FAFSA 2016-2017 EFC Formula
Those wanting to know how the sausage gets made should review the FAFSA EFC formula for the 2016-2017 school year. It is available here. The worksheets provide the detail on the calculations; the tables and supporting documents explain more about the process. This will give you a far more accurate EFC estimate than the FAFSA4caster, though admittedly you’re estimating much of the data at this point.