<p>@billcsho </p>
<p>You are assuming that most parents are the ones who are paying those costs. I would bet they are not. Often when a kid is commuting to a local CC or state school, the student is paying a chunk/all of the costs with a part time job, scholarship money, grant money, and/or student loans. </p>
<p>Someone who has an EFC of about 2000 and commuting to a Calif CC is getting BOG waiver so no tuition, is getting about 3500 in a Pell Grant, and maybe a 5500 student loan. If tuition is free, and the student has 9,000 in FA to cover transportation, books, and meals, and maybe $5000 per year from a job (summer and school year) then likely parents arent paying their 2000 EFC. </p>
<p>I still say that most parents in America are not paying their EFC. Think about it. EFC is based on past, current, and future earnings. It expects that parents have saved for college and that parents will borrow for college. That just isnt the norm. Most parents havent saved, and many/most cant/wont borrow for college for a variety of reasons: cant afford to borrow, have too many kids to borrow for each, cant qualify, personally opposed to the idea. Since EFC isnt based on a reasonable % of current income, most cant pay it.</p>