getting to know the css profile

MASSACHUSETTS EDUCATIONAL FINANCING AUTHORITY

GETTING TO KNOW

THE CSS PROFILETM

Profile Facts

•Required by ~400 schools & scholarship programs

•Check school websites to find out if required

•Opens Oct 1st each year

•Used alongside the FAFSA

Why do schools

use the Profile?

•Collects more detail than the FAFSA

•Allows schools to add questions

•Allows families to write in comments

Profile

Homepage

List of

colleges

Apply (2018-19

for high school

seniors)

Overview

IDOC

Student

Guide

cssprofile.org

Participating

Institutions and

Programs

Application

Process

•Sign in using student’s College Board account

•Can also create a new account

•You may jump ahead to different sections

•Each section is checked when completed

•Click Save and Continue to finish each page

General

Application Tips

•Use buttons in application to navigate

•Click into an answer field for help tips

•Answer all relevant questions, even if not required

•Can leave non-required non-relevant questions blank

Parent

Information

•Report all parents & step-parents (up to 4)

•Treat legal guardians as parents

•Custodial parent & spouse complete the Profile

•Noncustodial parent & spouse do a separate Profile

What Do You

Report on the

Profile?

•Colleges

•Parent & student 2016 income

•Parent & student projected 2017 & 2018 income

•Parent & student current assets

•Household members

•# of children in college

Profile Questions

Not on the

FAFSA

Income

•Untaxed Social Security Benefits

•Earned Income Credit

•Additional Child Tax Credit

•Foreign Income Exclusion

Assets

•Primary home information

•All business & farm information

•Parent assets held in siblings’ names

•Retirement value (not often used by college)

Parent expenses

•Medical/dental

•Private elementary/secondary school tuition

•Education loan payments

Family data

•Ages of siblings

•Colleges that siblings attend

Student data

•Private scholarships

•Employee tuition benefits

Special circumstances

•Open field after certain questions

•Also at end of application

Supplemental questions

•Added by colleges & universities

•Not always required to answer

Profile Fees

•$25 for the application and first school

•$16 to send to each additional school

•Pay with credit or debit card

•Noncustodial parent: pays $25 one-time fee

Fee Waivers

•Automatically granted based on finances

•Only for first-year undergraduates

•Parents must live in the U.S.

•Notified at time of submission

•Covers up to 8 schools

Fee Payment

Codes

•Given to students

•Purchased by colleges or organizations

•Each code pays to send Profile to 1 school

•No limit on how many can be used

Submitting the

Profile

•Can review application beforehand

•Can print answers if desired

•Need to check box to certify accuracy

•Once submitted, cannot make edits

Dashboard

•Access anytime at top right of application

•Includes:

–Application status

–Each college’s submission date & deadline

–Payment receipt

–Next steps required by schools

–Opportunity to add a college

–Space to request email to noncustodial parent

IDOC

•College Board scanning service

•Collects family documents for schools

•Tax information most often collected

•Documents must be in JPEG, TIFF, or PDF

•IDOC Customer Service: (866) 897-9881

•idoc.collegeboard.com

IDOC

Overview

Reach by clicking the link on the Profile homepage

Profile Customer

Support Center

Reach by clicking on Contact Us anytime

FAQs

Chat

Phone number

Email

Profile

Overview

learn.collegeboard.org/css-profile-overview

Profile Student

Guide

Reach by clicking the link on the Profile homepage

Questions? Contact us:

(800) 449-MEFA (6332)

info@mefa.org

mefa.org