<p>“unless you are willing and able to pay any amount over what you are think you going to have to pay”</p>
<p>Any amount? No one needing substantial FA could ever apply ED if that were the case, yet the system seems to work well. If the family’s final numbers are higher or lower than the estimates, the award can indeed be adjusted down or up, respectively, by an appropriate amount (I have heard 40 cents on the dollar). Mistakes are possible, but being based on tax returns reduces the likelihood of a devastating mistake. If a family’s income is subject to wide yearly swings, ED may be less appropriate, but that problem affects RD students as well over the four years.</p>
<p>When a school accepts an ED applicant needing FA, the school really, really wants the student to attend, and is willing to take a financial “loss” to make it happen. As just one example, in the memory of the staff of our D1’s LAC’s FA office, no student has ever been unable to attend solely because of a change from the estimated to final numbers.</p>