Perhaps ED schools should do the following:
For ED applicants applying for FA, have the FA office issue a contingent-on-admission FA offer quickly (well before ED decisions are issued). Give the applicant an option, based on the contingent-on-admission FA offer, to continue binding ED (no option to back out for financial reasons) or convert to a non-binding RD application well before ED decisions are issued.
Basically, the school says “if you are admitted ED, here is what it will cost you: $______; do you want to stay with binding ED or switch to non-binding RD?”.
For ED applicants not applying for FA, same thing, except that $______ is the college’s list price.