1. (1) Any student loan program, student grant program or other financial assistance program established or administered by this state shall treat the balance in an account of which the student is a designated beneficiary as if it were an asset of the parent of the designated beneficiary and not as a scholarship or grant or as an asset of the student for determining a student’s or parent’s income, assets or financial need.
2. (2) Subsection (1) of this section applies to any financial assistance program administered by a state-supported college or university.

3. (3) Subsections (1) and (2) of this section do not apply if any of the following conditions exist:

   1. (a) Federal law requires all or a portion of the amount in an account to be taken into account in a different manner;
   2. (b) Federal benefits could be lost if all or a portion of the amount in an account is not taken into account in a different manner;
   3. (c) A specific grant establishing a financial assistance program requires that all or a portion of the amount in an account be taken into account.

[33-5406, added 2000, ch. 213, sec. 1, p. 580.]