Excellent students can reap benefits for their hard work in school by applying to several schools. Some schools have a policy of matching another school's financial aid award offer. You can write a letter to your school explaining that your ability to attend depends on financial feasibility. You can include your other school's financial aid offer.
You can reduce your family's adjusted gross income by increasing your adjustments. Since there's no way to decrease your family's income, you must use adjustments (deductions) that will decrease your overall income. It's best to consult a financial aid officer or planner to leave no stone unturned, but typical adjustments include contributions to IRAs and 401Ks, interest paid on federal student loans, moving expenses, flex spending accounts, alimony paid, some business expenses and one half of self-employment taxes.
Consider what kind of financial aid you're accepting. Grants and scholarships don't have to be paid back, and loans do. You can work with your financial aid officer to apply for all grants and scholarships available that you may qualify for. You might also ask what kinds of new scholarships are available this year and in upcoming years, as many scholarships are offered to students who fall into a very specific category, like female theatre majors, for instance.
Plenty of financial aid is awarded by first-come-first serve. This means that you should fill out the FAFSA the earliest you can. The government begins accepting completed applications January 1, so it's best to try to submit your application at that time. Since W2s and year-end pay stubs are generally not sent to employees until the last weeks in January, you might use your family's previous pay stubs, bank statements and the previous year's tax return as a guide. It's best to be conservative with income estimates, as if you're awarded too much once your actual income is calculated, you can pay back the financial aid, whereas increasing budget constrains on universities (as of 2010) make it more difficult to ask for more funding later.