As I said above, you and your family should understand how the school came to it’s numbers. I have known people who have disputed business and property valuations and were able to present a clear case as to why the school’s methodology was flawed in evaluating their situation. You are highly unlikely to win if your case hinges on trying to get any school to change what is standard form, but situations could be misinterpreted, mistaken or be something that simply does not fit any parameters that school has.
But, yes, it can really hurt when a family is cash poor for financial aid, yet they are not eligible for money. I knew a family who owned a portion of family property that was valued high enough that it knocked them out of the running for financial aid. Inherited, shared family land , and they had the privilege of living in that property , but selling it was at best very messy and maybe not even legally possible. But none of the PROFILE schools took that into consideration. It was an asset and was counted as such.
A situation I see a lot is parents not willfully to pay what college’s formulas deem their EFC. It comes up so very much with divorced families, especially when one of the parents has started a second family. FAFSA does not ask for noncustodial parent financials. PROFILE often does. That a parent won’t contribute for college is not a factor to the colleges.