There are lots of good schools he could go to with merit for undergrad.
Places where he could get involved in research and other great opportunities.
One of the national merit scholars in our area applied to U Chicago a few years ago and got $5,000 in merit, a drop in the bucket since the family didn’t qualify for much need based aid.
They also got full tuition and housing at UA, only had to pay for meal plan and plane ticket. They graduated from there with a BS and MS in math and economics in four years.