<p>Moving the student’s 3K to an IRA would take the asset off the table for FAFSA purposes, but it also takes it off the table for college purposes (unless you want to pay a hefty penalty). And remember, moving funds to an IRA doesn’t take them off the table as income for the year in which they were earned (although students get an income protection allowance of nearly 4K, so that may be moot).</p>
<p>Fish-- use one of the EFC calculators, and see whether you’ve even in a position, asset-wise, where any of this makes a difference-- putting it all in a 529 vehicle which gets counted as a parental asset may have the same net effect on EFC as putting part in an IRA, given the parental asset protection allowance, without the downside of the IRA being unavailable for college.</p>