 1 kid in college.</p>
<p>But you are right, don’t put anything in the student’s name. My parents/ grandparents didn’t know better and had no idea how to play the financial aid games. They thought they were doing the responsible thing by saving in advance. </p>
<p>And perhaps the real moral is even if you do save, it could still be unexpectedly wiped out regardless of whose name it’s in.</p>
<p>But your stats also beg the question of why independent students are expected to pay significantly more of their income and savings than parents? I just put in identical information in an EFC calculator (total income $60,000, total taxes $9000, total cash/savings $10,000, total investments $10,000). The parents’s EFC is $2776. The independent student and spouse’s EFC is $12,690. How is that reasonable?</p>