<p>I'm a bit confused. I went onto the Net Price Calculator at several of the schools that are part of this Section 569 (Presidents 25) Group and put in our stats. The net price varied dramatically (a $20,000 range). How can this be if this group of 25 schools is supposed to adhere to the same standards and criteria for financial aid?</p>
<p>They each use their own formula to compute your financial need. Some use primary home equity to some degree. Others do not. Some have very deep pockets (HYMS), others less so. </p>
<p>They all agree to meet full need as THEY calculate it to be.</p>
<p>Yes, but the federal method, institution method and consensus method are all used by different schools. Shouldn’t the schools who all use one particular method come up with the same net cost?</p>
<p>Not necessary.
[quote]
]A student’s eligibility for need-based aid is relative to the cost of attendance of each college the student is considering. The student may qualify for need-based aid at one college and not at another.]/quote]See <a href=“2014 Guide To FAFSA, CSS Profile, College Aid And Expected Family Contribution”>http://www.forbes.com/sites/troyonink/2014/01/31/2014-guide-to-fafsa-css-profile-college-aid-and-expected-family-contribution/</a></p>
<p>No. There are schools like Harvard which award need based aid to families with incomes up to $180,000. Not all of the schools have pockets deep enough to do this.</p>
<p>The federal methodology will give you the same FAFSA EFC for every school…but that does NOT translate into the same need based aid by any measure or means. The only thing it means is,that IF you are Pell Grant eligible, you will receive the same Pell award at each college. But beyond that…all bets are off.</p>
<p>besides HYP-like income levels ($180k), others like Stanford cap the amount of home equity that they use in theiir formula.</p>
<p>OK, I think I understand. Basically, even though a college claims to use the FAFSA and/or the CSS Profile and/or the Consensus methodology to figure out one’s financial aid, every school might have a twist on how they count your income and assets. Therefore no two schools will ever be the EXACT same. </p>
<p>The 568 schools are supposed to be in agreement as to the formula they use for financial aid. In theory, you should get the exact same numbers from each school. In practice…well, you see for yourself as there are some things that simply can be interpreted differently even with the same basic formula. We have long time board members who have dealt with these schools and have reported differences of more than $10K among them, and that’s even before negotiating </p>
<p>Usually, however, if you get a package from a Section 568 school that does not meet another’s, they are very open to looking at the competing offer and it may be easier to come to some agreement than when you pull other schools out of the hat with different aid. Because, after all, these schools in that group are supposed to be coming up with the same numbers. </p>
<p>This, by the way, is one of the reasons, I am against ED for those who need to get the best fin aid possible. If a group of such elite schools, that guarantee to meet full need, that say they use the same aid formula can be so far off, how the heck is anyone to know whether an award is good, bad, average for that peer group of schools?</p>