This is many years ago so maybe things have changed, but I attended a private school where financial aid packages were rewritten at the end of the first semester and the aid adjusted retroactively. All the students I knew (from all income levels) had an appointment with the bursar’s office at the end of the semester. Many of us ended up with an additional loan where a grant had been. There was no change in income, no change in family circumstances, just a drop in aid. I
I refused to return and I know there were others who planned not to go back because they couldn’t afford to take on that additional debt for 8 semesters either. So I would believe that there are others out there balancing their budgets on the backs of the students.