I don’t know the answers to all of your questions. In general, when the government calculates your aid, your own assets can make more of a difference than your parents’ assets. Their line of reasoning is that as the student, more of your income will be available to spend on school, but most of your parents’ money will be spoken for by their other expenses. If you want to get more money, you could put your savings in your parents’ names. Once you’re in grad school, 24, in the military, or married, you don’t need to include your parents’ information any more.