If income isn't known exactly, then yes it is too easy to game. I suspect that what you are trying to do may well be impossible. Since it is a tech scholarship

If income isn't known exactly, then yes it is too easy to game. I suspect that what you are trying to do may well be impossible. Since it is a tech scholarship, maytbe you could give it to those kids who have an interest in tech subjects over other subjects? Or maybe, as another poster has suggested, you could award some of the prizes to those who make the biggest improvement on test scores. Of course, some kids may respond by deliberately doing badly in one year then doing well the next year.