Instead of straight income, would a better method look at AGI, or account for cost of living in some way? Colleges doing this would be a boon for people in small towns like mine, but would offer smaller advantage to those living in high expense cities.
I find myself asking the same question as a resident of Los Angeles, where the cost of living is high, so salary is high. If I moved to San Antonio or Atlanta I could live a better lifestyle on a fraction of the salary and still take advantage of offers like these (and all the tax credits I currently don't qualify for).
And yet, by staying where you are, your revealed preference is that you value you living there higher than the claimed 'better lifestyle' and foregone grants, subsidies etc...
(not a personal attack, just an observation - usually lots of 'grass is greener' talk in this sort of threads, but still urban centers grow at the expense of so-called 'low CoL areas')
