<p>Also, you have to reapply for FA every year, so to game the system as you describe, you’d have to keep your salary low for 5 years–the year before college and for the four years of college–to keep receiving full financial aid. You’d have to have serious cash in the bank (which FA forms would catch) to purposely go low income for 5 years. If you have very low assets (including home equity) then I doubt it would ultimately pan out financially for a person to go low for 5 years to get maximum FA unless they had always lived very, very much below their means (which would imply savings, which FA forms would catch).</p>