<p>I had trouble finding anything definitive on-line, but this is the closest I came:
[American</a> Colleges And Universities Info .com - Article: Applying For Financial Aid in the Americas](<a href=“CollegeXpress for International Students”>CollegeXpress for International Students)</p>
<p>Scroll down to the part for US citizens. It appears that, while failure to pay US taxes isn’t the obstacle I thought it was, US citizens ARE usually required to fill out a FAFSA and take federal loans as part of their aid packages in the same way as other American students who reside in the US.</p>
<p>Obviously, though, the important lesson from all this is that the OP needs to contact a fin aid officer at each US institution of higher learning where her sons apply to get more definitive information.</p>
<p>And again, IMO, the OP needs to understand that if she does get a high paying job in Saudi Arabia while her sons are in college, this will almost certainly result in lower need-based aid in subsequent years.</p>