The Financial Aid Profile Form grew out of changes made by Congress in 1993 to the federal student aid formula used to figure a family’s ability to pay for college. Rather than adopt the new federal guidelines, some private colleges decided to create their own aid application forms. For families applying to several colleges, this often meant filling out the federal FAFSA plus a separate aid application for each college under consideration, often five or six lengthy, complicated applications.
The Financial Aid Profile Form eliminates the need to fill out separate applications by creating a standard form with one customized section. This section contains the additional, non-standard questions from all the schools selected by you on your registration form. Remember, however, that not all schools will require this form but all will require the FAFSA when applying for federal financial aid. Be sure to confirm with each school you are considering whether or not it is necessary for you to complete a Financial Aid Profile form.
The core of PROFILE is similar to the FAFSA, but the College Board customizes each form with additional questions as requested by the colleges to which the student is applying for aid. Colleges that use PROFILE generally follow the Institutional Methodology (IM) for calculating a student’s need, an approach that differs
in several ways from the Federal Methodology (FM) followed by FAFSA. Since the IM is meant to give a more complete picture of your finances, it is not surprising that the PROFILE is longer than the FAFSA. It is the same general concept but you will need to gather more records to answer all the questions, and it will take more time to fill out.
The PROFILE doesn’t replace the FAFSA. You still need to complete that, too, because that is the form required for federal student aid, which any college will expect you to seek before they give away their own
institutional funds. The schools that require the PROFILE do so because they believe it gives a more complete account of your financial situation to guide them in awarding their own funds. The College Board provides the
colleges with your PROFILE information, and the colleges use it to calculate your estimated family contribution and your need.
The College Board analyzes your data and reports them to the colleges to which you are applying. The schools then apply their own need analysis formulas, usually based on the Institutional Methodology, to figure
out your estimated family contribution (EFC). From this analysis, they determine how great your need is and how much institutional financial aid to give you.
It is best to submit the PROFILE at least one week before your earliest financial aid priority date. Registrations are accepted beginning October 1 of the year before you intend to start college. If you file late, you will have to make do with whatever funds, if any, are left over. You may need to submit the PROFILE ahead of the FAFSA, depending on the deadlines your colleges set. In fact, some of the colleges that require the PROFILE will ask you to submit it before you submit your FAFSA. This is especially likely if you are applying for an early decision or early action for admission to the college. If a college requires the PROFILE before January 1, you can submit a PROFILE with estimated income figures for this year based on your year-to-date pay stubs and your previous year’s tax return, then send corrections to the college later if necessary.
Filling Out the CSS PROFILE Online
The PROFILE is available online only; you can’t file it on paper. The upside of this is that PROFILE is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Furthermore, its online system edits and alerts you to missing or
incorrect information before you submit the application, thus eliminating a potential source of delays.
To start the process, obtain a copy of the PROFILE booklet from your high school guidance office or college financial aid office. Complete the worksheet included in the booklet before actually registering with the College Board, the organization that processes the forms. When you feel you are ready, go to www.collegeboard.com to register for the CSS/ Financial Aid Profile. Registration involves answering sixteen preliminary questions and paying a fee. Have your credit card ready as well.
You can get ready to complete the PROFILE with the Preapplication Worksheet, available from the PROFILE site at www.collegeboard.com. You can also download and print out the PROFILE Registration
Guide and Application Instructions from the same site. You will need to create a collegeboard.com account with a username and password before you can file. Setting up the account is free. If you previously registered
online for the SAT you already have this account.
Registration will involve providing some preliminary information such as your date of birth; mailing address: the year in school for which you are seeking aid: whether you are a U.S. citizen, a veteran, or an orphan; whether
you have dependents or have separated or divorced parents; and whether your parents own a home, or all or part of a business or farm.
During registration you will also be asked a few very basic questions about your family’s finances. These
determine whether you will be asked certain questions that usually don’t apply to low-income families. It takes approximately one week for your information to arrive to your schools or scholarship programs after you submit your profile. Any revisions you wish to make will have to be sent directly to your school or program at this time.
Most families will have to pay a fee of $23 to register for the PROFILE and to have their information sent to one college, plus $18 for each additional college. You will need to give their CSS codes. You can add more
colleges to this list after you register, or even after filing your application. Just go to the PROFILE website and click on “Add Colleges to Submitted Application.” The fee can be paid with most major credit cards, some
bank debit cards, or by an electronic withdrawal from your checking account. Low income families applying for the first time may qualify for a fee waiver.
After you complete your PROFILE you will receive an online PROFILE acknowledgment that confirms the colleges to which you are sending the information and gives you the opportunity to correct any data you submitted. You should print the acknowledgment, which includes the list of colleges and the data you entered
on the form. Once you submit your PROFILE you can’t revise your information online. Use the printed acknowledgment to make changes, if necessary, to the PROFILE information, and send those corrections directly to your colleges.
Information Required on the CSS PROFILE
It is a good idea to gather the necessary records before you start and have them handy as you work on the PROFILE. The CSS PROFILE requires all the information contained in the FAFSA and more. Here are
some of the documents you need:
- Records for both yourself and your parents
- U.S. income tax return for the year before you start college, if completed; pay stubs and other income-related records for estimates
- U.S. income tax return for the year before that
- W-2 forms and other records of money earned the year before you start college
- Records of untaxed income for those two years
- Current bank statements and mortgage information
- Records of stocks, bonds, trusts, and other investments
- The value of the parents’ home and amount owed on the home
- Funds paid for private elementary, junior high, and high school tuition for dependent children
- Savings and investments held in the name of the student’s siblings who are under 19 and not in college
- The name and address of the non-custodial parent and whether there is a court order requiring support. In addition, the form asks if there is a formal agreement that the noncustodial parent will be paying for education.
- The year in which your home was purchased and its original purchase cost
- The year and model of any vehicles owned
- The current value of your IRA, 401(k), or other pension plans
- A supplemental form asking for income and assets of the noncustodial parent
