CSS Profile

While the FAFSA opens the door to federal and state aid, many colleges use an additional form called the CSS Profile to award their own institutional grants and scholarships. Run by the College Board, this application dives much deeper into your family’s financial situation than the FAFSA does.

Only about 300 to 400 private and highly selective public colleges require the CSS Profile. Check your school's financial aid page (or this list) to see if you need it.

The CSS Profile asks detailed questions about your family’s home equity, non-custodial parent income, medical expenses, and regional cost of living to get a more complete financial picture.

Unlike the FAFSA, the CSS Profile is not free. It costs $25 for the initial application and one college report, plus $16 for each additional college. However, domestic undergraduate students with a family income under $100,000 automatically receive fee waivers.

The CSS Profile opens every year on October 1st. Because colleges use it to distribute their own limited funds, missing a school's specific CSS deadline can cost you thousands of dollars in institutional aid.

Getting Started

Students will start the CSS Profile from their College Board account, and can sign in from this web page. They will complete the student information AND the custodial parent information from the same account, all on one form.

If the parents are divorced or separated, colleges may require information from the non-custodial parent (review your colleges specific requirements). The non-custodial parent will need to create their own college board account. More info is here. The process can be tricky, so please reach out to Ms. Rochelle for help.

If the parents are married, both parents information will be entered at the same time.

Waive Non-Custodial Parent Information

If you have no contact with your non-custodial parent or it would pose a danger for you to request information from them, you may be able to waive the requirement to provide their information. Please reach out to Ms. Rochelle or your counselor for help in submitting a waiver for non-custodial parent info.

IDOC

Once the CSS Profile is submitted, many colleges ask you to follow up with evidence of the information you submitted. They use a platform called IDOC (institutional documentation service) where you will upload copies of your taxes, W-2s, or verify that you did not receive income.

Upon submitting your CSS Profile, you'll get an alert if colleges require verification. You can log into the IDOC portal, verify information, and upload PDF copies of requested documents. The uploaded documents will then be distributed to any schools requesting the info. Make sure that all tax forms are signed-- this is the biggest reason why they may be rejected.

Keep an eye on deadlines! Your applicaiton isn't considered complete until all documents are received.

Page updated

Report abuse