How volatile will your income and other FA factors be over the years that your financial situation will be evaluated for FA purposes? Consider:
- Changes in income, particularly things like self employment, small business, rental, or investment income.
- Changes in assets, including home equity due to local real estate market swings.
- Other kids in the family starting or finishing college.
- Parental marriage or divorce (including if a divorced parent remarries).
Also, if any money is from merit scholarships, consider the renewal criteria – if the criteria are strict (e.g. college GPA > 3.5 needed or other conditions where there is a significant risk of not meeting every year), consider the risk of losing the merit scholarship.
Also, consider the risk of the student needing more than 8 semesters of school. The risk is probably minimal for the strongest students, but can be significant for many other college students based on prior academic record (e.g. a high school 3.0 GPA student with 1100 SAT score may be considered college ready, but is less likely to finish in 8 semesters than a high school 4.0 GPA student with a 1500 SAT score) or other factors like known medical issues that may cause some semesters to be lost to medical withdrawal.