You have likely heard of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). This is the paperwork you file starting October 1 each year to request federal need-based financial aid to assist with the cost of a college education. Any college or university that awards federal aid (grants, loans, work-study) is required to use the FAFSA. Here is a helpful article that breaks down more info for your reference. Some states are now including FAFSA completion as a high school graduation requirement.
Before you complete the FAFSA, the student and one parent will create an FSA ID
The FAFSA requires the following information:
Student's social security number
Parents' social security numbers for dependent students
Driver's license number, if you have one
Alien Registration number if you are not a U.S. citizen
Federal tax information or tax returns including W-2 for student and parents of dependent students
Records of untaxed income for student and parents of dependent students
Cash, savings, and checking account balances for student and parents of dependent students
Investments other than the home in which you live for student and parents of dependent students
Here is a link to a worksheet that helps you prepare to complete the form. Note that the FAFSA uses what is called Prior Prior Year (PPY) income and tax information, so for Fall 2023 applications, you would use 2021 data.
The CSS Profile is run by the College Board and is used by hundreds of colleges, universities, and scholarship programs to determine institutional aid. The CSS Profile is typically used by selective private institutions and determines financial aid eligibility through a different formula than the FAFSA. It asks more questions about a family's assets to better understand the full financial picture of a family and to better assess how to package institutional financial aid for each student.
While the FAFSA is required to qualify for federal aid, the CSS Profile only needs to be completed if required by the institution(s) to which you are applying. While it is typically used to determine financial need, some schools do use the Profile to determine merit aid as well. It is your responsibility to find out whether the school uses it and how it is used.
Both of these applications consider EFC or your family's Expected Family Contribution, which you can calculate using an EFC calculator like this. The FAFSA uses the Federal Methodology and the CSS Profile uses the Institutional Methodology.
The cost for an initial profile for one college is $25 and $16 per college after that. Both forms become available on October 1 and the sooner you complete them, the better, as many schools and states award financial aid on a first-come, first-served basis. Find out the earliest financial aid deadline and submit the forms before then. Students planning to enroll in Fall 2023 will be submitting the forms this fall 2022, so it isn't too early to start gathering the necessary information to complete them.
