“Profile is only a reporting tool. The treatment of what’s reported is up to each individual school that uses Profile.”
@BelknapPoint But if the Profile instructions tell you not to report the student owned 529 as a student investment and instead to aggregate it with other parent assets/investments, how is it possible for a college to back that out and treat it differently (assuming they don’t pick you for a deep dive and ask for specific bank statements etc)?
Although slightly indirect the instructions on page 24 of the link above appear to confirm that the expectation is for the 529 to be aggregated with other parent investments:
“Total value of parent assets held in the names of their children:
Include funds in custodial accounts, UGMA (Uniform gifts to minors) accounts, or other savings and investment accounts for the student’s siblings who are under the age of 19 and not enrolled in college.
Funds held in 529 college savings or prepaid tuition accounts should not be included here, but should be included as one of the parents’ investments.”