What does Net Cost mean in College Vine Chancer, inc loans?

I'm finding College Vine, with a few big exceptions, is pretty much in sync with Net Price Calculators at individual colleges and so a convenient way to search.

However, CV arrives at the net cost in my case almost exclusively with need aid, and almost always says I have little chance of merit aid (despite my high stats and despite the fact that in many case I already know I qualify for big merit scholarships automatically based on GPA or rank)

At most colleges the NPC includes merit aid and that's usually by far the biggest chunk of aid.

It winds up close to the same figure, so I guess it's okay to gage using CV?

And when it says "Net Price" does that include need aid such as loans? So is a 20k net price according to CV what I might pay without taking out loans?

If it does not include loans, then the need-heavy, merit-vacant result on CV is about the same figure as most NPCs which grant me big merit and very little need aid.

I don't understand why CV and college NPCs are so different on the question of merit and need.