If you're under financial aid thresholds that often doesn't matter. The financial aid formulas (at least when I went to college, overlapping with my sister for

If you're under financial aid thresholds that often doesn't matter. The financial aid formulas (at least when I went to college, overlapping with my sister for 3 out of the 4 years) were that the college figured out an expected family contribution, it was split between the number of kids enrolled that year, and then the college makes up the difference with financial aid. My sister's tuition dropped by half when I entered college.