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<p>Some may not be accurate (usually too optimistic), but some take such things as divorced parents and international students into account.</p>
<p>A prospective student can still use NPCs which may not fully account for many these things by running “worst case” (for financial aid) situations such as using revenue instead of income for rental real estate, self employment, and small business earnings. In addition, always include both parents’ income and wealth in divorced situations, unless the school explicitly states otherwise or uses only FAFSA information.</p>
<p>Using NPCs in this way is likely to be better than the “apply and hope” method.</p>