It will not work for families who have ownership in a business, according to College Board.
What would you do to arrive an EFC?
Still not familiar with the financial aid.
EFC is a FAFSA term. You can find out your EFC by doing one of the online FAFSA calculators…fafsa4caster is on.
This will not give you an estimate of your net costs, however.
Do your colleges also use the Profile?
UW-Madison has an accurate NPC. Have you used it @herewelearn?
First you need your FAFSA EFC.
If the school is FAFSA only and doesn’t have their own forms or use CSS, then owning a business often doesn’t matter unless it’s large (I think).
If the school does use CSS Profile or its own forms, then the school will likely “add back in” some of your deductions…like phone(s), car(s), gas, car repairs, insurance, meals, depreciation, contributions to retirement, etc.
There was a realtor that posted a couple of years ago, who thought that they’d get about $30k in aid from Columbia…but once the deductions were added back in, they were full pay. They had been deducting car, gas, phones, and so forth…which all got added back in.
I still don’t know if this part is true, but awhile back, some business owner posted that the “employer portion” of their FICA was added back in.