I agree it’s sad, there was even a kid who was helping out a friend stuck abroad in a horrible situation, whose electricity had been shut down and had no internet, and that thread was shut down. But they’re the TOS and we can’t do anything about it so we wanted to warn you that it might happen :(. I don’t know if there’s an exception for a disabled adult who can’t do it on their own. (However, sometimes “asking for a friend” turns out to be “pretending to ask for someone else but I was really asking for myself”, and if the poster comes clean to the mods it’s okay. I think. 
)
Yes he can apply ED2 elsewhere but not all universities offer ED2.
Most importantly, a lower income kid applying to a meet need university will get the best deal whereas “don’t meet need” universities often use scholarships to incentivize students they want, but they don’t need to with ED.
Some “meet need” universities fill their class with ED1 candidates, so that his best shot as a gifted, high-need applicant may be applying ED1 to one of those.
The HUGE difference is that when you apply ED to a “meet need” university, they promise to cover your financial need if they admit you. Syracuse can admit someone and say “if you can’t pay, not our problem” (that’s what “doesn’t meet need” means, in reality).
HEOP helps at NYS, need unmet universities because the State helps, so that these universities have an incentive. Anyway I just checked (the conditions seemed strange) and Syracuse seems to limit its HEOP program to part-time, returning adults. So there’d be no incentive to provide him with sufficient aid.
What does he want to major in?
Why Syracuse?
There may well be dozens of colleges that may match what he wants from Syracuse AND meet need. win-win. 