The FAFSA® & CSS Profile
What you need to know, and why you should always fill out the FAFSA®, regardless of whether you think you qualify for federal student aid or not. Plus, get insights on the CSS Profile.
What Is FAFSA®
Financial aid is available through many different sources. The FAFSA® is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and it is used to determine the eligibility for aid that a person is qualified to receive from the U.S. government to help pay for higher education. Every year, the U.S. Department of Education gives over $120 billion in federal grants, loans and work-study funds to more than 13 million college students, making it the largest provider of student financial aid in the country. According to the College Board’s Trends in Student Aid 2020, “in 2020-21, undergraduate and graduate students received a total of $234.9 billion in student aid in the form of grants, Federal Work-Study, federal loans, and federal tax credits. So all college-bound seniors and students in college should complete financial aid applications every year.
A recent report (July 2021) by the National College Attainment Network showed an alarming 5% decline in FAFSA® form completions from the previous year, which translates to more than 100,000 high school seniors. This results in an estimated 53.3% of the class of 2021 having completed the application by July 2, 2021. Obviously, the COVID pandemic has been massively disruptive to many families. Still, that alarming trend will result in millions more of unused potential federal aid not being awarded to educate the next generation.
FAFSA® vs. CSS
While It’s a common misperception that all private schools require the CSS Profile. In fact, only about 240 of the more than 1,700 private nonprofit colleges do, and the College Board publishes the list of participating schools here. That leaves more than 1,360 private schools that use the FAFSA® to choose from.
The following sections will offer more detailed insight into what the FAFSA® does and doesn’t do and provide specifics on how the process works.
What Does The FAFSA® Do?
The FAFSA® and the Student Aid Index (SAI)* is no guarantee of financial aid. The formula retains its four buckets:
Parent Income
Parent Assets
Student Income
Student Assets
It’s a common misperception that all private schools require the CSS Profile. In fact only about 200 of the more than 1,700 private nonprofit colleges do, and the College Board publishes the list of participating schools here. That leaves more than 1,500 private schools that use the FAFSA® to choose from.
Click the button below to find out about what the FAFSA® does and doesn’t do including:
Why you should apply for aid even if you don’t think you qualify
Purpose of the CSS Profile and where it’s used
And other FAFSA® basics and realities
* The Student Aid Index (SAI) is the new name as of 2023 for what was previously known as the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) Formula, in the hope that the new name will make it more clear to families that your Student Aid Index or Expected Family Contribution is no guarantee of financial aid.
How Does The FAFSA® Work?
Deepening your understanding of how the FAFSA’s four elements work can be helpful, as is a review of what year of each component counts towards which FAFSA®. And, of course, the most important thing is what each school you’re interested in does with the FAFSA® (net price calculators are your best bet for that).
Remember that schools are not obligated to meet your needs through a financial aid award. Instead, think of the FAFSA®’s purpose as allowing the school’s financial aid office to assess all applicants’ financial status on the same metrics.
Click the button below to deepen your understanding of:
The role of parent and student financial information on the FAFSA®
The timeline for FAFSA® inputs
Differences between the FAFSA® and CSS Profile
College Financial Planning
Planning puts you in control. It helps you achieve your goals and gives you framework to guide your student. The earlier you plan, the greater the range of future choices you will afford for your student.
Developing a college budget is foundational to building a college plan. Through my College Financial Plan Masterclass, I’ll walk you through how to develop your college budget. The online, self-paced e-course includes a comprehensive but easy-to-fill-out Excel workbook that includes:
College Savings Estimator
Affordability worksheets
Tools to prepare you for a productive "talk” with your student
