<p>Hi! I just got accepted into the school of my dreams. I already filled out the CSS profile and I got my financial aid estimate back (not that great). However, for the estimation, I mostly used my family's 2011 tax returns. In 2012, a lot of things happened (parent's divorce, splitting of houses) that made it really hard to estimate the taxes for 2012. </p>
<p>I was wondering whether colleges, to make a final financial aid package, look at this year's taxes or last year's taxes. Or do they look at a combination of both? I'm really hoping for 2012's taxes to make significant difference and raise my financial aid package. I'm not sure if that's unusual.</p>
<p>For financial aid for the 2013-2014 school year, you will need to fill out the FAFSA form after January 1. That uses income for 2012 and assests held on the day that you fill out the form. It should be done as soon as you have all of the tax forms/income reporting forms for 2012, as financial aid for some schools is first come/first served.</p>
<p>For Profile, what you filled out were estimates based on 2011 taxes. That’s fine, but you will eventually have to update it with 2012 tax numbers. Unfortunately for Profile, you can’t do this online, you need to look on the college websites or call the FA offices to ask them how you send in corrections. Many schools have you send in a hard copy with corrections made. </p>
<p>For FAFSA, you should submit ASAP after Jan 1, but again you may want to do so with estimates and use the ‘will file’ option. Then, when 2012 taxes are complete, you can update electronically. This way you at least have a placeholder for FA until you have the final numbers available.</p>