Like the Free Application For Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), Families can file the CSS Profile as early as Oct. 1 for the 2018-19 academic year.
What you need to know: Like FAFSA, each college will have their own deadline which could be as early as Nov. 1 and will vary from school to school. Unfortunately some families don’t know about the Profile that is required at many colleges. Every year we talk to parents that say that they have no knowledge of the form and in some cases they have missed the deadline. If the college does require Profile, they will use it solely to determined how much institutional gift-aid (grants) the student will receive, not FAFSA.
Another important fact that parents should know is that unlike FAFSA, the CSS Profile is not mandated. Therefore the Profile will ask for considerable more personal information compared to FAFSA resulting in less financial aid for many families.
If you would like more information on how to properly deal with the Profile, please contact one of our staff.
