What Is the CSS Profile? Who Needs It, What It Costs, and How to File

Some colleges require more than just the FAFSA to apply for financial aid. The CSS Profile is a more in-depth financial aid application that more than 200 colleges, universities, and scholarship programs (mostly private) use to award their own, non-federal aid. The application provides colleges with a more complete overview of your family's financial circumstances and thus takes longer to complete than the FAFSA.

Students and parents that need to complete the application must do so through the College Board. After going to https://cssprofile.collegeboard.org/, students should sign into their account if they have one or create one if they do not. The information required to complete the application is the most recent year's federal tax returns, W-2 forms, any other financial information demonstrating income, including untaxed income. Asset and liability information such as investments, bank statements, loans, and mortgage information is also required. Both student and parental financial information is required, and some colleges also require a separate CSS Profile from a noncustodial parent (for example, when parents are divorced or separated). The College Board's list of participating schools shows which colleges require it.

After going through the application and entering in the information, it is ready for submission. Select submit and enter the desired colleges. The CSS Profile should be submitted by each college's priority deadline (the College Board says by midnight Eastern Time on your earliest priority filing date), and submitting a couple of weeks early leaves time for any follow-up. The CSS Profile costs $25 for the first college and $16 for each additional college. It is free for undergraduate students living in the U.S. whose family adjusted gross income is up to $100,000, who qualified for an SAT fee waiver, or who are orphans or wards of the court under age 24. Once the fees are paid or waived, students can actually submit the application. Make sure to research the priority deadlines for the colleges the student is applying to to ensure they can qualify for financial aid.

Helpful Links:

• Getting started: https://cssprofile.collegeboard.org/getting-started
• Fee waivers: https://cssprofile.collegeboard.org/fee-waivers
• CSS Profile overview: https://cssprofile.collegeboard.org/about
• Participating colleges and programs: https://profile.collegeboard.org/PPI/participatingInstitutions.aspx