What exactly is the purpose of the CSS Profile? After filling it out for two hours with my dad, it asked for a fairly large sum of money to send it to the schools that I am applying to, and I am naturally skeptical of this price tag for something intended to make college cheaper. So how much aid does it really give to students?
How many colleges are you applying to that require the Profile?
Do you want to be considered for institutional need based aid at the colleges that require the Profile…that you are applying to? If so, you need to submit the form, and yes, there is a fee to do so.
As a point of information, the Profile does NOT award money. The colleges award the institutional need based money based on the information you provide on the Profile. If the Profile is required, and you don’t submit it…you won’t get a nickel of institutional need based aid from these colleges.
You are likely hoping for thousands of dollars in need based aid, right? The cost of sub,itting the Profile is a small amount when compared to what you expect the colleges to give you.
If you are low income, you would be eligible for fee waivers for the Profile…but that doesn’t sound like it was the case for you.
So…here is your choice…complete the Profile if you want to be considered for institutional need based aid at schools that require the Profile…and pay the costs to submit.
OR don’t bother…and pay the full cost of attending these school.
Submitting Profile costs $25 for the first school and $16 for each subsequent school. If in the grand scheme of things you consider this to be “a fairly large sum,” what would you call potentially tens of thousands of dollars in school grants that Profile could unlock for you?
Unless you come from a very wealthy family, expect to have an extremely high EFC, and pay the full sticker price (or close to it), chances are you’ll probably be qualified for some need-based aid if you complete the CSS Profile. Many highly selective private colleges that have large endowments use the Profile to qualify applicants and returning students for the need-based aid from their own funds.
Worst case, you’ll be determined to not qualify for need-based aid and pay full sticker price, perhaps minus Federal student loans, unless you earn merit aid. If that’s the case, your family probably won’t miss the $25 for the first school and $16 for each subsequent school.
If you don’t qualify for need-based grant aid at a college when you apply, and if you are accepted and choose to attend, you’ll have the option of not filing the Profile in subsequent years and paying full sticker price (minus Federal student loans).
If your family’s financial situation substantially changes (especially if a younger sibling starts college, which should substantially reduce the EFC), you should have the option of filing the Profile in later years to apply for need-based aid at colleges that use it, but I would check with the college’s Financial Aid office to confirm this.
My D will be a college senior this coming academic year and we have filed the Profile four times (we’re awaiting release of her need-based aid award for her senior year). So far, the need-based grants she has qualified for and received for her first three years of college have definitely made the time and cost of filing the Profile worth it.