Yes, if you cannot afford more than $X for college each year, you need financial safeties You often cannot be sure that even those schools that meet full need are going to meet YOUR need, especially if you have circumstances that are not recognized on NPCs. Also, such schools tend to be selective, and some need aware which makes that category of schools highly selective. Merit money is always iffy and many of the guaranteed scholarships are disappearing. So if parents cannot or will not be able to pay for college, the challenge is finding an affordable school.
Local schools are often the best safeties in such circumstances. I live in an area abound with colleges, including a number of state schools with reasonable tuition costs. A lot of the local private colleges also tend to be generous to home town applicants, often discounting tuitions, especially to good students. It’s especially challenging to find enough money to go away to school. Room and board can be very expensive, more than public college tuition in many cases.