The advisory committee's proposal is also designed to correct an outdated assumption about retirement savings.

According to Joyce, when the IM was created in the 1950s, very few employers offered retirement savings for their workers. But the situation has changed, he says, and now it is safe to assume that families with an income over a certain amount will have some retirement money provided for them.

The proposal would lift the protection on retirement savings for some income levels.

Hudson says this move could counteract the first change, depending on the size of the family. For a small family, this could lead to less aid but for a large family it could lead to more aid.

"It's hard to predict," he says.

The final amendment on the table would change the connection between income and assets in the IM.

"Families with moderate incomes can have high assets," says Hudson, "Families with high incomes can have very few assets."

The new system would protect families from being over-assessed (or under-assessed) because of the disparity between the amount of money they make and the amount of money they have.

The bottom line is that more need will be determined, and for schools that have pledged to meet all need, like Harvard, more money will be dished out.

But the ultimate payout to students is unknown because the IM is not the final say in financial aid. Like most schools, Harvard deviates somewhat from the IM's recommendations.

"The IM is the starting point--we use it as a foundation," Miller said in an interview last spring.

But Miller also told The Crimson that his office would "absolutely" follow the changes the College Board advocates.

According to Miller, "It'll probably be more in line with us now anyway."

Both Hudson and Joyce say the reaction to their proposal has been positive thus far.

"We had a meeting at the College Board last week and in general there was really widespread support fir the changes," Hudson says.