The strongest deciding factor for students is whether they qualify for federal financial aid at all once that decision is reached they are treated like any other student.
The federal financial aid regulations define an eligible student as:

• A student who is enrolled as a regular student in an eligible program. (A student who is currently enrolled in a elementary or secondary school is not eligible to recieve federal aid even if they are concurrently enrolled in a university.  Students who are being homeschooled and concurrently attending a university for additional course material do not qualify for aid under this rule).
• A student who has a high school diploma, eqivalent, or pass an ability to benefit test.
• Each states regulations about home schooled students differs.  Check out the state regulations for your state.  How you are going to be considered is going to vary by state.  About.com keeps a running list of home school regulations by state.  http://homeschooling.about.com/library/weekly/aa072999.htm
• The ACT is a department approved test, however, the final decision about which test is usable is at the descresion of the financial aid officer to best meet the needs of the student.  In most cases the financial aid officer wants to allow you access to federal funding it is still recommended that when contacting schools you contact the financial aid office as well.
• A student must make satisfactory academic progress while enrolled in that program.
• Satisfactory academic progress is defined by each college or university.  However, a student who keeps their grades over a 2.0 average, doesn't drop below full time on a regular basis and attends for only 4 years should have no difficulty with a schools satisfactory academic progress policy.
• Most programs require that the student be taking at least 6 credit hours each semester that they are awarded aid.  Some specific programs may have additional requirments and those will be discussed individually.

Most of the information below is not essential but it gives you an idea of the process the financial aid officer goes through when awarding you aid and the types of aid available.
The primary federal programs are:

• Pell Grant -- The pell grant program is an entitlement and is offered to very high need students.  The financial aid officer other than verifying that information is accurate does not chose the amount of the award and who it is offered to.  The pell grant amount cannot be altered except by the student taking less than full time hours.  This is the only federal aid program that can be awarded on less than 6 hours of enrollment.  This program also requires a secondary verification that the student is taking the requisite hours and may require the student to return part of the funds recieved if their status changes.
• FSEOG (The Federal Supplimental Education Opportunity Grant) -- This grant is adminstrated by the university and the university may make their own criteria for awarding this grant.  This grant is only adminstered to the highest need students.
• Federal Work Study -- The federal workstudy program is a program that allows the student to work in specific types of job (usually on campus or community service positions) and the federal government pays for most of the student's cost of employement.  The advantage to the student is that the pay they recieve working for this program does not count as income for federal aid status on the next year's FAFSA.  The other advantage is the employer has to work with scheduling to allow you to attend school and complete assignments
• Federal Perkins Loan -- This is a university adminstrated loan that is partially funded by the federal government and partially funded by student repayment.  If this loan is offered to you it is the best loan to take.  The loan is guaranteed with no credit check and the interest is frozen at 5%.  There are also some cancellation opportunites available to some (especially those that work in health professions and education).  This loan once turned down can be difficult to get back due to limited funding in this program.
• Most schools participate in the direct student loan program or the FFEL (Federal Family Educational Loan) programs.  The primary difference in these programs is who actually funds the loan.  In the direct loan program the federal government funds the program while in the FFEL program a bank funds the loan.  Both types of loan have a federally regulated interest rate (capped a 8.5 and varies every year;  the yearly interest is frozen for each loan recieved once the loan is taken), do not require a credit check because the federal government is guaranteeing its repayment, payment is deferred while the student is in school, and have federal guidelines defining exactly how much funding the student can recieve in that program.  For those that show fiancial need the student will be eligible for a loan that the federal government pays the interest while the student is in school or if the student shows no financial need the student is eligible for an unsubsidized loan.  The unsubsidized loan builds up interest while the student is in school but the student has the choice of whether to pay the interest on that loan when in school.  Loans require special processing if the student is under 18 years of age.
• Parent Plus Loan -- The primary funding for most middle class families in the first and second year of school is the parent plus loan.  The parent plus loan can be used to fulfill the student's entire budget.  However, this loan is credit based and repayments must begin while the student is still in school.  The parent loan must be certified by the school as fitting within the student's budget.

College Based Programs
Some colleges have their own funding that they use to assist students to attend school.  These will vary too much to have any hope of listing them.  Typically these programs have little overall effect on a student's award package since these funds are very limited.