Everyone is different. These decisions must be made from a wholistic point of view. And before giving proper advice the advisor must/should have a better understanding of the person he/she advises!
Having said that, here are some simple guidelines:
The younger you are, the more the Roth IRA makes sense!
If you can deduct a Traditional IRA contribution it is probably better that you take it for the instant tax savings!
Same for 401k tax contributions, max them if you can!
The guarantee of tax free treatment on Roth IRAs may be there decades later...maybe not. Stuff happens. My mother lives in Greece and her "guaranteed" pension was cut 25%. Like I said, grab what you are given now...I do!
Regarding the FAFSA thing: I am really not that familiar about it as my clients definitely do not qualify for any need based aid at all! You need to be careful with them as scams in this area are very common. People get so hung up on being "fancy" with the goal of maximizing financial aid that jackases/thieves out there will "help" you maximize that angle by conveniently selling you crappy investment products like annuities or (heaven forbid) universal life or whole life insurance policies! Run away from this crap!
Hope this helps.