1 of 52

CSS Profile

An Overview of the 2022-23 CSS Profile

09/15/2021

1

2 of 52

The Process

Applying for financial aid
What
Why
When
How
Made a mistake?
Common mistakes
Resources

2

3 of 52

Applying for Financial Aid

It’s a process!

Start by applying for admission and financial aid

Complete aid applications and application supports

FAFSA
CSS Profile, if required
Institutional applications, if required
Provide documents, if required

Note all critical deadlines - And do not miss them!

2022-23 FAFSA and CSS Profile available October 1, 2021

3

To apply for financial aid, you must also apply for admissions. You can submit the admission and financial aid applications at the same time. The key is to make certain you are submitting the right documents and meeting the application requirements for each college you apply to.

To apply for federal student aid, you MUST complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, more commonly known as the FAFSA. If the institution requires the CSS Profile, you should complete that application as well. If your college requires other documents or applications you should complete and submit them by the college’s deadline. Understanding and honoring the application requirements and deadlines is an important part of being a successful applicant.

Finally, both the 2022-23 FAFSA and CSS Profile are available on October 1st. This happens each year, and each October’s application applies only to the upcoming academic year, so the October 1, 2021 FAFSA and CSS Profile can only be used to apply for aid for the 2022-23 academic year.

4 of 52

What is CSS Profile?

A financial aid application used to determine the family’s financial need for institutional aid

Used by about 400 colleges, universities, and scholarship programs

A supplemental aid application to the FAFSA

FAFSA is always required for federal student aid
CSS Profile required only if your institution requires it

Supports international students applying for institutional aid at some U.S. colleges

International applicants report in home currency, which is converted to U.S. dollars for institutions

4

CSS Profile is an online application used by colleges and scholarship programs to award institutional aid. You should think about this application as a supplemental application to the FAFSA. For students eligible to apply for federal student aid, such as the Pell Grant and federal loans, you must apply for federal student aid using the FAFSA. But federal aid is often not enough to pay for college, so institutional aid can be very important. And the way to get access to that aid at some colleges is to file the CSS Profile.

For international students, the CSS Profile may be the primary aid. The CSS Profile serves students all over the globe and allows families to report their financial information in their home currency. Unlike the FAFSA, a Social Security Number is not required in order to submit the CSS Profile. This makes it possible for students who are not U.S. Citizens, regardless of where they live, to use the CSS Profile to apply for institutional aid.

5 of 52

Why do colleges require CSS Profile?

To understand the family’s true financial need

To ensure that institutional aid is awarded

To the students who truly need it
In a fair and equitable manner

To collect information from each of the student’s parents if the parents are no longer together and have different households

5

Why would a college require CSS Profile? Simply because the FAFSA does not ask enough questions. The FAFSA is trying to understand who needs the Pell Grant; CSS Profile is trying to help the institution understand who needs the college’s money. To put this in perspective, the FAFSA is used to determine who gets a Pell Grant of up to $6,000. Colleges that use CSS Profile can easily award amounts of more than $60,000. When looking to award that amount of money to a single student you want to make certain you understand the full financial picture of that student and their family. This requires a deeper dive into their finances, which CSS Profile allows the college to do.

Colleges want to have a much broader look at families so they can understand who really needs institutional aid and to award that aid in a fair and consistent manner. And if the student’s parents are no longer together, that might mean collecting CSS Profiles from each of the student’s parents.

6 of 52

Why should students complete CSS Profile?

To make certain that the student applies for all the aid that an institution might award

6

7 of 52

When should you complete CSS Profile?

No later than the first deadline of your colleges!

Almost every college will have a different deadline and different dates for

Early decision
Early action
Regular decision

Recommend treating a deadline like:

College’s deadline date

- 5 days

= Student’s deadline

7

8 of 52

How do you complete CSS Profile?

Verify if your college requires the CSS Profile either:

On your college’s website or
On the College Board’s website of Participating Institutions

Complete the application online at cssprofile.org

Students, and in most cases their parents, will need to provide information

8

9 of 52

How do you complete CSS Profile?

Log in with a College Board account

Use the student’s account, if student has one
If no College Board account, create one

Select the proper application year!

High school seniors who will graduate in the spring of 2022 apply for financial aid for 2022-23
Same rule as for the FAFSA

9

If you created a College Board account for the SAT, PSAT or AP, use the same username and password to sign-in. If not, create a new account.

Now, a very important thing to remember is that once you log in, you should complete the CSS Profile for 2022-23, not 2021-22. If you will graduate from high school the spring of 2022, you will be applying for financial aid for the 2022-23 academic year. This is the same way it will work for the FAFSA.

Selecting the wrong year is a common mistake students and their parents make. When that happens, the information can’t simply be transferred. The family will need to do the application all over again.

Juniors cannot use the CSS Profile to apply early for financial aid. Students can only apply during the academic year before they plan to enroll in college.

10 of 52

How does the family complete CSS Profile?

Noncustodial parents must create an account
Custodial parents can create their own account or use student’s account

https://cssprofile.collegeboard.org/pdf/creating-css-profile-account-parent-use.pdf

10

11 of 52

Cost of CSS Profile

CSS Profile is FREE for domestic undergraduate applicants whose family reported income is $100,000 or less!

Independent or Dependent students
First time, Returning, or Transfer students

Students can also submit CSS Profile for free if

Student received an SAT Fee Waiver
Is an Orphan, Ward of the Court, or Homeless

Covers fees for all colleges selected

IMPORTANT!

If a student was eligible for an SAT fee waiver, the student’s College Board account must be used for the CSS Profile for the SAT based fee waiver to be awarded

11

12 of 52

Cost of CSS Profile

New! Early Notification in app for

SAT Fee Waiver
Orphan, Ward of Court

Eligibility based on income will be on Final Charge Summary page.

Early Notification on Dashboard as well!

12

13 of 52

Cost of CSS Profile

Custodial Household

$25 for application and first college selected
$16 for each additional college

Noncustodial Household

$25 flat fee

13

14 of 52

CSS Profile at a Glance

A comprehensive application to allow for a full understanding of the family

Student

Student Assets

Student Income

Parent Information

Academic Information

Student Expenses

Household Information

Special Circumstances

Always Completed

Parent Data Required

Submit

Parent Details

Parent Income

Parent Assets

Parent Expenses

14

15 of 52

Getting Started

Navigating the application

Academic Year
Navigation Pane
Help
Save and Continue
Contact Us
Dashboard
Log Out

15

The CSS Profile pages are designed to help guide you through the application processes with a variety of helpful features.

You can see the year in the light gray banner at the top to confirm you are completing the application for the correct year.

The navigation down the left side of the page allows you to move forward and backward in your application. This section will grow as you answer questions, and we know what questions you need to answer.

Help can be found on the right side in the yellow box. Once you put your cursor into the response box, any help text available for that question will pop to the right. This help text is designed to help you answer the question correctly, so be sure to read it.

The Save and Continue at the bottom of each page will save the information you entered and move you to the next page. If you Save and Continue, then realize you need to return to the page, use Navigation to go back. Don’t use your back button on your browser. You could be thrown out of your application.

Finally, in the purple banner at the top, you can get help by clicking on “Contact Us,” go to the student’s dashboard, or log out of the application. When you log-out, everything you’ve entered and saved will be there for you when you return. When you log back in, you’ll be returned to next page you need to complete.

16 of 52

Getting Started

Get it right from the beginning!

Student’s name

Enter as listed on legal documents

Social Security Card
Alien Registration Card

Date of birth
Social Security Number

Must match number on FAFSA
Critical to matching file correctly at your institution

16

The application starts by obtaining the student’s identifying information. We are going to complete an application as Elizabeth Board. Elizabeth will enter all her information on the Getting Started Page including her legal name, date of birth and Social Security Number.

We see a variety of mistakes on this page, so let’s review those to prevent you from making the same mistakes.

Biggest mistake we see is parents entering their information on this page. Again, the getting started page asks for student information only. Parent information will not be entered on this page.
Entering a nickname in the First Name field. Here you need to enter the student’s legal first name. If you have a nickname or a preferred name, you can enter that in the Preferred name field. For example, our student Elizabeth prefers to be called Liz. She will enter Elizabeth in the First name field and Liz in the preferred name field.
Entering your social security number incorrectly or not at all. For students with a SSN, it is very important to enter the correct number. Colleges will use your social to match to your FAFSA application as well as your admissions file. If you enter this number incorrectly or not at all, it could delay your application.

17 of 52

Student Status

About the student – not the parents!

These questions are critical to setting the CSS Profile correctly.
Student’s name is used to emphasize these questions are about the student.
Common mistake is for parents to answer these questions about themselves.

17

The Student Status page is the next page. Here again we are asking questions about the student.

These questions often cause problems with the application and are one of the most common mistakes that applicants make. Not because these are hard to answer, but because parents often answer these questions about for themselves instead of the student. The first question asks if Elizabeth has legal dependents (not including the student’s spouse)? Elizabeth’s name is used in these questions to emphasize these questions are about her.

These questions are important for determining which questions you are asked throughout the application. If you answer these questions incorrectly, the questions your college needs will not be displayed which will cause significant delays in the application processes.

Be sure to take your time and thoroughly read each question to verify if the question is about the student or parent to avoid this common mistake.

18 of 52

Student Status

18

19 of 52

Student Status

Answers must be the same as reported on the FAFSA

If student is certified as homeless or at risk of being homeless, the student will be treated as an independent student

19

20 of 52

Report the student’s parents

All parents are reported

Living parents
Deceased parents
Current stepparents
Parent’s current partner
Legal guardians
Legal guardian’s spouse

Up to four parents can be reported
View Reporting Parents on the CSS Profile tutorial

20

21 of 52

Report the student’s parents

Elizabeth reports her parents and their relationship to her

Use “Add Another Parent” to report stepparents, legal guardians, or other additional parents

21

22 of 52

Report the student’s parents

Where do your parent’s live?

Report the country your parents are living in now

Do Not report

Country of birth
Country of citizenship

22

23 of 52

Selecting your colleges

If your college lists the CSS Code Number, you should be sure to use that one!

23

24 of 52

Selecting your colleges

Make certain to select the correct college

High school seniors should not select a graduate school!

Law school
Medical school
Business school

Verify that the college accepts the CSS Profile from undergraduate applicants
Selecting the wrong college can delay your application

24

If you search using a college name, you might get multiple results. Some colleges have both undergraduate and graduate programs and when they do. Its important to select the right program.

Duke University is a great example. They have three schools that use the CSS Profile: Duke U Grad School, Duke University, and Duke University School of Nursing. Notice that each of these different Duke colleges indicate who they do or do not accept an application from However, only Duke University CSS Code 5156 accepts applications from an undergraduate applicant. Look for that when multiple schools or programs appear in your search results.

Also note that the box you check to select your college is underneath your college, and not above it. Take your time and pick the right college to get your CSS Profile.

25 of 52

Reporting College Details

You are still a first-year undergraduate, never previously attended if:

You were dually enrolled while in high school
You earned college credits as a high school student

25

Once you select your colleges, you’ll be asked to report your status at each college.

For most high school seniors, you will select “First year undergraduate, never previously attended” as your year in school.

For high school seniors who are dually enrolled and earning college credits, a common mistake is to select “First year, previously enrolled” or even “Second year,” but neither of those would be correct responses. Students taking college classes as high school students are generally not eligible for financial aid and are technically still considered to be high school students. These students would select “First year undergraduate, never previously attended” as their 2022-23 year in school.

Even if you are bringing college credit with you, if you earned those credits as a high school student, and you are applying to college as a high school student, you should select “First-year undergraduate, never previously attended.”

26 of 52

Reporting College Details

Elizabeth’s Schools

Elizabeth reports her plans for each college:

Year in school
Student ID assigned by college (if available)
Housing plans
Admissions application status

26

27 of 52

Parent information required!

The questions are now about the parents

Elizabeth’s mother and father will now see parent questions

Income
Assets
Family members

27

28 of 52

Reporting Income Information�

2020 Parent Tax Schedules and Forms

Check parent 2020 tax documents carefully to see if schedules apply!

28

29 of 52

Reporting Income Information

Follow the numbers

Income questions are determined by the type of tax return filed.

Elizabeth’s parents used their 2020 IRS 1040 to report their income.

29

30 of 52

Reporting Income Information

Follow the numbers

2020 1040 Tax Return

80000

300

500

2260

78540

30

31 of 52

Reporting Income Information

Information from Lexi’s parents’ W-2s and other documents

Elizabeth’s parents report their earnings from their W-2s
They also report other income

Retirement contributions
Family’s Flexible Spending Account

They respond “0” to questions that do not apply

Whole numbers only

No Cents

31

32 of 52

Reporting Income Information

Reporting future income

Covid-19
Expect Change

32

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the income of many families, we have added a new question to the Parent 2021 Income and Benefits section. Your parents will be asked if their 2021 income was significantly impacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. If you select yes, you need to provide additional details in the Special Circumstances section to explain how it was affected. Once we get to the special circumstances section, we will cover how to enter these details for your school.

One section within the application that we know parents struggle with is the Parent Other Years’ Income and Benefits. It is difficult to estimate their future income and they worry that this will somehow work against them. These questions are important to show if a family expects financial stability or not. Most parents report income values that don’t change too much from year to year. Your parents will now be asked if they “expect a significant income change in 2022 due to a new job, job loss, etc.” Your parents will only need to enter expected year income for 2022 if they expect a significant change.

Let’s see what happens if Elizabeth’s parents report that they do expect a significant income change in 2022.

33 of 52

Reporting Income Information

Reporting future income

33

34 of 52

Reporting Asset Information

Report only assets that you have

Cash, savings, and checking asked of all filers
Other assets reported only if owned

Home
Investments
Parental assets held in the name of younger children

Other real estate
Business(es)
Farm(s)

34

35 of 52

Reporting the family members

Who else is in Elizabeth’s family?

35

36 of 52

Reporting the family members

Who else is in Elizabeth’s family?

36

37 of 52

Reporting the family members

Who else is in Elizabeth’s family?

For each family member added, you will provide information about their school attendance

37

38 of 52

It’s Elizabeth’s turn!

Questions now collect Elizabeth’s financial information

Elizabeth will answer questions about her

Current income
Expected income and benefits
Assets

Questions will be like those answered by Mark and Ava

38

39 of 52

Special Circumstances

Important opportunity to tell your story!

Use this section to tell your story
Tips:

Select all options that apply
Be specific

Include amounts
Include examples

39

Here's a secret. The Special Circumstances section is a favorite of many financial aid officers. This question can help the aid officer understand you and your family, especially when there are issues that can impact the decisions you make about your college career. Use this section to share your story by selecting all options that apply to you. Be sure to be as specific as possible by including specific dollar amounts and providing examples.

For example, your parents were asked if their 2021 income was significantly impacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. If you selected yes in that question, you need to select the Covid-19 pandemic box on this page and use the free form box to explain the financial difficulties you and your family experienced. Be specific here . The financial aid officer will need to know the actual amounts affected to understand the full impact.

The aid officer is there to help you, and if you have something you need to share, you should share it.

40 of 52

Profile Dashboard

Up-to-date information

Application status
Payment receipt
College list with details

Deadline dates
Link to school portal

Add a college or program
Next steps

40

41 of 52

Made a mistake on your application?

New this year, you can submit a Correction!

Basics:

Can only submit one correction
You cannot change data on the original application

Correction is only to add data

Corrections will be available 1 day after submission of your application

Submit at no Cost!

Correct Your CSS Profile

41

42 of 52

Submitting a Correction

How to start the process?

Click on “Correct Your CSS Profile”

Correct Your CSS Profile

Click to Start

42

43 of 52

Submitting a Correction

Types of Corrections

Select Primary Reason for Correction

Can only select one reason

Types of Corrections:

Changing from Independent to Dependent (only applies to student application)
Need to add a Business or Farm
Other options

43

You will then be brought to the Correction process. Here you will first need to select the primary reason for the correction. You cannot select more than one reason, so it is import to select the main reason for the correction.

There are a number of possible reasons to choose from when making a correction. Changing from Independent to Dependent and Need to Add a Business or Farm will require you to answer additional questions. The remaining options will only allow you to provide information in a free form text box. This is the reason it is important to select the right option here to ensure additional questions are asked if needed. For example, if you need to Add a Business and you had a change in employment. You will want to select “Need to Add a Business or Farm.” This way the business and farm questions will appear. You can add additional information into the free form text box to account for the change in employment.

We are going to look at each correction type a little further to provide you with some key tips about each process.

44 of 52

Submitting a Correction

Changing from Independent to Dependent

Talk with your Colleges First!
Then, Contact Customer Service

If not, correction cannot be started
Warning message will alert you to contact them

Customer Service will open this Correction process for you

Ensures you do not incorrectly change your status

Once open,

Select this option (no warning)
Complete free form text box
Complete all parent questions

44

For the option, Changing from Independent to Dependent it is very important that you talk with your College’s first. They will be able to advise if this Correction is really needed or not. In most cases, this is needed when a parent enters their information as the student in the Getting Started and Student Status sections. When this happens, the parent income, expense, and asset questions are not displayed. This correction type was set up in order to update the parent information to the students and collect these missing parent questions.

Once you talk with your college, your next step is to contact customer service. They are the only ones who can open this type of correction. If you do not speak with them first, a warning message will appear when selecting this option. Customer service will work with you to open this flow. Once done, you can return to the corrections process from your CSS Profile Dashboard, select “Changing from Independent to Dependent,” complete the free form text box, and then answer all parent questions.

45 of 52

Submitting a Correction

Changing from Independent to Dependent

Application will display all questions not previously answered

Parent Details
Parent Income
Parent Assets
Parent Expenses
Household Summary (parent questions only)
Supplemental Questions (if applicable)

Once questions are complete, you will submit Correction at no cost

45

46 of 52

Submitting a Correction

Need to add a Business or Farm

Select option “Need to add a Business or Farm”
Complete free form text box
Click Continue

46

47 of 52

Submitting a Correction

Need to add a Business or Farm

Asset section will be the only area you can provide updates
Cannot overwrite or change business(es) or farm(s) that were previously submitted
Once questions are complete, applicant will submit Correction at no cost

47

48 of 52

Submitting a Correction

All Other types

Other Correction types:

Made a mistake
Change in Employment
COVID-19
Medical Dental Expenses
Catastrophic Event
Elder Care
Nonrecurring Income
Financial Support
Other

Complete free form text box and submit
No additional questions or changes can be made for these types

48

49 of 52

Submitting a Correction

Profile Dashboard Updates

CSS Profile Dashboard will update to show date Correction submitted
“Add a College or Program” button will activate in Colleges & Programs
Next Steps updated if additional documents are needed

49

50 of 52

Applying for the wrong academic year
Entering important information incorrectly

Not reporting the student’s name as shown on legal documents
Not reporting the student’s Social Security Number when one is available or entering it incorrectly
Reporting parent information as student information, and vice versa

Entering the student’s date of birth incorrectly

Parent entering a sibling’s date of birth
Parent entering their own date of birth

Answering questions about the student’s status incorrectly

Reporting the student has dependents
Reporting the student is married or is a veteran
Reporting the student is a ward of the court

Selecting a graduate school instead of the college’s undergraduate program

Common Mistakes

50

We’ve talked about most of these, but let’s learn from the mistakes that we see the most.

Make certain you are applying for the correct academic year. Most students who are seniors in high school in 2020-21 will enroll in college in 2021-22. That is your financial aid application year.
Entering important information incorrectly. Make certain you report the student’s name and social security number correctly. Both of these are really, really important. And be careful about reporting parent information in a student section and vice versa. If the parents duplicate their income by reporting in both the parents’ and the student’s income sections, it can make the family look financially stronger than is the case.
Entering the student’s date of birth incorrectly. It is so easy to enter this information wrong. Check, check, and double check.
Answering questions about the student’s status incorrectly. Too often parents report they have legal dependents or that they are veterans when the questions are really asking if the student has legal dependents or is a veteran. Make certain you take the time to read and understand who the question is about.
Selecting a graduate school instead of the college’s undergraduate program. Selecting the wrong college means your CSS Profile information is delivered to the wrong school and could mean that your application is significantly delayed – or worse. Always check carefully and make certain you are sending your CSS Profile to a college that accepts the CSS Profile for undergraduate applicants.

51 of 52

Spanish Resources

CSS Profile Application Guidance
Customer Service Hours

Resource page in Spanish at cssprofile.org.

51

52 of 52

Thank you!

References:

CSSProfile.org

Getting Started with your CSS Profile Application

Other tutorials

Customer Service

Phone
Email
Chat

52