<p>At Berkeley’s MyFinAid, under the tab “My Net Cost” there is a list of costs like tuition, housing, awarded scholarships, and fees. At the very bottom, though, in small letters, there are rows for “Student Contribution”, “Parent Contribution” and the total of those two numbers, which turns out to be the “Family Contribution”.</p>
<p>The number under “Family Contribution” turns out to be substantially <em>less</em> than the number above, under “Total UC Berkeley Cost”. Why is there such a difference in these numbers? Is this difference due to aid I’ll get through FAFSA or what?</p>