Hello,
I have couple of questions on FAFSA:
I saw " 2024-2025 FAFSA Available in December 2023" so the application will need to be filled in December?
Do I need to go to individual college websites to check FAFSA deadline or Is it same for evry college?
If FAFSA is not available until December, Does that mean ED applications will go without FAFSA?
Thanks
No school will have a deadline for FAFSA before it is available in Dec. Some schools may have a deadline for priority consideration for financial aid, but again it will not be before Dec. (for the past few years the FAFSA was opened on Oct 1, so some schools may still have old deadlines on the FA pages). Just complete it as soon as you can.
If a school issues ED before December, they may not be able to give you the financial aid package (like a Pell grant amount), but schools that also require CSS, they may be able to tell you some of the financial aid as the CSS should still be available in Oct.
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What is CSS?
Ok, I read about CSS. Can you please guide me. So I go to each college’s website my son is applying to and see of they need CSS profile and create it individually for each college?
Yes, you must go to each college’s financial aid page and find out if they require CSS Profile in addition to FAFSA, and the deadlines for each. For schools that use CSS Profile, that deadline is likely to be before the FAFSA deadline. There is a fee to send CSS to schools (free if a family is below a certain income threshold), while FAFSA is free to file for everyone.
Each school will have a net price calculator on its website…complete that to get a cost of attendance estimate for each school. NPCs may not be updated yet for the coming FAFSA changes though.
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The colleges will have explicit directions on the steps to take and the deadline to submit the CSS application and possibly securely upload documents into IDOC.
CSS is far more detailed than FAFSA so set aside some time if required. If parents are divorced, the way things are filed they can not see each others information, but it is all tied to the student.
This is typically required with colleges providing significant financial aid or meeting full need. The college can use any formula they want to determine need and may not care about ability to pay. Some colleges will ask additional CSS questions - like UMiami wanted to know the cars we drive. Those aid packages using CSS data may not reflect what FAFSA comes up with. Also, even colleges that meet full need and say no loans, you may need a loan if they think you can afford $30,000 per year and you do not have a way to actually pay that much.
CSS is managed by College Board (SAT and AP Testing).
Here is their list of colleges for this year:
https://profile.collegeboard.org/profile/ppi/participatingInstitutions.aspx
IDOC info:
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As noted…you need to check each college separately for their required submissions for financial aid consideration and the DEADLINES (which you don’t want to miss…and they will vary from college to college, and also for the type of application ED/EA often has an earlier deadline than RD).
I saw " 2024-2025 FAFSA Available in December 2023 " so the application will need to be filled in December?
Current info is that the FAFSA might not actually be available until January 
Do I need to go to individual college websites to check FAFSA deadline or Is it same for evry college?
You need to check each college website carefully…and also for the type of application you are completing. EA or ED applications sometimes have a priority deadline. (Of course, you can’t submit the FAFSA until it is available to submit.)
The CSS Profile apparently is online now…but I don’t think it can be submitted until October 1. If your colleges require the Profile, the colleges will have a deadline date for that.
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There is one CSS application which is available on college board for all the colleges so If i do it as early as possible(FIRST WEEK OF OCT) I will not miss a deadline as application Deadlines start from Nov 1 even if its ED. Is that understanding correct?
Yes, you can complete the CSS for all of your colleges when it becomes available on October 1 for submission.
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