When you get remarried, you become part of a new household. Yes, there will be variable situations, some where it seems like the step parent is being punished, but there has to be a standard formula, or financial aid officers would have to pick through every detail of every family’s situation. The college sees no difference between the mother of teens who married an engineer with a significant salaries last year, and the one who married him when her children were all under 5 - they are still a household. Presumably, the engineer knew she had children when they got married - they are part of the “package.” Indeed, some choose to delay the wedding until after the kids are through college, for that very reason.