I’m going to guess that he is concerned because he isn’t at the top of the admissions pile. He is hoping that needing aid at a need aware school will NOT affect his admissions chances.
I still,say…so what.
If he wants to apply to these schools, he should. He just understands that his financial need might affect his admissions decision. MIGHT.
Perhaps a well rounded application list with both need blind (which is most schools) and need aware schools would be the choice. No ED applications…and then he can compare bottom line net costs at the end of his admissions round.