Greetings my dear bloggers,

Welcome back!  I’m sure you’ve all been eagerly awaiting my next entry… today I’m going to talk about Financial Aid Applications: FAFSA vs. CSS PROFILE.

I know, I know – as if having to worry about completing your FAFSA accurately and on time wasn’t enough, the school you’re applying to is also asking that you complete the College Board’s CSS PROFILE as a supplementary financial aid application.  What’s the deal?

The need for the CSS Profile stems from the fact that there are two methods for calculating an Expected Family Contribution (EFC) and thus two methods for determining a student’s eligibility for financial aid.  The FAFSA uses what’s called Federal Methodology (FM) to determine your EFC.  All schools will use this Federally calculated EFC from the FAFSA to determine your eligibility for all Federal and State financial aid sources (i.e. Federal Pell Grant, Federal Direct Loans, State Grants, etc.). Most schools will also use this Federally calculated EFC to determine a student’s eligibility for institutional financial aid sources (institutional grants and loans). 

However, some schools (primarily private, highly selective schools) want some additional, more specific information regarding the student and his/her family’s financial picture in order to determine eligibility for these institutional funding sources.  The CSS PROFILE provides such an opportunity for these schools to collect this additional information.  The school then uses the information collected on the PROFILE to perform their own EFC calculation which uses a different formula than FM and is referred to as the school’s Institutional Methodology (IM).   To reiterate, this IM EFC will only be used to calculate the student’s eligibility for institutional financial aid sources.  Remember, your eligibility for Federal and State aid will always be based on your FAFSA.

Specific tips and insight into the PROFILE can be challenging to give as each school has the opportunity to add its own questions thus changing the experience for every school you complete the PROFILE for (e.g. Harvard has added almost 30 additional questions of its own to the PROFILE!).   Below is a list of things that you will find in general on the CSS PROFILE that you will not find on your FAFSA:

      Questions about your family’s expenses such as private secondary school tuition costs, dental and health expenses not covered by insurance, and mortgage payments.
      Specific questions about the value of the family’s assets such as the primary residence, gross values of all retirement funds and pension plans.
      A school may require that a supplemental form be completed by the non-custodial parent.
      A school may require that a supplemental form be completed for each of the businesses the family owns.
      A school could ask additional supplemental questions, like the number of cards owned and their value as well as amount the family has in credit card debt.

General tips for completing the CSS PROFILE are essentially the same as they are for completing the FAFSA:  take your time, read each question thoroughly and apply ON-TIME!  As daunting as it may seem to have to complete yet ANOTHER set of paperwork for your financial aid application to be considered, some families feel like with this additional information, the school understands much more clearly the family’s ability to contribute to the cost of a college education.

The PROFILE is available to complete at https://profileonline.collegeboard.com . Please note that there is a fee to complete the form.  Per the 2011-2012 Student Guide:  “The fee for the initial application and one college or program report is $25.  Additional reports are $16…A limited number of free waivers are granted automatically—based on the information entered on the PROFILE application – to students who are first-time college applicants and are from families with very low incomes and assets.”

And if anyone is wondering…there are only two schools in New Hampshire that require the PROFILE (Saint Anselm College and Dartmouth College) while there are thirty-seven in Massachusetts…

Goodluck!
Amanda