Assets only hit about 5,6%. The problem is that the payout is going to count as income for 2019 income is hit 20-40+%. That hurts. If the payout is banked and still sitting there when FAFSA is filed, yes, it gets hit AGAIN as assets.
This is an issue that comes up a lot when an unusual payout is received FAFSA, financial aid rules are such that it is hit like any income.
After all, it is possible the OP finds another job paying about the same as her prior one and that payout is extra. My SIL received a severance settlement and was hired a month later. The payout was nearly all gravy. Had she not gotten another job, it would have had to have supported her the next year.
If you look st it from a tax perspective, the OP is going to have to pay income taxes on this payout this year, which May put her in a higher tax bracket Doesn’t matter that the payoff is used in lieu of wages the subsequent year, and no job prospects lowers tax rate significantly. Still get hit when paid.