Yes, indigo, what I meant was that most tax-deferred savings options for retirement lock up the money so you could not use it for college expenses. And I have to say that schools that use the CSS Profile do look at those assets -- I don't believe most count it as money you could spend on college, but they do look at what you contribute during the years you kid is in college and add at least some of that back into what they would expect you to be able to pay for tuition. I am not an expert on the calculation (go to the financial aid forum on College Confidential to find those wizards), though.
Edited by intparent
I just saw this edit. Although I can't say for sure what CSS Profile counts, I think what you are referring to is not retirement assets, but retirement contributions in a given year which are not taxable income (unless Roth), but which are added back as untaxed income to give the income figure they use (FAFSA too).
