<p>I agree with the OP. The FAFSA is a joke. So is college merit aid, for that matter.</p>
<p>We pay taxes to support the UNC system here in NC. It’s a great system, but many of its member schools have stinky merit aid. DS was accepted at UNC Chapel Hill, UNC Asheville, and Appalachian State, but he will probably go out of state for his undergraduate education – to Univ of Alabama, which offers full rides to National Merit Finalists. </p>
<p>I guess our instate schools are so besieged by NMFs that they can afford to beat 'em away with a stick. /sarc</p>
<p>I predict a brain-drain in states that stick it to parents / students in the fin-aid area.</p>