when I was filling out the application for the DSAT and CSS profile, I faced a problem that is I had to fill up my first name and last name but the problem was that I didn't have any legal or official last name/surname. It means, my name contains only one single word which is 'Jahiduzzaman'. There is nothing before and after the name on my passport and other documents. As the first name and last name boxes are required and marked with a red star I am unable to apply without filling both boxes. What should I do in this situation?please reply🙏🙏
I can not thank you enough for this, Peg! I had been watching a plethora of videos regarding the CSS form until my head was spinning! I came across yours and - Eureka! You made it ALL make sense! Because of your succinct and careful explaination, I was able to complete the CSS FORM! I feel like I've just climbed Mt. Everest! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! You are a gem!
Thank you for your explanation. Do I have to put my other child currently enrolled in college our/family contribution and how much financial aid awarded?
Thank you, very helpful! Especially about leaving non-req fields blank. I was almost done before I saw your video and so changed some of those fields. I do have MANY questions about the fields that apply to military and veterans benefits, though! There is one section we are really struggling to figure out how to answer. Do you have a video on those sections that are applicable to military dependents and veterans? Thanks again!
@davisgermany we don't have a specific video, but one of our College Aid Pro experts, Mike Hunsberger is a retired military veteran. You can book an hour consult with him and walk through your forms and discuss GI bill benefits if needed.
I have a question please help me. I edit the CSS profile . Now I am not able to add colleges in Css profile. What should I do ? Please help me Please reply me
Thank you! I am divorced and the wording for the filing parent is very confusing, often using “parents” plural. Or did the question mean “parent’s” in the possessive? This form could have been worded better. Examples could have been provided to make it easier. Thank you so much for explaining everything in this video. It definitely helped!
For students going to college in fall 2025, do we start to fill out CSS profile and FAFSA right now? Do we use both 2022 and 2023 tax return or just 2022? Your presentation is very helpful with the step to step details. Thank you!!
What if the non custodial parent does not want to proved the information or complete ignores the request? Will that delay my child’s application. Is there a way to waive that requirement?
Reach out to the college financial aid department to explain your situation. They should be able to advise you on how to proceed. It is up to the college.
With the CSS Profile you will include all of the 529s. With the FAFSA you will only report the 529 for the student applying, not the other twin or any owned by a grandparent
For the parents' expected income, the hint says "include wages, salaries, tips"... but is that net or gross? It is not clear to me. Both parents contribute heavily to 401k, so the difference is significant! Thanks so much!
Check out this link from College Board. It's best to reach out to each college and find out how/if they accept this form. cssprofile.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/css-profile-waiver-request-non-custodial-parent.pdf
Thank you so much for this helpful and informative tutorial!!! I am filling out the CSS Profile for my high school senior. Her sibling is a college freshman this year. When the CSS Profile asks about the amount we have paid for this sibling's college for 2023/2024 tuition, we have only paid for her first semester as of right now. So I can only say I have paid that amount. But we will be billed in December for second semester. How do I account for this additional tuition we are going to be paying for her sibling for the 2023/24 school year? I'm concerned that entering the amount we have only paid so far only tells half of the story of our financial responsibility for her sibling this school year.
It does tell only half the story, but that is also all you have paid. Depending on the school's CSS Profile deadline you can wait until you have paid the spring tuition bill before you submit the CSS Profile. If you have a deadline before the bill is due, you can use the spring tuition in an appeal case once you get the financial aid letter.
Thank you. This was very helpful. I noticed that they ask about HSA but not FSA. Since FSA contributions are a very explicit and common entry in a W2 are we not required to enter it. Or do we enter it, but also enter the same amount as medical expenses so they cancel off?
Good morning, Peg. Thank you for your brief life saver videos that helps me going thru all these stressful steps. Now that my son has gone thru his 1st year, and I am about to complete the 2024-2025 CSS profile, but when I am in the dashboard, I don't see where I can start a new form for the school year. Any thoughts? Greatly appreciated!
Where should I enter my business income in the expected income for 2023 below? Parent 2023 Income and Benefits Enter the amounts parents received or expect to receive in 2023 for the following: income from work (required) Other taxable income (required) Untaxed income and benefits (required)
I am no longer working, but I have a 401k account from when I did work and I will receive Social Security when I am older. For the question “which retirement plans do you participate in?”, do I answer a) 401K and b) plans to draw on Soc Sec?
Please mum can you help me find the section for dependents? For this year's css profile, I am finding it difficult to find the section to enter the dependents of my parents.
In the Parent Earnings section where it asks How much did XXXX earn from work in 2022? -- do you enter line 1 on the W2 or line 3, Social Security wages?
Hello, thank you for your video !! It is really helpful!! I have a question. For the medical expenses, do i include the medical & dental insurance premium ? In the note, it says we can include but I want to make sure
My child attends a private high school. The CSS asks for information about scholarships, grants, and tuition paid, but it's not marked as "Required" ("If STUDENT attended a private high school in 2023-24, provide the following information. If the student did not attend a private high school, click "Save and Continue" to go to the next question.") Do you advise that we leave these blank, too, since they are not required?
Yes, but check with the financial aid office at your daughter's university. They may have specific rules you need to follow. You don't have to take the SAT to submit a CSS profile. You'll just create a CollegeBoard account for the CSS Profile.
My daughter submitted CSS profile last month and put the zero amount for parents contribution(Student Resources). I am afraid she will get disadvantage from this and it will be negative affect on college admission. Is there a way to change the amount in CSS profile? Should I worry about? please advice
Help! Right around 28 minutes it asks: Parent other Number of real estate owned (required) but your voiceover says it's not required. Can you clear this up for me? Also if married filing seperatly, ( with 2 addresses) we need to have 2 CSS profiles correct?
I was wondering the same thing. I'm nervous about submitting this since the video says it's not required, but on the application it appears as though it is required. Is this a recent change? Any info would be helpful. Thx!
I have one question. In the section regarding parent income they ask for the number on Line 22, which for my parents is 0. However, the wording of “taxes paid” confuses me, as they did pay an amount that is disclosed on line 33- total payments. I was wondering if you know which one I should put for my CSS profile.
Hello, I am currently filling the CSS Profile, and I am from a really low income. If I have a lot of answers that are 0, like the parent contribution to the student's education, or the parents savings… Is it less beneficial if I have some of those on 0 money? It is the truth, but I am worried that I will get rejected for not having much money.
Our recommendation for everyone filling out the CSS Profile is to only answer the questions that are required. If it isn't required, you don't have to submit an answer.
I have a question about the SSN u said it’s not required but when I left it it told me that my financial aid could be refused just because I didn’t put it Now the thing is that I’m a resident in Saudi Arabia and we residents don’t have SSN it’s just for citizens! From where could I get this number I explained already this in the circumstances blank but I want to make sure from now if the percentage of refusing my aid package because of the SSN I’m not going to submit the css profile
Not all schools require international students to submit the CSS Profile. Reach out to the financial aid offices of the schools you are applying to for guidance.
Thank you for the info. Really a great help. Question if I may, curious how i approach giving the right information when you have separated in 2023. I can give all tax info for 2022 however that is still joint and misrepresenting. Do I just pull the data of the form and it is handled elsewhere or do i adjust everything somehow to be reflective of the custodial or the parent that provides the most financial aid. I want to make sure i fill this out right however i don't want to overstate means that existed in 2022 but not anymore in 2023 and beyond.
Even if you have separated, you still need to report the information from your 2022 taxes. You will want to let the school know about a change in circumstances as well. Some schools have forms you can submit for this, but check with the financial aid office for each school to see how they handle this. This is also an excellent opportunity to appeal a financial aid award you may receive.
Thanks for this great video! Under student resources, if a school is need aware and you include a number that is low, could that hurt the student's chances? I have saved enough to be able to contribute $40K/year, our EFC is $70K - I don't want to ruin my child's chances in getting merit scholarships. Any advice? Thanks!
Thank you for all the great info! My daughter is going to request her father (the NCP) be waived from the CSS profile. Should we provide his email now? Because even though we have his contact information, he has been abusive to both of us, and she does not want to have to involve him in the future. If her colleges do not waive requiring his financial information, can we provide his email at that point? Thank you!
I would reach out to the financial aid offices that your daughter is applying to and ask this question to them. They will be able to give you a much more accurate and specific answer than we can.
I don’t have access to a copy of my 2022 tax return but have my 2022 tax return transcript from the IRS. Do you foresee any issues with needed info that might not be on the transcript and any issues uploading the transcript to IDOC later? Thanks in advance!
Interesting. Let's say I have $100,000 in my savings/checking accounts. So I have to discose it. Then in the Student's Resources question, for Parent's contribution, what should I put? Only $5000? So the college will see how greedy the parents are and give more $ aid?
thank you- very helpful! if submitting dual-household CSS profile to a list of multiple colleges, will the system only distribute the non-custodial parent profile to the colleges that require?
Thanks. The video was very helpful for us filling out css profile for our 1st year college freshman! On the css profile how do we report a primary residence that is under construction at the moment and ready next year 2024? As we are currently living elsewhere till its finished.
Also, my daughter caddies at a golf club over the summer. Next year the club will be closed for remodeling. Thus, under estimating summer and academic earnings for 2024, we put zero earnings. I selected other to have a chance to explain closure of the club and thus, not feeling comfortable estimating earnings for the summer or academic year, until securing a position. Is this wise to do, or should I simply answer zero earnings without explaining (I just thought that would be weird not to explain, as they will see she previously had a job). Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you, Peggy.
If you made a mistake on your application or need to include additional information after you submit, you can update your application by clicking “Correct Your CSS Profile” on your Dashboard.
does the same parent we use for fafsa need to be the same we use for the main part of the css? my parents have 50/50 custody (and about equal financial support), but one is married and makes significantly more. the css website says to use the parent who makes more, but isn't fafsa just who has primary custody? im a first gen and i'm super confused. what should i do? also at the beginning of the css profile, i include any stepparents, correct?
The FAFSA is changing this year. The "custodial parent" will be the parent who provides the most financial support, just like the CSS Profile. All parents, stepparents, and parents' domestic partners should be included in the Parental Relationships section of the CSS Profile application, at which point you will be able to indicate which parent(s) financial information will be included.
This is hugely helpful. Thanks for these videos. Question- We live overseas and file Foreign Income Exclusion. There is an optional question to include our total Line 8d: Foreign earned income exclusion total. Is there any benefit to including this info. They will see it on my taxes. Thanks again!
If it's optional we recommend you don't include it. Not all schools will use that information and like you said, if they want it, they will see it on your taxes!
THANK YOU SO MUCH! I don't understand something. Can we submit after student has added schools and paid fees (but not necessarily finalized extra essays/supplements) and parent has done her part? We are a house of 2 and will be submitting a non-custodial parent application waiver. Just need to know if we can submit once all questions of the 17 parts are completed. Thanks for the guidance.
You can submit your CSS Profile whenever you finish it. Just make sure you are meeting school deadlines! You don't have to wait until you submit college applications to send them to the schools you are applying to.
There are two times the CCS profile asks about change of employment (expect change and a Yes or No question) and special circumstances. We sold our business and were retired in September this year. The W2 from this year drastically lower than last year when I reported it. To be consistent, should I wait until later for appeal or answer both as none?
You'll have to sit down and break down your expenses. We suggest building out some sort of spreadsheet that lays everything out. Remember to factor in who pays for school expenses, extra-curriculars, transportation, housing, food, insurance, etc.
Is there any reason not to answer questions about income and dividends received which are not required questions - if they're just going to ask for tax returns eventually?
We recommend only answering required questions when you initially submit the CSS Profile. This may give you some leverage in an appeal situation once you get your financial aid package. Not all schools look at every question that isn't required. We think it's smarter to only share what is required.
I have a question, if I pay the CSS profile fee ($9) and send it to one University ($16), do I have to pay again $9 if I want to send it to another university within 1 month?
This was so helpful! I feel like I finally can go in and complete the CSS. If I already put an answer in a non required question, will I be able to take it out? I have not submitted it to any colleges.
Hi Peg! Thanks for the guide. I noticed that I only get the required question for the retirement on the timestamp 20:05 only when I check that I participate in a retirement plan which was the question before that. Any idea on why this is or was this a last minute change?
This is a new thing. Not sure why or what algorithm triggers the required question about retirement yet. I'm still playing around with it. No idea why.
Hello Peg. Thank you so much for this. Do I have to fill a non-custodial parent waiver when my second parent is known to be deceased? If yes, could you please describe an outline/template or something on how my third party documentation letter would look like? the person that is available to help me out says he has never written something like this before. so what is it meant to look like basically?
On the 2022-23 CSS Profile, the College Board added updated answer options to the “Household Verification” question asking about the status of second biological/adoptive parents. These updated answers include: Parent is deceased. Single adoptive parent at the time of adoption. A single parent of a donor-conceived child. Parent is unknown. Parent is incarcerated. Legal orders or documented abuse involving the noncustodial parent. A student has no contact with the noncustodial parent. If a student selects any of the answers listed above, the CSS Profile will no longer require the noncustodial parent to complete the application.
Peg, thank you, this is so helpful. A question about the strategy of leaving out information on uncovered medical expenses, then appealing after you've gotten an aid award -- would you use this same strategy for a school to which you apply early decision? Seems to me you have less leverage in that situation.
You will have less leverage. We encourage all families who are applying ED to ask the financial aid department for a "pre-read." These can give you a better estimate of what the school will cover and what you will be expected to cover.
Join us for our live office hours at 7pm ET every other Monday. Here's the registration link: collegeaidpro.com/officehours/ Or join us for our next webinar where we'll cover some CSS Profile information. Register here: collegeaidpro.com/event/which-colleges-will-give-you-the-most-money-and-what-they-will-actually-cost/
