HSA isn’t the same as FSA, so if you did that incorrectly you should probably re-do it.
As for expenses not covered by insurance, that’s a help for you. If they are high enough, you may get some “credit” for those expenses.
And…is the CC kid’s upcoming tuition going to be the same as their CC tuition? It sounded like it was going to be a lot more. If so, put the higher amount – again, this is in your favor because it is showing them your expenses and they can then figure out how much is left for the student for whom you are filling out the CSS.
Well what an idiot would put that his child is expected to earn 10k next summer because he made that much last summer. Well summer comes and he does not get that 10k. Company that he worked before decided not to use students this summer. Wait a minute that 10k already built into family EFC… Sorry…
Given the complexity of the questions with all the best intentions I bet some questions are not 100% accurately answered. People who fill this are not all finance experts or lawyers. Many are not even native speakers… There were not enough explanations in the form to get understanding how to answer on some of the questions. Quality of the questions= quality of the answers.
Some schools require IDOC - which is - you also have to submit documents like tax returns and brokerage statements (this is on top of CSS - hopefully your schools don’t).
So depending on the school -usually the higher profile ones - they’ll figure out your finances.
That is not what I am worried. I have 0 on brokerage accounts :). Since taxes were done on paper (not electronic) system could not find them anyway. So I bet we will need to submit the tax form to every college.
I am not redoing anything and paying another $160 for that mess. Even if they will allocate wrong 5k it should not make any difference. I signed that I did it to the best of my knowledge and understanding. That is exactly what I did. If something there is wrong, well sorry I did my best. Form should have provide better explanations.
Both the FAFSA site and the CSS sites had crashes and very slow loading times this fall. I know many people who could not even log on to FAFSA in early October when the form initially opened. I heard fewer complaints about the CSS site, but they seem to be ongoing as opposed to the FAFSA issues seemed to be concentrated in the first week or two after they opened on 10/1.
To be honest, I didn’t think that the CSS was that bad. I’ve been filling out school, camp, and activity financial aid forms for at least 15 years since my oldest was in preschool–sometimes more than one form when my kids have been spread out at different schools that each had its own financial aid process. Actually longer than 15 years now that I think about it since my oldest went to a daycare with a sliding scale and that had its own form.
Last year was our first with the FAFSA and CSS (D22 was applying to colleges). It went pretty fast, and I didn’t think the CSS was any more invasive or difficult to fill out than the various forms demanded by independent elementary and secondary schools. Yes, the process is annoying but not any more complex to manage than the conversations that I keep reading in CC about financial planning or building wealth or purchasing properties or whatever.
You don’t have to pay to amend the CSS Profile. You print it out, amend it by hand, and mail it/upload it to the colleges (you need to see what each college wants).
The big one in my mind is if you put CC tuition for child #2 but you will really be paying much more when they go to their specialty school next year. You will likely get a lot more in need-based aid if your expenses for child #2 are high than if they are low. Same with expenses for child #1.
I think you can still use IDOC even if you filed on paper, because I’m pretty sure that the IRS takes the paper information and enters it into their electronic system. And…you may still need to upload tax returns anyway as additional proof. You will likely have to scan them and upload them rather than mail them.
I’m confused. I am pretty sure that you can amend the CSS online. You don’t have to print it and do it by hand. I definitely know that I made some change last fall after my original submission. I am pretty sure that I changed some numbers, but it might be that I just added a note clarifying some expenses. It was definitely some sort of update to the application and I did it online.
Yes…but they will have three students in college and they thought that the FAFSA rule that eliminated the “discount” for multiple kids in college went into effect for academic year 22-23 rather than the actual 23-24. So that may swing the needle towards some need-based aid.
And if kid #3 applies to a CSS Profile school they may very well take 3 kids in college into account. So I am thinking that they may actually be eligible for some need-based aid for at least next year, given these circumstances. But of course, I may be completely wrong
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Maybe it’s school dependent. When I needed to amend ours, I had to print it out, notate it, and upload it to the college’s internal financial aid portal.
The only place to put it was in comments and I did it. They ask only about this year expenses and what program student plan to attend next year 4 year or 2 year college (public or private). It does not ask your projected tuition for next year. Stupid form assumes that students stay in the same college next year. Well in our case it is total mess. Student will move from public CC to private school. It is non-traditional program that is 2 year that you do after getting degree in CC that grants you BS. It does not fit their form or assumptions. It is not 4 year institution…
Maybe it is school-dependent. When I filled out the CSS Profile last year, it asked for the sibling’s current tuition and also for their next year tuition.
Are a lot of your daughter’s schools asking for the CSS Profile or just a few? The schools can ask their own questions (I had one school wanting to know the make and year of our vehicles) , so it does vary.
Given complexity of our non-traditional situation (I do not want to put more online) but it is totally abnormal… (That is why NPC estimate will not work in our case at all.) I have feeling that after youngest will get her merit aid, we will go to all schools with top merit aid and work with their FA people to see can she get any institutional aid with 3 kids in college. But I did tried to put as much as possible in comments. We will see how it will play. No high hopes. I frankly do not know how CSS profile works in terms of EFC. I have feeling it is college dependent. Oldest with one child in college got from CSS profile 5k in institutional help in one college only, but she did not apply to many private schools. Public schools will not give us anyway anything. Private most likely will not give much either.
Need CSS for 10 schools out of 20 she applies. 2 schools asked are parents beneficiaries in any trust funds and follow up questions (like how many beneficiaries there, when trust was established etc. - did not pay attention since we do not have trusts). No questions about cars.
I doubled checked my completed form - no question about future year tuition. Only past year.
No you can not amend the Profile online. The only thing you can do with regard to changes…if you submit to additional schools after your first filing, you can change before your second batch of schools is submitted.
BUT once a Profile is submitted to a school, there is no way to amend online to THAT school. You would need to contact the college to find out what they want you to do.
If a college uses IDOC, you will be required to send everything on that college IDOC list. This varies a tad from school to school, but you will get clear guidance on what to submit.
If your child receives more financial aid because you didn’t accurately report something…this is considered dishonesty. It is expected that your Profile info will be accurate. And yes, that any estimates asked for will make you put realistic numbers.
You are hoping to get thousands of dollars from a college in some way shape or form. It’s not unreasonable for the colleges to have complete information on your financials…whether traditional or not.
@momsearcheng of you are hoping to get merit aid…and then on top of that need based aid…you need to see IF the colleges your daughter is applying to even DO that. Some do, and some don’t.
Oh, I see. I think in fact that is what happened because she did add schools after the initial submission. She wasn’t sure where she wanted to apply when I originally filled it out and the college office said that there was no need to submit to all the schools at once. So it sounds like the change only went to the schools that were added later.