Can someone explain to me how FAFSA and CSS works?

Paying for College
1

<p>My family doesn't know because they didn't go to college and my high school counselors are useless. I just have a few questions about these things.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>What is the difference between FAFSA and CSS? And why do only some colleges require me to do CSS?</p></li>
<li><p>After I send in my application for aid how long does it take until I know how much money I am getting? </p></li>
<li><p>Where does the money go? Do I get a check or something?</p></li>
<li><p>If my family gets a certain income will I get any financial aid? Like if they consider my family to be well off?...</p></li>
</ol>

2

<p>FAFSA is the application for federal aid: direct student loans from the government, and Pell grants. Some schools use the data from the FAFSA to determine need for financial aid that comes directly from the school.</p>

<p>Some private schools require CSS (profile) instead of or in addition to the FAFSA. The CSS collects more financial information than the FAFSA requires.</p>

<p>Information on financial aid comes at different times from different schools. Merit scholarships (based on grades and test scores) may or may not be announced in your acceptance letter - for example, my kid’s school has an automatic tuition reduction that every admitted student with her stats receives. Some schools announce financial aid packages in early spring. My daughter’s state school did not inform us of her financial aid until we received the tuition bill in August.</p>

<p>Federal money goes directly to the school. You will have to sign a check, but the school keeps the money and applies it to your account. In some cases, there is excess money that you can use for books and other expenses; some schools will issue you a check and some schools will put a credit on your bookstore account. My daughter in grad school has excess direct loans that she uses for living expenses, and gets a check from the school once her tuition is settled.</p>

<p>Financial aid from the school isn’t actual money, but a credit to your account. The exception is schools that do provide a stipend for living expenses, and in that case you will get a check from the school, usually after the semester starts. That kind of aid is rare.</p>

<p>Each school has a calculator for expenses and financial aid on their website. You can use it to get a rough estimate of your specific situation. You will be considered for merit aid by colleges that offer it with any income (most cases), but financial aid depends on the school’s opinion on your need for it.</p>

3

<p>The FAFSA does not “give” you any money. THe only thing is does is qualify you for federal aid. If your family is “well off” depending on how well off there are, it is highly unlikely that you are eligible for federal aid other than loans.</p>

<p>Approximately 350 schools use the CSS profile to gather additional financial information in order to grant their own institutional aid.</p>

<p>When applying for student financial aid from the federal government based on the information submitted by the student and their parent(s). </p>

<p>The FAFSA determines your eligiblity to receive federal aid : pell grants, seog grants (if applicable to your school) federal work study and federal student loans (subsidized/unsubsidized stafford loans and perkins loans). The FAFSA is required by all public colleges and universities and an overwhelming number of private schools require the FAFSA (some in addition to other FA forms).</p>

<p>If you attend a profile school, they use a combination of both the federal and institutional methodologies. </p>

<p>At minimum you file the FAFSA (at almost every school) to determine your eligibility for federal aid (Pell/ seog grants, stafford and perkins loans). Most public univeristies will just require the fafsa (the exception may be UVA, UNC- CH, Mich and a few others which may require their own forms)</p>

<p>The CSS profile is used at different colleges that distribute their own institutional aid (Many of these schools have much deeper pockets).</p>

<p>Many schools that use a federal methodology to determine EFC will require only the FAFSA. Schools that use an instutional methodology or a combination of the 2 will require the CSS profile or their own FA forms.</p>

<p>Differences between the IM and FM models are</p>

<p>IM collects information on estimated academic year family income, medical expenses, elementary and secondary school tuition and unusual circumstances. FM omits these questions.</p>

<p>IM considers a fuller range of family asset information, while FM ignores assets of siblings, all assets of certain families with less than $50,000 of income, and both home and family farm equity.</p>

<p>FM defines income as the “adjusted gross income” on federal tax returns, plus various categories of untaxed income. IM includes in total income any paper depreciation, business, rental or capital losses which artificially reduce adjusted gross income.</p>

<p>FM does not assume a minimum student contribution to education; IM expects the student, as primary beneficiary of the education, to devote some time each year to earning money to pay for education.</p>

<p>FM ignores the noncustodial parent in cases of divorce or separation; IM expects parents to help pay for education, regardless of current marital status.</p>

<p>FM and IM apply different percentages to adjust the parental contribution when multiple siblings are simultaneously enrolled in college, and IM considers only siblings enrolled in undergraduate programs.</p>

<p>The IM expected family share represents a best estimate of a family’s capacity (relative to other families) to absorb, over time, the costs of education. It is not an assessment of cash on hand, a value judgment about how much a family should be able to use current income, or a measure of liquidity. The final determinations of demonstrated need and awards rest with the University and are based upon a uniform and consistent treatment of family circumstances.</p>

<p>Except in the most extraordinary circumstances, Colleges classifies incoming students as dependent upon parents for institutional aid purposes, even though some students may meet the federal definition of “independence.”</p>

<p>The profile will take into consideration tuition for children attending high school. They may consider school expenses outside of high school for special needs children. They will consider unreimbursed medical expenses and taking care of elderly parents.</p>

<p>Students enrolling as dependent students are considered dependent throughout their undergraduate years when need for institutional scholarships is determined.</p>

<p>For institutional aid purposes a student may not “declare” independence due to attainment of legal age, internal family arrangements, marriage or family disagreements.</p>

<p>Your COA (cost of attendance) is tuition, room board, books travel expenses and some misc. expenses associated with attending college.</p>

4

<p>sybbie is correct, but I’ll add that I have overheard more than one student say things like “I’m taking the FAFSA” or “she’s got enough money between her scholarship and the FAFSA.” This is absurd, of course, because as sybbie explained, the FAFSA is just an application. It is not itself a grant or loan. I think in the talk I’ve heard, the students are misusing the acronym FAFSA to mean the federal student loan. The OP may around fellow students who use the acronym in this incorrect and confusing way.</p>

5

<p>Thanks! ^^But I am not around other students that use the term “FAFSA”. In fact I didn’t even know that I used the acronym incorrectly</p>

6

<p>^^^ You didn’t use it incorrectly! :)</p>

7

<p>You should talk to your high school counselor or visit your colleges’ website for more information.

See [FinAid</a> | Financial Aid Applications](<a href=“http://www.finaid.org/fafsa/]FinAid”>http://www.finaid.org/fafsa/)

It depends on schools that you apply to.

The money will go to school. You only get a refund check if there is some money left.

Need based financial aid depends on your family incomes and your schools’ COA.</p>

8

<p>The minute you submit the FAFSA, you will receive an EFC that will tell you what you can possibly expect in federal aid (if you are Pell eligible, what you can expect in direct loans).</p>

<p>I see from your posts that you were accepted to 2 California publics as an OOS student. Other than what ever federal aid that you are eligible for, you should probably not expect anything in terms of financial aid. Will your parents be able to pay pretty much the full freight cost for you to attend these schools?</p>

9

<p>@kidsdad I explained in the beginning that my high school counselors are useless and very unhelpful. </p>

<p>@sybbie719 yes my parents are able to pay the cost-they already expect to. I just heard from some people that I should apply for financial aid even if I don’t expect anything because I might get some in the end. But I am planning to apply for many scholarships and I think my parents are going to take out a loan</p>

10

<p>@Lauren - You are going to need your parents to help complete the CSS and FAFSA. Both forms ask for financial information. The CSS is through the College Board and is not free. We paid $57 to have it sent to three universities. The FAFSA is free but you need to get a pin number for you and one of your parents before you can complete the FAFSA. The pin number takes a few days to verify.</p>

<p>You also need to check with the schools you applied to. Some of them require additional documentation such as copies of tax returns, or a supplemental financial aid form, etc.</p>

<p>Get all the information to your schools ASAP so you can be considered for financial aid. The schools will have a deadline posted stating the date they need all the information.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

11

<p>^^Thanks! I didn’t realize that some schools require additional documents I will look that up :)</p>

12

<p>Hi. I am in the beginning stages of researching the world of financial aid for my niece and nephew (two different families) who will be applying to schools next year. My DS’s applications are complete and we do not qualify for aid, so this is all new to me. Thank you Kkmama and Sybbie for all of the information. It just seems so complicated to me. How is your average person supposed to know all of this stuff? Does everyone have to do intensive research? or once you fill out the FAFSA and CSS are you given enough guidance and information?
Sybbie? Question? What are FM and IM? Also, at what approximate income level can a family count on some sort of financial aid?</p>

13

<p>Financial aid is based on the premise that
Cost of attendance (tuition, room, board, books & misc. expenses)- EFC (expected family contribution from income& Assets) = Demonstrated need.</p>

<p>FM= Federal Methodology this is from the FAFSA. Many schools only use this methodology when disbursing financial aid; you file the FAFSA, you get an EFC and then you get a financial aid package from the school. Most schools that only use the FAFSA do not meet 100% demonstrated need (Gap). It is up to the family to decide how they are going to fill the gap.</p>

<p>IM= Institutional Methodology- the school it self comes up with its own formula as to how it is going to distribute it’s own money. IN this case schools will use the CSS profile/Non-Custodial profile or their own forms to get a more in-depth picture of your family’s finances. These schools look at what is coming in and what is going out. They may look at the equity in your home, the age of your cars, tuition for other children, unreimbursed medical expenses, etc. </p>

<p>Your best bet would be to have the parents of your niece and nephew sit down and run their numbers through the net price calculator so that they can have an idea as to how much they can be expected to contribute. Keep in mind that these are only estimates and the numbers given out are only going to be as good as the numbers put in. </p>

<p>Some families have more complicated financial situations; divorce and remarriage by one or both parents, self employed peopled. Above all keep in mind that parents are first in line when it comes to paying for their child’s education and financial aid is given based on what the school believes that the parent can pay, not what the parents think they can pay or their willingness/unwillingness to pay.</p>

14

<p>

Sorry to hear that. My kids’ high school offered at least four workshops:

  1. Junior Parent Night to start the college search process.
  2. College Information Night
  3. Financial Aid Night
  4. Transition to College Program</p>

<p>Also, please view a full collection of videos supported by Federal Student Aid:
[Federal</a> Student Aid - YouTube](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/FederalStudentAid]Federal”>http://www.youtube.com/FederalStudentAid)</p>

15

<p>I found this useful for the basics</p>

<p>[2012-2013</a> EFC Quick Reference](<a href=“http://www.stratagee.com/resources/efc_quick_reference/1213_efc_quick_reference.html]2012-2013”>http://www.stratagee.com/resources/efc_quick_reference/1213_efc_quick_reference.html)</p>

<p>In addition to the useful information from the seasoned posters on CC</p>