"Many colleges, particularly private schools, will take other data into account before determining your actual aid amount, but the federal EFC is usually the starting point." - College Confidential.

And from the NYT article: "I also have to explain that the E.F.C. is the minimum a family is going to pay. In many cases, they’re asked to pay considerably more."

So fixing the EFC is no panacea.

Ummmm: "the lack of liquidity in one’s home."

Hasn't the author ever heard of a HELOC?

I did find this line amusing, though: "Much of the college’s contribution comes in the form of a discount from the school’s already inflated tuition, which, with a straight face, administrators call a grant."