<p>Dad2013 - I’m very familiar with Duke’s FA policies and working with the FA office. Let me add a few pieces of information that will hopefully provide a little more clarity for you.</p>
<p>First of all Duke’s NPC provides information on need-based aid ONLY. Duke has a VERY limited number of merit based scholarships (AB Duke, Robertson) that are completely separate from their need based aid. Don’t be confused by the fact that Duke (and many other schools) use the terms “scholarship” and “grant” interchangeably for the need-based grants that they award, and that you will see in the output of their net price calculator.</p>
<p>Duke’s NPC should give you accurate information but, as with anything, it’s totally dependent on the accuracy of the data that you input. If you have a very straightforward financial situation - you are a “W-2” employee, have “normal” types of assets, the NPC should give you a pretty accurate read. Keeping in mind that the formulas are VERY weighted towards income, a good rule of thumb is that your EFC will be about 25-35% of your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI). Now, if you have a more “non-standard” financial situation - ie, you are self employed, own your own business, have a second home or rental property, are divorced and there is a non-custodial parent - the NPC’s may not be very accurate at all.</p>
<p>There have been a few comments about the FAFSA EFC. Keep in mind that that is ONLY used to determine eligibility for federal aid - Pell grants, Stafford Loans, and work study. CSS School only use that information for doling out federal aid, not their own institutional aid. You shouldn’t use the FAFSA EFC to estimate your potential financial aid from a CSS School. There are so many other factors that are considered (home equity, non-custodial parent financials, etc) in the CSS aid computations that they often will very widely from the FAFSA EFC</p>