<p>Well, I wonder how many students who need financial aid would be upset if they only filed the FAFSA and then realized it didn’t allow them to be considered for institutional aid at these schools? </p>
<p>I think it’s going to be hard for colleges to clearly articulate (in a couple of sentences), why each form is needed. Simply saying: FAFSA is for fed aid, and CSS Profile is for institutional aid, won’t be enough. many don’t understand that fed aid isn’t much.</p>
<p>What a stupid waste of time complaint. All FAFSA guarantees is PELL and Direct loans, for most students. </p>
<p>I thought, from the heading of this thread, the complaint was going to be about the award letters. A lot award letters do not make clear that some of the aid like PLUS is a referral to the family, not an award. I also believe that the State/federal auto awards should be separate. The unsub part of the Direct Loans should not be fin aid either. I’ve seen some unreadable award letters., too that don’t get around addressing how much has to be paid. Also the conditions of renewabiltiy should be clear on the awards</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s too much to ask the colleges to be clear on their websites. Really, it’s quite easy to explain in plain language what forms need to be filled out. </p>
<p>Well, if Bard and USC have figured out how to explain it, then the others should be able to do so also.</p>
<p>But I don’t think there’s anything simple about it. Sure, for those of us who hang out here, it’s easy. But for the average 17-year old, it’s foreign language . . . and I can easily see kids getting confused and not filing the Profile when they need to.</p>
<p>There are a lot of other things that are more important, IMO, in terms of clarity in the fin aid process. This doesn’t even make my list. In fact if it isn’t made clear that BOTH FAFSA and PROFILE are not filed at those schools that require PROFILE in order to get aid from the school itself, the misunderstandings are potentially worse. The time constraints and running out of funds is a lot more of an issue for those awards that are PROFILE driven than for FAFSA. </p>
<p>There may be a lot of things that are more important . . . but if the information on College X’s website suggests that a candidate must submit the CSS Profile - and pay the $25 Profile fee - in order to be eligible for federal aid, then College X is creating a financial obstacle that shouldn’t be there.</p>
<p>
Have they figured it out? I had to take my SIL line by line through the Bard offer to show her what was free money and what were loans. </p>
<p>That’s not what the article was about. Bard and USC were mentioned for having made it clear on the website that only fafsa was required for federal aid and that profile for was required for institutional aid. The clarity of award letters is definitely something that needs to be improved but not what Bard and USC were cited for having improved.</p>