So recently I got an email saying that a FAFSA correction was made by a college. When I checked my new SAR, my EFC had dropped $20k. I checked the lines and it seems as though the college used my parent’s 2017 tax returns instead of 2016’s (2017 tax returns were considerably lower). Before I got my financial aid package from this school I did receive an email from them asking me to provide more information on my family’s finances including the 2017 tax returns so now I’m just confused on whether this correction was intentional or a mistake. The reason I’m asking is because one of my high school scholarships ask me to provide my EFC and I don’t know which one to use (the college corrected one or the one I originally submitted with the 2016 tax returns).
I think the school used professional judgment to adjust your EFC. That’s allowed. If you are going to that school, you should use the EFC as adjusted.
Any school that’s putting together a FA package for you can make a correction to your FAFSA. Happens all the time. Lucky for you, it was in your favor! As the poster above said, if this is the school you will be attending, then that’s the EFC you should report to the scholarship.