Fafsa,CSS profiel someone pleaaase explain

Paying for College
1

<p>I got the fact the fafsa is the federal and as far as i get also state government money, what i don't get at all is why is it submitted to the university you want to attend???? It's not there money,but the governments, how could the college decide how much you get in financial aid (not scholarships) from the government. I don't seam to understand the financial aid process completley? How could a financial aid (not scholarship, dont mess it with academic or even financial scholarships) for one university be better then another? your income is the same, so I'm confused??? Or is it based soley on the actual cost on how much the actual university costs (since if it cost 40k they wont give the same as if university costs 10k,that's right, right?)</p>

<p>Ok the profile I'm also not really getting, i know college board does this and some accept it, but this is NOT government money right?? Can someone tell me UCLA accepts it right, I thought I saw they did (trying to conform), also do colleges have there own financial aid papers, i dont get why the college cant give you there own papers why would they want you to spend $17+5 on sending it to them (for 1st college) $17 (for 2nd and etc.), so why dont they just give you there own paper like the fafsa, except not the fafsa and calling it the fafsa,
I don't know if i confused anybody but basically im asking about financial aid based (Need), and not merit scholarships.
Oh and is there a differance if the college is Private or public its up to the college right, they decide ther RULES?</p>

2

<p>Because the money is given to the universities and is doled out by them. The federal government gives the money but does not deal in the management of it. There are two methodologies...federal and institutional which are used to compute finaid. See posts by Sybbie to learn more about this. She really has the info concisely written.</p>

3

<p>Most money for scholarships does NOT come from the federal government. Each college is free to decide how much in scholarships you are eligible for. Part of the scholarships or loans may be provided by the federal government, but only part. However, in determining how much federal aid you are eligible for, the federal government requires the methodology used in FAFSA so that the feds can determine how much THEY (the feds) think you can afford to pay, a portion of which they will pay for up to some maximum federal contributon. The colleges do not have to accept the EFC ("expected financial contribution") generated by FAFSA in deciding on how much aid they will give you to add to whatever aid the feds give you. Some colleges, mostly but not exclusively private colleges, require the CSS Profile because it asks additional questions about assets, particularly your family's equity in their own house, that those colleges believe to be relevant to what you can afford to pay. However, even those schools still require FAFSA because it determines what federal grants and locans you can get, and obviously any college would prefer that the feds pay for as much of your scholarship as possible.</p>

4

<p>Good questions, but I have to ask, does your keyboard have a period key? When you are asking important questions, we old-timers can follow what you are saying better and give more useful answers when standard punctuation is used. Just trying to help you out here.</p>

<p>The federal government has delegated the task of determining who qualifies for federal aid to the universities. It is still government money, but there is an agreement between the government and the educational institutions that the institutions will receive the FAFSA data and EFC calculation and make the awards. There are specific guidelines they have to follow, so the awards are uniformly awarded nationwide.</p>

<p>Profile is completely different. It is just an information gathering tool. To help speed things up, the colleges that require Profile have stated that they will accept financial data transmitted in Profile format. This allows the student to fill it in once then fan out the data to multiple schools. The data comes with an "IM" EFC calculation that some colleges use too, but many make their own calcuation from the data, and certain colleges have banded together and agreed to calculate EFC a uniform way that differs from IM.</p>

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<p>The government sends the financial aid money directly to the school to which the student has been accepted, rather then sending out checks for thousands of dollars to 18 year-olds across the country. This way, they can guarantee that the money they have set aside to be used to help needy students get a higher education will be used for that purpose, and not to buy a Ford mustang convertible. :)</p>

6

<p>as others have already stated 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>

7

<p>which generally gives more money, css or fafsa?
would you get any money from css if you get from fafsa, because the university might say who cares about you if your geting government money</p>

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<p>Neither CSS nor FAFSA "gives" money. They are finaid application forms that are used to determine eligibility for aid by the colleges.</p>

9

<p>i mean which one generally gives more money from filling it out, fafsa or css.
I guess ill fill out both. (considering they accept it)</p>

10

<p>The fafsa determines your eligibility for federal funds (pell grants, seog, stafford and perkins loans) and at many schools the minimum that you must file if you want financial aid</p>

<p>Profile determines your eligibility for institutional funds.</p>

<p>the net net is this, if you don't file the finanical aid forms that the school requires, then the school will determine that you do not want or need aid and will gladly accept your check for the full cost of attendance. Unless you/your family can comfortably pay full freight file the forms. If your are looking to attend school this september, keep in mind that you are filing for financial aid late in the game so you may not get all of the aid you could have gotten if you had applied on time.</p>

11

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<p>If your school requires both...then you MUST fill out both in most cases, to be considered for aid. If your school does not require the Profile, there will not be a school number and you will not be able to submit it to that school.</p>