If this helps, @willibeeatingriceandbeans, its quite likely your DS, if he has good grades, will get very lucrative internships after soph. and junior years, and may even get some departmental/engineering awards/scholarships that will, combined, easily cover $23K. And having to pay only 23K for a year at Rice (assuming these numbers don’t change by his senior year) is a great position to be in. Good luck!
Sounds like your employer might be able to provide you with a deferred compensation.