A CSS profile, or College Scholarship Service Profile, is a valuable tool for college applicants seeking financial aid. Combined with the FAFSA, the CSS profile is the most common form of financial aid paperwork that a student will fill out and offers tremendous benefits, especially for schools that offer early enrollment.
What is a CSS profile?
Basically, a CSS profile is a detailed look at the finances of the student and the student's parents. Job salaries and other means of financial income are detailed in the profile, including any form of investments on the part of the student's parents, savings accounts or other forms of money that the student or the student's parents have access to. This form is then delivered to the College Board of the United States, who then sends the information to specific colleges and universities in which the potential student is interested.
Why fill out a CSS profile?
A CSS profile can give you an edge. As mentioned above, it can help you gain entrance to colleges that allow early acceptance. The CSS profile is what these schools use to determine their quota of financial aid applicants. Once the CSS profile has been reviewed and accepted, the student will still have to fill out the FAFSA prior to staring school. The FAFSA is much more in depth than the CSS profile, but is not available to schools until January 1st, making the CCS profile a valuable tool for the school, as well as the student.
The fees charged for the CSS profile application, filing and submittal change each year, but the service is not free. However, it is usually very affordable, due to the financial situation of most applicants.
What is covered in the CSS profile?
As mentioned above, the CSS profile details the student's financial situation and that of the student's parents. This includes noncustodial parents in the case of a divorced family. The noncustodial parent will have to fill out that portion of the application for the profile to be complete. However, if the custodial parent has remarried, this portion can sometimes be waived so that it has no impact on the profile.
Filing out the CSS profile is usually a relatively easy process, though some of the questions can be somewhat confusing. Finding help to understand the process is easy and you can even get online submission, registration and results.
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Setting up a CSS Profile
