I received an email today from another school saying they are no longer requiring the non-custodial parent form this year for CSS. That they are waiving it. So maybe they are not really considering CSS numbers?
Well…maybe they aren’t considering the non-custodial parent info in your case @chimombye since that is not a required submission this year.
Maybe… every school that was asking for it deleted that request yesterday so maybe there’s been a change
That’s a good thing for many students. Interesting they are deleting the requirement. I wonder if it’s because the College Board can’t process them quickly enough this year.
To clarify my earlier response, we have two award packages so far from CSS Profile schools that meet some or all of need. Both packages literally list our FAFSA EFC in writing, and then they line up awards, loans, work study and grants to bring us to that FAFSA EFC number. I was surprised both times, as the FAFSA EFC is really just guidance for schools to use in their own institutional methodology. The CSS provides much more info for them, which is why they require it to begin with.
I have an older student at a meets-full-need CSS Profile school and I’ve never seen them list our FAFSA EFC in an award notification.
I guess my point is, it almost seems like these two schools skipped over our CSS Profile and just used the FAFSA. I have no way to know though.
We are in the same situation, thank God. I know my ex completed the noncust. profile, but he continues to refuse to disclose to us whether or not he will help at all w/college expenses and even if so, it would likely come w/strings attached that probably aren’t worth it. So it’s a total blessing that my D’s #1 school appears to have only used the FASFA &/or not used the NCP Profile, which I thought must have been situational. She’s committed, but now I’m reading this & worrying. Could this mean that this yr was an anomaly & next yr she won’t be able to afford to stay in her school?? That would be devastating.
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Maybe they list the FAFSA EFC because that shows whether or not you qualify for a Pell Grant…or not.
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Can someone help me understand this better? Let’s say my efc is 40k and the school costs 65k. Will I most likely (not definite) get 25k in grants? I’m trying to figure out how scholarships come into play. If I get a scholarship then technically will my grant be less money? I don’t see why it’s fair to consider merit scholarships since the student earned it- that’s why they call it merit scholarships.
Depending on the college, the package (which may or may not come close to 25K) will be a combination of grants, work-study and loans. Ang merit money received will likely reduce the total package by the corresponding amount of merit.
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Thank you for clarifying that! I guess I’m a bit confused since my efc was less than the total cost, but I only received loans and a large merit scholarship. I’m sure it’s because the school is a small private college that doesn’t use css.
Unless they are waiving the entire CSS Profile, that just means that they are waiving the requirement for non-custodial parent information for applicants with divorced parents, but may still consider the custodial parent financial information contained in the CSS Profile, in addition to any financial information on FAFSA.
If the EFC in question is the one that the school uses, then your “need” as the school defines it is $25k. If the school “meets need” then it will offer $25k in financial aid, although it may assume that you will take subsidized federal direct loans and earn some money from part time work earnings (subsidized by work-study) for some of that (usually up to $5k to $10k, so grants would be $15k to $20k in this example).
Of course, most colleges do not “meet need”, so if such a college determines that you have $25k “need”, its financial aid offer may still be less than $25k. For example, it may assume $3k loan, $3k work-study, and $10k grant, leaving unmet need of $9k.
If you earn a merit scholarship, school policy varies on how it will affect your aid. It may depend on whether it is a school awarded scholarship or outside scholarship, and different school awarded scholarships may have different policies. It is common, but not universal, for outside scholarships to replace unmet need, student loan, and work study first, then replace school grants (limited “stacking”).
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Thanks so much!
Just curious the outcomes of this question? Was CSS profile used for SU? We are currently awaiting a package off the waitlist and are a CSS profile family. Was just Fafsa EFC used?