FAFSA vs. CSS ?

<p>I know the difference between the two types of financial aid forms. One's a federally funded profile while the other is from Collegeboard. My question is, if you have completed FAFSA is there any point in completing a CSS as well? Colleges have been sending me mail talking about both but is it necessary to do both?</p>

<p>A lot of schools actually require both along with a signed copy of your parents’ previous-year tax records. The FAFSA is typically used for the federal definition or portion of financial aid and the CSS is generally for the school-specific portion of aid. If you’re talking about a big state school, it’s likely you’ll only need one, but you should look into each school policy before you toss out a form entirely.</p>

<p>If a college requires BOTH forms, you need to complete BOTH forms. As you know, the bulk of need based aid is institutional aid. The federally funded need based aid is a drop in the bucket for most schools requiring the Profile.</p>

<p>Having said that…if all you want is a Direct Loan, all you have to complete is the FAFSA.</p>

<p>As Thumper says, if a college requires them both, you need to fill out both. Also you should let admissions know if you are applying for financial aid if you did not check the box saying you would. A lot of times the admissions office uses that box to put you on the list that notifiies Fin Aid when you are accepted. Fin Aid does not process all the applicatons: just the ones of the accepted students and they are often separate from Admissions altogether.</p>

<p>But if you want money from a school, you have to do every little thing that is requested and listed on their fin aid website and instructions. If you are just going for the Stafford Loans and availability of Parent loans, that is a whole other story and you can deal with that later. BUt for the college’s own money, not a cent you will get without having fillled out the forms they require and the sooner the better as most schools have limited funds and when it 's gone it’s gone.</p>