<p>It depends on how the business and the ownership of the buildings are structured. He can certainly appeal and if things are structured in a way that the financial aid office can view it favorably for him, good for him. Every case has its individual issues and it is entirely possible that this case may find a niche where the EFC can be recalculated. But I know many folks who filed for BK and many with such holdings, and they did not come out too well on the financial aid end, especially with FAFSA. With PROFILE, an individual college has a lot of leeway and can do just about whatever it pleases with its own money, but FAFSA is a whole other story. I’ve seen some pretty crazy cases where income and assets should not have been valued or even counted the way they had to be according FAFSA methodology and the only way out is to take off that year and wait till the dust settles. It’s only been because of the huge number of unemployed that the “displaced worker” exception was allowed. Your EFC is based on numbers from the prior year and even if you are flat broke right now, it’s 2010 numbers that hold. But, certainly the OP’s friend should discuss this with the college financial aid counselors.</p>
<p>But also, as others have commented, even lowering the EFC somewhat is not going to be much help to an OOSer at a UC most likely. You don’t get PELL monies unless that EFC is waaaaay low, so subsidization of the STaffords is about all that may be accomplished and he may already have that. I recommend the student gives it a try to discuss the situation with FA, but not get the hopes up. It’s always good to be known to your FA office and get whatever ideas you can from these counselors and more familiarity with the system. There can also be some mistake or loophole or something in the present situation that gets caught. I just want to caution not to get ones hopes pinned on a bonanza from the session due to the circumstances as they are reported.</p>