Yes, he may well NEED that inheritance. But it will go a heck of a lot further sitting as a parental asset at many schools, particularly schools that give a lot of financial aid.
If kid goes to local state U where all he’s going to get is PELL and loans anyways , yes, he may have to use every penny of the inheritance and some to get through with little or no debt. We don’t know the particulars of his situation
I know if Case Western Reserve is funding him, they ‘d want to know about that inheritance immediately, and I’ll bet they will count it as student income that year and take it. Some schools are very aggressive that way. They have a contract in place that you sign committing yourself to letting them know of any money that comes up during a school year