A school determines what your need is. That’s why they ask for all of the information. By saying you can contribute $0, some schools think you mean you don’t want to come enough to sacrifice a bit. They are telling you they don’t want to cover 100% of your expenses but might be willing to pay some, if you do. Perhaps their institutional priority is to use their money to pay for a portion of 3-4 students rather than all of just 1.
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