“Punish the prudent and wise.”
This is nothing exactly new. A friend of mine demonstrated to me 25 years ago that his family would have been better off buying a bigger house, a boat, two new cars, and to go on European vacations instead of saving for his daughter’s education at an Ivy league school. His resources prevented her from obtaining any scholarships in spite of her inarguable academic qualifications. This happened to me also but on a lesser scale.
Anybody contemplating college needs to look at the FAFSA calculation documents. NEVER have funds in the kid’s name-FAFSA will have it ALL going to tuition. Parents should minimize assets in their names as well. Use assets to pay off debt, especially mortgage (home equity is not counted as asset by FAFSA)