“FAFSA counts 529s as student assets even if student owned”
This appears to be a typo, it should say parent assets, even if student owned.
“Any assets held in the parents’ names as of the date the FAFSA and/or Profile is filed…would be treated more favorably for purposes of need based aid than if held in the student’s name. This is also true for parent-owned versus student-owned 529 accounts.”
The second sentence is incorrect, they are treated the same. So there is no need to start gifting the money around to put it in the parents’ name, just use a student owned 529 if no other options (such as a Roth IRA) are available.