<p>If there is a FAFSA why is there a CSS Profile? What does the Profile do, or allow for, that the FAFSA does not, and why, relatively speaking, is the Profile not more widely used if it has advantages the FAFSA does not? Lastly, why do some of the most elite schools insist the Profile be used?</p>
<p>IMO, FAFSA is more for federal moneys, CSS they get to ask you so many ? you feel violated. Schools use that to get info FAFSA doesn’t ask about. Others can go more into depth, but I think that’s it in a nutshell.</p>
<p>First…you need to check the colleges to which you are applying for their financial aid application requirements. Some schools require ONLY the FAFSA. About 300 require both the FAFSA AND the Profile. There are a bunch of others that require the FAFSA and a school financial aid application form. I have heard of one school that uses Profile only (Principia College).</p>
<p>FAFSA is used to compute an expected family contribution and is used primarily to determine the dispersement of federally funded need based financial aid. It uses the information from the custodial parent(s), and custodial parent spouse (if the parents are divorced and the custodial parent is remarried). It does not ask any questions about home equity or value. If parents are divorced…information from the non-custodial parent (and spouse if there is one) is not included. The FAFSA really is used only for the dispersement of federally funded need based aid. BUT some schools do use that information to award their institutional aid as well. Schools using FAFSA only do not typically meet as high a level of need as some of the schools using Profile or a school finaid form in addition to the FAFSA.</p>
<p>The Profile is used by about 300 colleges. These colleges take the information from the Profile questions and determine what a family can pay. The “formulas” used by the colleges vary depending on what information THEY use from this form. The Profile information is really used to determine the dispersement of institutional aid…money that belongs to the colleges not the government. The Profile requires information from both parents and spouses (usually the non-custodial parent…and spouse if there is one file a non-custodial parent form) regardless of marital status. In addition, the Profile does have questions regarding home equity, and some supplemental questions regarding values in retirement accounts, and even car values. Each school using the Profile uses that information to determine how they will award institutional money.</p>
<p>Bottom line…YOU, the applicant, do not have a choice regarding which forms. If the school requires both the Profile and the FAFSA, they will likely not process your financial aid request until they are both complete. If the school requires FAFSA only, you cannot send them the Profile. If the school requires a school based financial aid form…do that.</p>
<p>Some schools also require signed tax forms…some for one year, some for two.</p>
<p>Check EACH school’s website for required information AND for the deadlines. Make sure that you send the required information and send it ON TIME. These schools have deadlines for a reason. They need time to process applications.</p>
<p>Why isn’t the Profile used more? Well…there are probably hundreds and hundreds of schools with very limited institutional money. The aid they give is primarily federally funded need based aid. The FAFSA gives them the information required to disperse this money. No need to do the Profile.</p>
<p>Schools that are dispersing huge amounts of institutional money AND where the financial aid is typically more generous are the ones that (to my experience) use the Profile. They are NOT just giving federally funded money…they are giving THEIR money.</p>
<p>Once the apps are under way, check the individual websites while only a small percentage of the colleges in the US use CSS, there are an even smaller percentage that have their own finaid forms which can be filled on-line or downloaded…so read the websites and the info that comes in the mail. Also keep track of the deadlines, some scholarships require information at different points in time.</p>
<p>FAFSA is heavily income based. CSS takes into account your assets (mainly home equity). CSS gives a more complete picture of your finances.</p>
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<p>If the school is giving THEIR money, they have a right to ask any questions they want. The CSS is how they attempt to ensure that their money goes to those who have a legitimate need. It’s their money, they don’t have to give it to me (no matter how wonderful my darling child is). If I want the college’s money I have to play by the college’s rules and answer their questions.</p>
<p>What bugs me is the fee to submit the CSS. Doesn’t really seem right to charge people a fee when they need FA.</p>
<p>I know a divorced couple with a daughter in school. The H is an engineer and makes a good salary. Both M and H remain unmarried, but the dad has a live in girlfriend (8 years)The M makes modest money. I was shocked when the daughter told me what she was getting in FA, (no merit money or loans). I’m thinking the mom may have neglected to disclose the $$$ Dad is making and contributing to support the D. Plus… I also realize there might be a several good reason, one being FAFSA, why the dad has not remarried. It seems the 80K salary which the dad earns has not been figured into the FA package at all … something you could not get away with using the Profile, wherein, tax returns of BOTH parents are needed to substantiate things.</p>
<p>The vast majority of schools are FAFSA only. You cannot submit CSS to them. They uses it for both federal aid and institutional aid (if they offer any, many do not have the funds to offer much if any institutional aid). </p>
<p>About 300 schools also use CSS. They generally require FAFSA to determine eligibility for any federal aid. They use CSS to determine eligibility for institutional aid. They are generally schools that are more expensive and that offer generous institutional aid from well endowed coffers. </p>
<p>The more elite schools insist profile be used because they are very generous with aid but want a much broader financial picture of the student and parents, and often take into account things FAFSA does even ask about such as the income/assets of the non custodial parent and the value of the primary home.</p>
<p>Last night a couple told me thier child was using the Grandma’s address to avoid paying out of state rates at one of the better public universities. “Everbody does it.” was the response I got when I questioned the legality of it. Am I the only one not working an angle where my kid’s education is concerned?</p>
<p>I hear you Nightingale. We are paying 100% full freight for S at an expensive private LAC. Good friends are paying 100% at BC and Bentley at the same time. Not everyone is gaming the system. Maybe we’re just suckers… but I sleep well at night.</p>
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<p>And very likely the OOS school will see through this when they see that the student did NOT graduate from High School where they claim they are residing. In these times, schools are being VERY vigilant regarding the state of residence for tuition purposes. You know…LYING about this on the application really isn’t very smart.</p>
<p>I am surprised that would work if the student graduated from HS in the parents home state. They are not working an angle, they are committing fraud.</p>
<p>No you are not the only one not working an angle. I would guess (or hope at least) that the vast majority of us are honest people. But there are always some dishonest people out there.</p>
<p>As far as the divorced couple - if the daughter is at a FAFSA only schools they do not require the non custodial parent information. Mom did not ‘neglect to disclose’ what the Dad is making, she is not required to and there is actually no way to do so on FAFSA. She is not doing anything wrong, that is the way the FAFSA rules are set up. I personally think it is strange that FAFSA does not require both parents information as the non custodial parent is still the parent. But that is the way it is.</p>
<p>When H and I were at that age where friends were starting to divorce, very few of the divorce degrees extended beyond age 18 and none that we were aware of covered college. Many of those children of divorces are now “hitting” college age. Some divorced parents who are amicable are agreeing to things outside the decree, but some are not. Personally I think the FAFSA was set up to assist single parent families. I like socially liberal government policies. Anecdotally I’ve read posts on this thread from people who did have college funding as part of their divorce decrees so perhaps societal norms are changing and courts are considering the number of kids going off to college. I have no personal problem with the vast majority of schools that distribute federal monies not examining non-custodial divorced parent financials. Technically if the non-custodial parent is contributing funds to the family it is considerred income and captured. Conversely if you are applying to a private school that costs double or triple of many available universities and colleges, I think they have every right to examine all available family resources before they give a family a tuition discount through grants etc.</p>
<p>Without the tax returns the FAFSA would have no way of knowing if the “non-custodial” parent is contributing. So the non-custodial parent’s income will not be calculated into the mix. This means that instead of a combined income of 110K to educate the child, (in the case of divorced parents I mentioned earlier), the Fed Gov. thinks the total resources relied upon by the student are the “custodial” parent’s earnings of 30K a year. So yeah, this is a boondoggle and grossly unfair to married couples who must submit their combined income. These folks are stealing thousands in financial aid… just calculate how much less FA the student would receive if the TOTAL incomes of both parents were submitted 30K vs. combined 110K.</p>
<p>Yes, and no. Not quite that simple because divorced parents must maintain two separate residences. If the spouses remarry earners than it is unfair.</p>
<p>If the mother remarries an earner FAFSA will look at that because it assesses household income. If the father does, – well that’s the way the cookie crumbles.</p>
<p>I’ve heard so many cases of non-custodial fathers who refuse to contribute to college expenses that I am not sure it is <em>that</em> unfair.</p>
<p>And lest it seem I am pleading my own case, I am married and my H’s earnings have definitely been considered, as have mine.</p>
<p>As far as where the child graduated from high school… people move all the time. The kid gets a piece of mail addressed to him at grandma’s house and that satisfies most colleges. This is a low risk, high reward endeavor by those who do it. The penalty should be severe… I suspect it is not.</p>
<p>Not quite low risk as a certain percentage of FAFSA’s are chosen for validation. In that case the filer must generally send copies of tax returns and information as requested by the colleges. It is somewhat random, so if someone is cheating they run the risk of being audited.</p>
<p>I am actually concerned about how ours will be calculated because if they take my ex in consideration at all it won’t be accurate as to what I can contribute. While I fully agree my ex should be contributing to college costs, that is simply not a possibility and so in no way will I be defrauding anyone if his income is not included. Such situations are just not that simple and certainly not black/white.</p>
<p>Nightingale-Usually you need to prove residency of at least one year to claim instate tuition. If a student graduates from an OOS school, clearly they did not reside instate for the required time. We have friends that did move just after their child’s HS graduation and they had to pay OOS tuition the first year, even though they lived in the same state as the college. The school required lots of documentation to determine the date they became official residents and when the one year residency requirement would be met. I don’t think it’s as easy to fake this as some would believe.</p>
<p>Momof10, the only time an ex is considered is for the schools that utilize CSS or their variation of CSS. This is a small percentage of colleges and the majority of those are private colleges. Those colleges that utilize CSS run on the assumption that both parents are responsible for their child regardless of the marital status. If the other parent has abandoned the child or cannot be located that can be addressed with the individual college. Make certain that your child has a financial safety that you can afford on your own if you feel that the other parent will not contribute.</p>
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<p>Well…there are lots of other ways to be found out on this. If these students apply for financial aid, they will likely have to provide tax returns. Is Grandma’s address on their tax returns and W-2 forms (the parent’s)? I doubt it. </p>
<p>One piece of mail delivered to Grandma’s house is NOT proof of residence. Proof of residence is more significant than that…and the schools CAN ask for it. </p>
<p>Sorry…I don’t think it’s as “low risk” as one might think.</p>