What is the CSS Profile?

Perhaps one of the biggest fears when it comes to paying for college is being forced to say to the prospective student, "Okay, we managed to find a way to pay for your education, but when you graduate, you're going to have to find a job that pays $225,000 per year. No pressure, though."

Those looking to find financial aid probably know about FAFSA, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Less well known is the CSS Profile – the College Scholarship Service Profile.

Fundamentally, there are three main differences between the FAFSA and the CSS Profile. The first is in their scope. The FAFSA, is used to apply for Federal financial aid, including programs such as Pell Grants, Stafford Loans and Perkins Loans. On the other hand, the CSS Profile is used by nearly 400 colleges and universities as a way to determine family need for non-Federal financial aid. Or, to put it another way, the CSS Profile applies for scholarships and programs offered by individual schools. Profile schools have billions of dollars of their own scholarship money to award, beyond what the federal government can offer.

The second difference is one of cost. While the FAFSA has "Free" built right into the name, the CSS Profile is not; the form costs $25 to create and submit to one college or university, and an additional $16 for each submission after that. Some fee waivers are available to low-income families.

The third difference involves the information requested on the forms. While financial aid at a federal level requires a strict formula to apply to all students nationwide, the CSS Profile can be tailored to allow institutions to calculate aid eligibility based on whatever criteria they set.

Colleges with early acceptance programs use the CSS Profile to make preliminary financial aid decisions because the FAFSA is not available until after January 1. Then after the student completes the FAFSA, colleges may then make adjustments to their financial aid awards if necessary.

As the CSS Profile is used to find private financial aid, their questions are allowed to be more in-depth and more invasive, including asking for the value of a parent's home equity, annual retirement plan contributions and other considerations. Also, if you own a business, you’ll answer more questions about it on the CSS Profile.

While some of the more prestigious schools, such as Yale and Harvard, require the CSS Profile, not all colleges or universities use it. It would be fruitless to spend the submission fee and send it to a school that isn't on the list of participating programs. But if your prospective school is on that list, do not hesitate. Indeed, the number one mistake when it comes to financial aid is to not apply.

For more information on how the CSS Profile works or other matters of financial aid, please feel free to contact us.