Oh, so the question was rhetorical. I didn’t understand that you were trying to state a position via a question.
Yes, true, car and house are two examples that the cost may vary by a small percentage from the asking price, perhaps a 10% variance. As the NYT article states, however, college cost variance can be 100% or more from the EFC. Our experience has been that college cost variance from specific school NPC’s can be upwards of 30%. So yes, while house and car are the only two examples I can think of that don’t let you know the true cost, those aren’t services, so it’s a false equivalence, and the price variance is far out of line from the college cost variance.
The article makes the point parts of the EFC calculation hasn’t been updated in over 50 years, not that most schools meet need anyway.