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Update:
So I contact Fafsa and turns out theres a problem where my 2008 tax returns for my parents weren't submitted properly so on record they used the 2007 returns where my stepfather (who is my parent by federal law as I'm under my mother's custody) was working.
After this was corrected my EFC plummeted $12,000.
I thought I would be fine but when I contacted FA today they said a few changes have occurred this year
1. Student contribution is minimum of $3500. I don't have a problem with that as I was already giving money to my parents for tuition and this only raised my tuition slightly ($1000 or so)
2. In the CSS profile they are taking into account how much you paid last year. As I understood it I believe my mother misunderstood and she actually put down a figure higher than what my actual tuition bill was last year, leading them to believe that my family could contributed $10,000 OOP in addition to the loans in my package. This is obviously incorrect as my tuition was les than $10,000 after my grants, scholarships and loans. What I believe she did was include loans in the amount she contributed last year which is not what we contributed as far as I understand, but what we borrowed from lenders, which has nothing to do with the school.
3. My non custodial parent apparantly is expected to pay $5000 a year now as well, I believe the rep attributed this to child support. The only issue is once again the documents they have don't reflect my current situation, in which my father does not pay any child support anymore.
I'll continue to let you all know how this all falls into place, I don't know how unique my situation is but at least now we know some of the criteria are: Slight increase in expected student contribution, the amount you indicated your family did/will pay in 2008-2009 is a factor, and if you have a NCP they may be expected to contribute more I believe.
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