I figured out why the forum’s spreadsheet did not match the CollegeBoard’s…
The first scenario I ran was “I did not qualify for Simplified EFC Formulas” (because my parents filed Form 1040) causing 20% of my assets to be included in Student’s Contribution From Assets and therefore in my EFC.
For anyone who is unfamiliar with the forum’s EFC Calculator and Pell Grant Estimator, the EFC Calculator includes or does include the Parents Contribution From Assets and the Student’s Contribution From Assets appears to be based on the answer to the question “Does the student qualify for simplified EFC formula?” and the amount enter on Line 1: Parents’ AGI or Line 3: Parents’ Taxable Income.
When I entered the data in the CollegeBoard’s EFC Calculator, I noticed that there EFC calculator did not ask “On which form did your parents filed their 2017 taxes?” nor did it ask “Does the student qualify for simplified EFC formula?” Or the needs-based testing questions. Therefore, the only data the CollegeBoard’s EFC calculator had to decide whether or not you qualified for simplified EFC formula was your parents’ AGI.
In my case, my parents AGI was under $50,000, so the college boards EFC calculator assumed that I qualified for simplified EFC formulas and therefore did not include my parents contribution from assets or my contribution from assets when calculating my EFC.
My proof that my theory is correct is based on the fact that my parents contribution to the EFC equals the college boards EFC meaning the college board did not take into account the contributions for my assets which it should have because I didn’t qualify for the simple by EFC formulas.
The bottom line is I am now convinced your calculator and the college boards calculator result in the same EFC except for the error in assumptions related to qualifying for simple EFC formulas.
I can’t believe Mr. Coletta was able to outperform the college board!
VM
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