Does CSS Really Cost?

<p>Does it seriously cost $25.00 to send the CSS Profile? That doesn't seem logical to have a fee to prove you're poor for a school that has yet to even accept you.</p>

<p>Yes it does cost. College Board does provide fee waivers based on your information submitted for a small number of schools. Check the website for College Board for information.</p>

<p>Honestly, as a parent whose daughter applied to 4 public schools which only required FAFSA ( F=free) and 1 private that required PROFILE, the money for PROFILE was well spent & a * drop in the bucket* for college costs.
I do believe that there may be a waiver process- not sure though.</p>

<p>There's one CSS application fee of $9 and then $16 for each school you send your profile to.</p>

<p>CSS automatically waives the application fee and "shipping" fee for up to 6 schools if they see your info on the Profile and deem that you qualify for a waiver.</p>

<p>I do not know specifically what the cut off is to qualify for a waiver.</p>

<p>Yes, it costs, and yes, they automatically waive the fee based on the numbers you have. Last year when we filled it out, my income was lower than this year, and the fee was waived. This year when we got done, it wanted the $25 fee ($9 plus $16 for one school) and I was sort of "Erk!" </p>

<p>So, based on my experience, I can tell you the cutoff for a waiver is probably below 15K.</p>

<p>I think the cut-off for the waiver should be higher. The overall concept of paying to prove you need financial aid is still ridiculous, IMO.</p>

<p>It depends on what your priorities are.
When my oldest daughter applied- we didn't get fee waivers & she limited her numbers of schools, partly because of the cost of applications.
Pennywise- pound foolish.
While she was admitted to a school that met 100% of need ( including self-help), and she was able to earn money to cover her school expenses during the year & $3,000 summers to put toward tuition, still we both have loans for her education & I still have another daughter to put through school.</p>

<p>Applying to more schools, would have given her possibly more acceptances and financia aid packages to compare. Possibly a school would have given her merit aid as well & she could have zero loans like some of her friends.
( of course her friends parents just paid for 100% of the school, not that they got merit aid- but still ;) )</p>

<p>I know someone whose family makes about $25k/year and it wasn't waived. Someone else whose family makes $15k/year had it waived automatically.</p>

<p>Okay, so my revised estimate is that the cutoff is between 15K and 18K. :-) Definitely it's below 18K.</p>

<p>When you file the profile, the college board determines if you are eligible for a fee waiver and at then they will waive the fee on line when you submit your informaiton. If your family reported net assets of more than $ 30,960, then you were not eligible for the fee waiver.</p>

<p>according to the college board:</p>

<p>
[quote]
</p>

<p>The PROFILE service provides fee waivers to students who do not have the means to pay for the application. In an effort to reach as many qualifying students as possible, the PROFILE fee waiver process is fully automated based on the family and financial information contained in the application. Automation allowed the College Board to double the number of students receiving the fee waiver.</p>

<p>Please note important information about the 2008-2009 PROFILE fee waiver program:</p>

<p>• The PROFILE fee waiver program uses the USDA reduced price lunch income
guidelines, based on the CSS Institutional Methodology (IM) definition of total
parent income. This means that parental income includes both taxable and
untaxed income, with the exception of the Earned Income Credit. More
information about current Reduced Price Lunch Income guidelines may be found at <a href="http://www.fns.usda.gov/fns/default.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.fns.usda.gov/fns/default.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Parent assets are included in the fee waiver eligibility assessment. </p>

<p>Dependent students whose parents report net assets in the excess of $ 30,960 are not eligible for the fee waiver.</p>

<p>• The fee waiver covers the initial application and 6 total school reports.</p>

<p>• There is no payment required until the application is submitted. When students reach the Submission page, they will be notified of their charges or their eligibility for a fee waiver. Students may pay for PROFILE using a credit card, debit card, or an online check.</p>

<p><a href="http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/2008-09%20CSSFinancial%20Aid%20PROFILE%20Fees%20&%20Fee%20Waiver%20Info.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/2008-09%20CSSFinancial%20Aid%20PROFILE%20Fees%20&%20Fee%20Waiver%20Info.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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[/quote]
</p>

<p>Sybbie: I know that's what it says, but it doesn't say that you <em>are</em> eligible if you make less than that. I certainly have assets less than that -- it's not even close -- but was not eligible for a fee waiver. I'm actually sort of curious, since based on this I should have gotten the waiver. Curious.</p>

<p>I don't mean to hijack this thread, but if I opened a CSS Profile application but realized none of my schools actually require it, do I just pay $9 for starting the application?</p>

<p>No, you pay $9 to submit your CSS to Collegeboard when you are done.</p>

<p>Also note that some schools such as Princeton, Penn and Colby (to name just a few) accept and sometimes REQUIRE their own financial aid application in lieu of the CSS Profile.</p>

<p>And I will second emeralkity's advice about penny-wise and pound-foolish. Her accounts of her older daughter's financial aid and application process provided MY son with some direction. He applied to more schools and NOT ED and was able to compare multiple acceptances and aid offers. He also has no loans and neither do we for his education. </p>

<p>Again listening to the advice of those who had been down this road paid off big time for my kiddo.</p>

<p>Kat</p>

<p>Hey,
Is it possible to get more than 6 css profile waivers?</p>

<p>I don’t think the cost is waved based on income but on your total value. My parents only make 9k a year but we own our home and we did not receive a waiver.</p>

<p>Beargarden, That is true. Notice Sybbie’s post said ASSETS of 30,960.</p>

<p>OP, you do realize that the College Board is a for-profit business, right?</p>

<p>I had an income of almost $23,000 (plus my own income of $6000) and we qualified for a fee waiver automatically. The only means to get more than six waivers, if you qualify at all, is to find a program that hands them out. QuestBridge, for example, had a limited number of CSS/PROFILE fee waivers this year. I received two on accident, and so I have a total of 8 fee waivers. Well, problematically I’m only applying to 7 schools. I might add another because, frankly, it’s only going to cost $9.50 for the SAT and that’s a pretty darn good deal to me.</p>

<p>How does this work? Let’sa say you want to send CSS reports to 10 colleges. Do you pay 25 dollars for first report and then 16 dollars for the remaining 9?</p>