<p>But what does that really mean? If a student applies ED to a school with a TCA of $50k, and his EFC is $25k…can he really decline if his F/A meets “need,” but his parents won’t pay the other $25k? </p>
<p>The quote doesn’t say, “the student may decline if ‘demonstrated need’ isn’t met”…the quote just says that the student may decline the admission if his F/A doesn’t make attendance possible…that seem ambiguous.</p>
<p>And…what if f/a is mostly student loans, and the student was expecting some kind of free grant?</p>
<p>ED apps go in before FAFSA is submitted. So, theoretically, a student (and his parents) might not know their EFC is $25k. At the time ED gets submitted, they may “think” that their EFC is going to be about $15k a year…so the $25k F/A award would not “make attendance possible.”</p>
<p>I wonder if that quote really only applies to a student who has a need of - say - $40k, but his F/A package is only for $25k…leaving him 15k short.</p>
<p>I think that because of the ambiguity, people are afraid to apply ED unless they can pay full freight.</p>