You are way out of line. First of all, the path to high income isn’t just paved with “working hard.” A social worker or a retail store manager or a small-business owner could work extraordinarily hard and still make a financial-aid-eligible income. On the other hand, I know many people who are ultra-high earners and don’t work too hard. Didn’t even work too hard to get there.
You are wrong. As has already been explained, people in this circumstance do not get FA if their income exceeds the FA qualification. FA officials look at your income and assets. They do not take your credit card debt into consideration (unless you can prove it is for medical expenses or funeral expenses). They don’t care if you “overspend.” If your income is $1M per year and you spend it all gambling or shopping, you still don’t get financial aid.
People with high incomes who overspend don’t have low EFCs. Your situation proves it. You spent your money to send your nephews to college, but your EFC hasn’t been lowered. Your issue seems to be that you think your outlay is noble (helping family) and should somehow be valued more by colleges than the expenses of people who are paying for expensive homes or yearly vacations. Colleges don’t place moral judgments on family spending. It’s purely a numbers calculation.
I don’t understand your attitude toward low income people, but since you’re so eager to have whatever advantages you imagine they have you can quit your job and dispose of all your assets. Then your son would qualify for need based aid, and you could be happy. But you won’t because you don’t actually want to be poor, you just want colleges to hand you the tens of thousands of dollars you think they’d give you if you were poor. You don’t get to have the “advantages” of living paycheck to paycheck like the rest of the working poor unless you’re actually poor. So you may want to work on appreciating all that you have instead of envying and resenting others for what you don’t.
moderator’s note
Closing thread.
I understand that Op is in his/her feelings because Amherst feels that s/he has no financial need and will be full pay if his/her child attends and believes that everyone else who receives aid is not working hard, or burning through their money.
However, conversation is getting circular and Op does not want to grasp the fact that the line to pay for college starts at his/her house. Hoping Op has a financially feasible option where son can attend.