The short answer is no you are not getting screwed. Your family income is $130,000 US dollars. For the FAFSA form your income is in US dollars. A $130,000 reported income on the CSS form will not garner anymore more need based aid from Holy Cross or Oberlin and they both have told you so. The good news is you will be getting a maximum Pell Grant because your AGI on your 1040 is $26,000 so no matter how you got to that number (I’m still thinking tax credits) you receive the grant. If you lived in the US you would not be Pell eligible. Just because a school is full needs meet they determine the need. Now if Holy Cross or Oberlin said they wouldn’t honor a Pell Grant than that would be illegal. Keep in mind that Holy Cross considers 100% of your home equity and that tends to not be favorable for many of us. I agree you should get your parents involved but I don’t think will change the outcome of the decision for either school. There is currently another thread on this board about the affordability of Holy Cross. I think the time has come for your to think about your affordable options. I found it helpful to create a spreadsheet to track the cost of D23’s acceptances. We immediately had to eliminate one school due to cost. I know this is tough but you will get through. I honestly don’t think anything is wrong with your CSS or your FAFSA I just don’t think your financial aid packages came out favorably. This may change when your FAFSA is processed with some schools but Holy Cross and Oberlin are telling you it will not. I truly do wish you well.