Michaela Cross wrote about a trick that some have used to substantially reduce the cost of college:

• When determining eligibility for financial aid those deemed as “dependents” are evaluated based on their parent’s ability to pay – even if parents don’t way to pay.
• While those deemed as “independent” are evaluated based on their own income which, typically, for a college student, is next to nothing.
• There are many ways to be considered an “independent”. You could be an orphan or serve in the military. Or you could get married.
• Not only could this make your tuition free, it may also allow you to opt out of requirements like living in expensive on-campus housing.
• In the past a budding entrepreneur even set up a website to facilitate marriages between college students looking to save on costs.
• This is, of course, all highly illegal, and, if caught, perpetrators could be sentenced to several years in jail and be forced to pay multi-thousand dollar fines.

Read from people who have gotten married for the purposes of college, and what their experiences have been like over here.

Source: Vice