CSS profile makes me angry

Paying for College
1

<p>Does anyone find it somewhat ironic that you need to pay $18 per school to send out information regarding financial aid? yeah yeah, $18 isn't comparable to the amount of aid i'll get... but let's consider the fact that I had to pay for all the application fees (10 schools) AND I had to pay to send this profile to 8 schools...over $600 out of my own pocket. AHRRRRRHGGGG!!!!</p>

<p>I am just bitter. financial aid stuff annoys me mainly because it confuses me...and my parents don't really help. anyone else sorta feel this way?</p>

2

<p>Same here, but before we even visited schools last year we checked the FA requirements. We specifically targeted schools that did NOT require the Profile. Out of 9 schools my D applied to, only 3 require it.</p>

3

<p>Speaking as a parent, getting in to college is like buying a house. You get nickled and dimed to death, as you have found out. There are a lot of people that are part of the process that get paid for doing next to nothing. Just who are they pretending to help, other than themselves? You are right about such annoyances but don't let your frustration turn into bitterness. Good luck as you go forward.</p>

4

<p>Isn't it amazing that you can fill out the Profile online at collegeboard.com, 24/7, and have it automagically sent to as many schools as you like?</p>

<p>Isn't it amazing that there are people who will answer the phone at College Board and help you out if you have questions? </p>

<p>That the College Board did the ground work to get 100s of varying institutions to agree that one format of information, as an alternative to Fafsa, would fit each of their requirements?</p>

<p>That the College Board does all this, and much more, as a nonprofit entity, owned by no one, paying out profits to no one?</p>

<p>Now, who should compensate College Board for all this past effort and ongoing expense? The users of the system, or who? What pricing or funding model would make more sense?</p>

5

<p>^ good post. </p>

<p>and disco it is called ivestment....You want thousands of dollars in aid, but are not willing to spend few hundred dollars.</p>

6

<p>I agree with Simba. dt123's viewpoint is not the usual one expressed around here, but I think it reflects a healthy view of the actual situation.</p>

7

<p>I would be much more amazed if I could correct the Profile online, as I can the FAFSA, after I file my tax return and need to update to real numbers. In my case I had to send the updated info directly to each school. I would have been happier to have all of those schools take the FAFSA and add their own additional questions, like UVA did (a few years ago, they may take the profile too now) </p>

<p>Me filling in estimated numbers, esp in Nov for an EA/ED school is a complete waste of time and $18, as I have to then go back to each school myself.</p>

<p>The ability to call in and talk with some one cannot be understated, though I have had pretty good luck talking with each finaid dept, even public ones.</p>

8

<p>Isn't the profile useless? I mean you already submit the FAFSA, and those schools that request the FAFSA end up requiring you to send the IDOC anyway. The profile is all estimates that must be later corrected aftewards, and it costs 18 dollars when everything else is free... </p>

<p>why bother?</p>

9

<p>
[quote]
Isn't the profile useless? I mean you already submit the FAFSA, and those schools that request the FAFSA end up requiring you to send the IDOC anyway. The profile is all estimates that must be later corrected aftewards, and it costs 18 dollars when everything else is free...

[/quote]
</p>

<p>BECAUSE</p>

<p>The FAFSA and the CSS profile look at your finanical situation differently and they are essentially used for 2 different reasons.</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>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>

10

<p>are you saying that we don't have to do both the FAFSA and CSS?</p>

11

<p>It depends on where you are applying. It is importat that you read the financial aid section (applying for aid) for the schools that you have applied to. If your school only requires the fafsa, then that is all you have to fill out. If they also require the css profile, you will have to fill that out in addition to the fafsa</p>

12

<p>My frustration with the CSS profile is that we don't even know if our child will get into the school yet we need to provide intimate financial details. Many of the schools that require it are very difficult to get into. Last year, we filed with 3 schools - my son was rejected from one, waitlisted from the second and received only loans from the third so it was a real waste of time. I wish the timings were adjusted (and I know that is not feasible) so that you could wait to file it after you learned whether your child was accepted or not.</p>

13

<p>I understand your frustration as there is really no sense of certainty where college admissions are concerned. However, even schools with really deep pockets have limited funds and a limited amount of time. Since many colleges give RD decisions end of march, april 1 and may 1 is the common response date, waiting until one was admitted, to file the profile would mean:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>the person would not know how much aid they are getting until after the reply date (think about the hundreds of thousands or even million pieces of paperwork processed by the college board)</p></li>
<li><p>what happens if your kid was picked up at the end where the money was gone and got a heavy loan package</p></li>
<li><p>there would be no time to ask and receive a financial review and still meet the deadline date.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Overall while only approximately 300 schools use the profile, it can be frustrating, some people feel that it is a pain but the benefits especially if one is admitted getting tens of thousands in aid, the benefits outweigh the cost (the good thing about it that you only have to do it one time).</p>

14

<p>I know changes will not be made. However, using a small LAC as an example, since many of the top ones do require the CSS profile to be considered for financial aid. They may receive 6,000 applications and yet they accept less than 1,000 students. They would have a lot less paperwork if they only required the CSS profile for the students they likely are going to accept. As we went through this process this year with my daughter, if a school required the CSS profile, we strongly discouraged her from applying to the school, since the likelihood of getting accepted was so low.</p>

15

<p>somemom: When you add more colleges to the Profile, you can make changes on-line. If you filed it in November for ED, you can send updated information on-line to the additional schools. You cannot update the information on-line that you sent to the ED school. You have to make corrections on a paper copy and mail it to that school.</p>

<p>When you make corrections, you need to do it in one session. You cannot stop part-way and save your work. Some schools have supplemental questions, and these can require a lot of time to collect the needed information. You will get logged out due to inactivity if you spend too much time looking for the needed information, and you will lose all of your changes! My suggestion is to add the additional schools, make no changes, and then access the supplemental questions. You can print them out and get the needed information. Then go back to Profile and fill them in.</p>

<p>I hope this helps.</p>

16

<p>It's funny how they charge you to tell people that you have no money.</p>

<p>The reason I'm filling out the form is because I'm POOR and I'm BROKE...</p>

17

<p>Well, if you're poor <em>enough</em>, when you get to the payment part, they waive the costs. We sent CSS to all the schools my son is applying to that required it, and paid not a single cent to do so -- CSS payment page said "Fee Waived".</p>

18

<p>my D only applied to 5 schools- and only one took PROFILE-
Many schools only require FAFSA and the first F in FAFSA is * free*</p>