BTW, one thing I would stress to the kids if UTD is workable financially (it should be for the NMF kid and also the AES kid if UTD is commutable) is that they don’t have to think of their stay as absolutely being for 4 years if they keep up grades and family finances improve enough (for a transfer to likely another TX public and you folks have the funds).
Though really, the NMF kid has options. Especially if he/she can earn some money through work.
Also, yes, if pre-health, killing it in undergrad (and doing the requisite extracurriculars) is what matters most.
How much AP credits would they bring in?
BTW, it seems that you could apply for deferral of the UTD NMS scholarship for a year:
https://honors.utdallas.edu/nmsp/policies
That would allow for time to work and save up some money.
You may want to look at the policies of the various scholarship programs at the schools to see what is possible.
Some may require more or fewer credit hours to maintain full-time status or exemptions from credit load requirements (if you bring in a lot of credits). That would free up time for earning money.
AES scholarship policies:
https://www.utdallas.edu/enroll/freshman/aes/current-students/requirements/