You can begin the CSS Profile here. Most CSS Profile participants are selective private colleges and universities with high tuition fees. Many previous applicants have pulled tricks to hide their income and resources in order to get maximum aid. Next lesson. The CSS Profile also considers special circumstances that affect your ability to pay for school. The CSS Profile is a more detailed form than the FAFSA. You can request the required FSA ID at fsaid.ed.gov (use school code 001774). The CSS counts it as parental income thus decreasing a dependent student's eligibility for aid. The CSS Profile allows these institutions to determine a family's financial need with greater precision than is possible with the FAFSA. The style definitions are normally saved in external .css files. Income, taxes, and exemptions: the CSS Profile requests the past two years of tax filings in addition to the current year estimate. The CSS Profile also has a $25 fee attached to apply, as well as an additional $16 fee for every school it is sent to, although a limited number of fee waivers are available. The College Board recommends that applicants submit the CSS Profile at least two weeks before their earliest application deadline. Pick the long-term, financially successful college. On the up side the CSS takes a closer look at family finances than the FAFSA does. The CSS Profile uses “Institutional Methodology”, which takes a more rounded look at a student’s financial situation, looking at factors such as home value, non-custodial parent income, and medical expenses. Applying for financial aid when facing immigration challenges. CSS Profile collects information used for financial aid decisions. The profile is required by roughly 400 colleges and universities, most of which are private. Applicants will need to pay a $25 fee to set up the profile, and another $16 for each school that will receive the profile. FAFSA Walkthrough. The FAFSA is based on a federal formula and always dictates how much government financial aid a student is eligible for. Find out if the schools on your list require the CSS Profile: The CSS Profile provides colleges with a much more thorough and accurate picture of a family’s true financial background than the FAFSA does. In order to complete your CSS Profile application, you will need the following information and documents: Your Social Security Number (or, Your Alien Registration Number (if you are not a U.S. citizen), W-2 forms and accurate records of your current year income, Any untaxed income and benefits, assets, and bank statements, Your mortgage information and any small business ownership information. SoFi does not guarantee the accuracy of information provided by Edmit, its affiliates or subsidiaries. Created by the College Board, the CSS Profile is a much more robust application than the FAFSA, and allows the colleges that accept it to take a more detailed look into your family’s finances. The CSS Profile is considered differently by every institution that reviews it, and different aspects may be weighted according to the individual policies of that college. Many private colleges and universities require the CSS form in order to determine student eligibility for nonfederal loans. CSS Saves a Lot of Work! A covered educational institution's name or logo on the Edmit platform is not an endorsement by the covered educational institution of SoFi's student loan products. Student loan products offered by "SoFi" are made by SoFi Lending Corp. (CFL# 6054612, NMLS# 1121636) and not by any covered educational institution displayed on the Edmit platform.