Which Schools Require Css Profile

Over 400 schools use the CSS Profile to determine their financial aid offers to prospective students. Among these are top colleges and the Ivy League, so if you plan on applying to some of the best schools in the nation, it’s in your best interest to learn what the CSS Profile is and to make sure that you know what to expect when completing it.

What is a CSS Profile?

The CSS Profile is a financial aid form administered by College Board, which is the same organization that administers the SAT and AP exams. The CSS Profile helps colleges to determine your financial need and award you with a financial aid package that can make college both affordable and accessible.

The CSS Profile asks for much of the same information as the FAFSA, including tax returns, W-2s, bank statements, and other records of income. Like the FAFSA, it will calculate your Expected Family Contribution (EFC), or what your family should expect to pay towards your college costs.

That said, the CSS Profile generally provides a more thorough picture of your household income to schools than the FAFSA does, allowing colleges to determine which types of institutional aid they can award in addition to any federal aid you might have received. There are even a few scholarship programs that use the CSS Profile to verify your eligibility for their scholarships.

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Unlike the FAFSA, you have to pay to send the CSS profile to schools, though you may qualify for a fee waiver if you received one for the SAT. Otherwise, sending the CSS profile costs $25 for the first school, and $16 for each additional one.

How Do Schools Use the CSS Profile?

Given that the CSS Profile and the FAFSA ask for a lot of the same information, and every school requires that you complete and submit the FAFSA, the CSS Profile might seem redundant. This couldn’t be further from the truth. While the FAFSA awards federal aid, the CSS Profile is used by schools to award institution-based aid.

Federal financial aid often won’t cover the cost of college alone, which is why receiving institutional aid is so important. For example, the maximum amount of a Pell grant this year is $6,095, but many schools have tuition that is double or even triple that amount. This is where institutional aid can help you cover the difference and lessen the financial burden for you and your family.

The two forms also provide different pictures of your household finances. For example, the FAFSA doesn’t ask for your expenses, just your income and household size which can result in a higher EFC. On the other hand, the CSS Profile asks you about your family’s medical or childcare costs, which might lower your EFC (and qualify you for more aid).

Colleges use both of these forms to create a complete picture of your financial situation and decide how best to supplement the federal aid you’re already receiving. Schools that accept the CSS Profile will award institutional need-based aid in the form of grants or scholarships. While these grants and scholarships range in value depending on the school, they all lessen your potential loan burden, and who can argue with less debt?

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You can learn more about how the FAFSA and CSS Profile complement each other in our post FAFSA, CSS Profile, IDOC, Oh My: A Guide to Financial Aid.

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