Going back to college but need to basically have less money to get more grants. Is newer car a good idea?

I know it sounds very "non" frugal but I lived at home and saved up money while doing so. I mean I never went out to eat and barely spent more than $200 a month, if that. I probably had more expenses on car repairs and whatnot than I did on leisure.

Now I wanna go back to school but I basically don't qualify for grants and just mostly loans as a single household based off of the amount i have. i could pay cash for a vehicle right now but i obviously would't do this. so is buying a new car a good decision? right now i just have a beater and love the fact that i can trash it and treat it like crap.