The CSS/Financial Aid
PROFILE (often written as CSS PROFILE), short for the College
Scholarship Service Profile, is an application distributed by the College Board in the United States allowing
college students to apply for financial aid. It is
primarily designed to give private member institutions of the College Board a
closer look into the finances of a student and family. It is much more detailed
than the FAFSA.
The CSS Profile asks
questions about the financial status of the student and the student's parents.
The information the student gives in the CSS Profile is then sent to colleges or universities that the student specifies.
Along with the FAFSA, the CSS Profile is the most common
financial aid application that students in the United States fill out.
Generally, colleges with early acceptance programs (student receives admission decision before the new year) use the CSS PROFILE to make preliminary financial aid decisions because the FAFSA is not available until after January 1. Then after student completes the FAFSA (the official financial aid application) colleges may then make adjustments to their financial aid awards if necessary.
For the 2010-11 form the application fee was $9.00 and $16.00 per college submitted. Yale, Harvard, NYU, and most other prestigious schools require the CSS Profile. Princeton University is a notable exception because it does not require a CSS Profile but instead has its own free financial aid application form. Students may, however, submit a CSS Profile to Princeton and later automatically transmit that information onto Princeton's form.
**from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
