“As long as it’s done legitimately, no reason why student shouldn’t try to keep as much student financial aid and shelter the inheritance. I don’t see the issue here. Smart planning.”
I agree 100% with this. BUT (and a huge caveat)- “as much student financial aid” is the key. Not every low income kid wins the big “merit but tied to need scholarship.” Not every low income kid gets what he/she needs to even make a local commuter state college affordable if the Pell plus loan won’t cover books or lab fees or commuting costs. Not every kid can figure out the right combination of need based aid-- even with an outside scholarship which stacks- and many colleges would just take that outside award this kid is trying for and cut the need based aid (which most parents don’t understand).
How many of us old timers have spent March and April trying to explain to first time parents why their list of reach/match/safety is irrelevant now that the kid has been admitted to ten colleges, none of which they can afford?
So it’s that dynamic I’m trying to understand. Sure- shelter, smart planning, whatever. But there’s a high likelihood that it doesn’t matter, because unless this kid is unusually savvy about merit aid, there’s a strong chance he’s going to NEED the inheritance to get through four years with a BA without loans.