Look,this isn’t an IRS process, by IRS rules. And OP needs to decide if we focus on housing values vis a vis the CSS Profile-- or how college costs have gotten out of hand.
It does help to start with the big picture. Colleges cost X an require Y and Z info for aid. Then process per their proprietary formulas. 800k of RE/assets at just under 6% is (call it) 50k, plus the % for income. 600k in RE(plus the rest) is 36k, min. Can OP afford the remaining 30k??? Could he afford $16k?
Or has he structured his own investments in a way which causes issues from the get-go.
And OP, having been on CC a long time and seen lots of scenarios and “hopes” re: aid, it’s not the need for aid that we are reacting to. Not the desire to do this in an advantageous way. It’s the idea any poster can manipulate things to his own purposes.
At this point, we don’t know your net worth in unprotected assets. You need to consider asking for Professional Judgment.