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The CSS Profile, a financial aid application developed by the College Board, shares similarities with the FAFSA in that completing it can potentially unlock eligibility for certain types of financial aid for college. However, unlike the FAFSA, which grants federal aid, the CSS Profile exclusively awards nonfederal institutional aid.
Hundreds of colleges require first-year applicants to submit the CSS Profile to gain a clearer understanding of students' financial circumstances and needs when determining aid packages. The CSS Profile involves a detailed process of gathering tax documents, consulting custodial and noncustodial parents or guardians, and calculating income.
The CSS Profile is a financial aid application that is used in addition to the FAFSA, not in place of it. While the FAFSA awards federal aid, the CSS Profile awards only nonfederal institutional aid. The CSS Profile allows colleges to award applicants extra types of institutional aid, such as institutional grants, loans, and need-based scholarships, that are not available through the FAFSA. It is important to note that you only need to fill out the CSS Profile if your school requires it. By contrast, all college applicants should submit the FAFSA. Experts strongly advise applicants from low-income families to submit the CSS Profile.
The CSS Profile requires more time and effort than the FAFSA. Students must fill out information about their biological/adoptive parents, stepparents/parents’ partners, and/or legal guardian(s). They need to submit parent or guardian information on taxes and assets using documents such as tax returns from the previous two years, mortgage statements, bank statements, W-2 forms, and other records of income. Compared to the FAFSA, the CSS Profile places more emphasis on an applicant’s family situation, taking into account factors like medical bills and school costs for other dependents. There’s even a special section you can use to describe extenuating circumstances, such as a disability you or a family member has, a family death, or a recent job loss. To fill out and submit the CSS Profile, go to the College Board website and make an account. If you’ve taken the SAT, you can simply log in with those credentials
Unlike the FAFSA, which is free to fill out, it costs $25 to send the CSS Profile to one college or scholarship program. After that, it's an additional $16 per recipient. So if you applied to ten schools that all required the CSS Profile, you'd pay $169.
A complete list of CSS Profile schools is available at the https://www.collegeboard.org/
The CSS Profile can feel overwhelming at first. In addition to the Ethio College Prep's step-by-step tutorial, our dedicated CSS Profile support team will walk you through every step, ensuring you conquer this process with confidence.