I assume so but wanted to make sure before we submit.
I clicked on some more FAFSA form questions and see this goes under investments.
Are you the student or the parent?
Who is listed on the 529 account statement with the student - a parent or a grandparent?
Yes, under investment assets. More information: see Five Things to Know About 529s and Financial Aid
Also, any dependent student’s 529 accounts are counted as parent assets too.
But it’s not listed if the custodian is a grandparent.
Technically, if the owner is a grandparent it’s not listed (but any distribution from the 529 for the benefit of the student must be reported in this situation in the following year).
It may seem like a small difference, but the words mean very different things in the context of 529 accounts. If a 529 account has a custodian, that implies that the account is student-owned and the custodian has control only until the student reaches the age of majority and takes control of his/her own account. And student-owned accounts are reported on FAFSA (as a parent asset).
From what I’ve read, if 529 account opened by a grandparent, then distributions count as student income which greatly reduces fin aid vs if 529 opened by a parent it counts as parental asset on FAFSA and qualified distributions are not counted as anyone’s income. Thus in terms of fin aid it’s beneficial to have 529 open by parents.