<p>Can anyone else out there comment - My d diligently researched the requirements from school A & B, and forwarded requests for a Non-Custodial Parent Profile Waiver to both school. Not an easy or painless thing to do, I might add. Both school A & B have indicated that they accepted her request and the NCP Profile would be waived. Then came the Fin Aid awards - School A, whose package was paltry, advised that they would review and so I sent off all sorts of tax forms, documents, etc. The review letter finally came (grammatical and spelling errors and all) with no increase in aid, no reference to the financial data, and the information that she could reapply for aid in the Spring semester but the NCP Profile would be required! Which is obviously impossible - So they have granted a waiver and then rescinded! The implication is that the NCP Profile waiver was somehow "bogus" in the first place! Makes my blood boil! Isn't this some sort of discrimination? Any comments!</p>
<p>NCP CSS profile and waiver policies vary so drastically among schools that it's like tiptoeing through a minefield to try to get it right for each one. What did school B do for you? </p>
<p>Our experience this year taught us that how waiver requests are handled seems to depend upon the rules, and even individual counselors, working within each school's financial aid office. There are no laws or even best practices, as far as I can tell, regarding how to treat those of us coping with missing, evasive, addicted, and/or abusive NCPs. I doubt that you are going to get far with school A, for it sounds as if they are particularly unprofessional and clueless, and I don't think you have any recourse, as no one is absolutely entitled to financial aid. </p>
<p>My daughter applied to two FAFSA only schools, one of which turned out to be a great financial safety, because the Federal method requires only custodial parent information. Every single parent facing this issue should be aware of that fact and make sure the student applies to at least one such school. In contrast, out of two Ivies and two Ivy equivalents, all requiring CSS, only one encouraged us and waived the NCP's tax return. Our happy ending is my daughter will attend her "dream school" thanks to that very professional and understanding financial aid officer. But she was all set to accept the FAFSA only school if necessary.</p>