Your new best friend? Understanding the CSS Profile

The FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) is generally understood by applicants and their families to be the most important step in financing a college education. Using a strict formula, the federal government uses the FAFSA application to award Pell Grants, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, Perkins Loans, Stafford Loans, and Federal Work-Study jobs to families that present a financial need.

Often less understood is the College Scholarship Service Profile (CSS Profile), a form that appears almost identical to the FAFSA, but is capable of opening up the scholarship vaults of many private colleges and universities. Roughly 300 schools require the CSS Profile which gives applicants the chance to receive private, institutional funding on top of the government-backed funding provided by the FAFSA.

You may grumble about the $25 fee for your first CSS Profile submission and $16 charge for each subsequent submission, yet it might turn out to be the wisest investment since Asa Griggs Candler’s 1888 purchase of the recipe for Coca-Cola for $2,300. Random references to 19th century business transactions aside, the CSS Profile can produce its own lucrative results, but families may find that the questions about their financial lives are far more invasive than those on the FAFSA. This is due to the fact that the CSS Profile allows schools to apply their own Institutional Methodology. Questions may arise on topics such as family medical costs, retirement accounts, detailed business records for the self-employed, and other financial matters that are likewise outside the purview of the FAFSA. 

The CSS Profile is available beginning on October 1st and because it is processed months earlier than the FAFSA, private schools use it to guide financial aid decisions on early action and early decision applicants. We recommend that the CSS Profile be filed at least two weeks before your school’s earliest priority filing date. There are literally billions of dollars in aid just waiting to be claimed from private schools. It pays to make like our good friend, Asa Griggs Candler, and make your move ahead of the competition.

For more information about our organization, please visit http://collegetransitions.com.