{"id":1496,"date":"2020-04-15T09:26:34","date_gmt":"2020-04-15T09:26:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unirely.com\/blog\/?p=1496"},"modified":"2025-08-14T11:40:05","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T11:40:05","slug":"guidelines-for-css-profile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.unirely.com\/blog\/guidelines-for-css-profile\/","title":{"rendered":"Guidelines for Filling Out the CSS Profile"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You must have heard about the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), but to get additional financial aid, you must consider submitting the CSS Profile. This profile is the key to getting the most out of institutional grants and scholarships. Those students who couldn\u2019t qualify for federal student aid, the CSS Profile becomes extremely important for them. Here\u2019s everything you need to know about the CSS Profile.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b>What is the CSS Profile?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The CSS Profile form is administered by the\u00a0<\/span><b>College Scholarship Service<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0(<\/span><b>CSS<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">), the <\/span><b>financial aid<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0division of the College Board. The\u00a0CSS\u00a0Profile is required by many universities to determine your eligibility for non-government <\/span><b>financial aid<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, such as the institution&#8217;s own grants, loans and scholarships. The CSS Profile application will collect information about your family\u2019s financial details such as their income, assets, and expenses. <\/span><b>Many colleges do provide institutional financial aid to international students.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b>When do I Register and Submit the CSS Profile?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You should register\u00a0<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">at<\/span><\/i><b><i> least two weeks before the earliest college or scholarship priority<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> application date you need to meet. This date is the college or program&#8217;s deadline for submitting a complete\u00a0application.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b>Steps to Apply for Scholarships &amp; Financial Aid<\/b><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><b> Create a College Board account<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You might already have one if you took the SAT.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ol start=\"2\">\n<li><b> Gather your financial documents<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Having the following documents on hand will make it easier for filling out the application:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tax returns for the previous two years<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">W-2 forms or other records of income for the last two years<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Records of untaxed income for the last two years<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bank statements<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mortgage information<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Records of savings, stocks, bonds and trusts<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ol start=\"3\">\n<li><b> Register for the CSS Profile<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><b>\u00a0<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This process includes filling in your basic details and choosing the universities where you want to send in your profile. The questions on your CSS Profile will be customized based on your answers during\u00a0registration.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ol start=\"4\">\n<li><b> Fill out the application<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to the College Board, filling out the application takes roughly 45 minutes to two hours. Most of the questions are related to your parent&#8217;s or guardian\u2019s finances so make sure your parents are with you when you are filling out the form. If they\u2019re\u00a0divorced or separated, have your custodial parent \u2014 the one you\u2019ve lived with most in the last 12 months \u2014 help you complete those questions. If you lived with each parent for an equal amount of time, your custodial parent is the one who provided you with the most financial support in the last 12 months.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ol start=\"5\">\n<li><b> Have a parent complete the Noncustodial Profile, if necessary<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This step only applies if your parents are divorced or separated and the universities where you are applying requires the Noncustodial Profile. For more information, visit the <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/finaid.johnshopkins.edu\/elecserv\/PROFILEOnlineTipsforSeparatedandDivorcedParents.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">College Board\u2019s <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">website.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ol start=\"6\">\n<li><b> Find out you\u2019re eligible for a fee waiver<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0The College Board automatically determines if you qualify for a waived application fee based on your responses. Generally, you\u2019ll qualify for one if you\u2019re an incoming freshman and your family\u2019s annual income is $40,000 or less. If you don\u2019t qualify for a fee waiver, you\u2019ll have to pay the $25 application fee before you can submit the form.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ol start=\"7\">\n<li><b> Submit the application<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Double-check your details first! Once you submit it, you can\u2019t change your answers electronically.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b>Website to register:<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/cssprofile.collegeboard.org\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/cssprofile.collegeboard.org\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b>Some important points to remember:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You cannot lie on the CSS profile. The penalties for\u00a0<\/span><b>lying<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0on the\u00a0<\/span><b>CSS Profile<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0include, but are not limited to, fines of up to $20,000 and up to five years of jail time, in addition to repaying the\u00a0<\/span><b>financial aid<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0received by the student.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ask your <a href=\"https:\/\/unirely.com\/\"><strong>UniRely Counselor<\/strong><\/a> for an empty CSS Profile document and fill it with a pencil or pen before starting with your actual CSS Profile online! Your counselor will help you fill out your entire application so you can be sure of your answers.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You must have heard about the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), but to get additional financial aid, you must consider submitting the CSS Profile. This profile is the key to getting the most out of institutional grants and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[77],"tags":[251,141,144,140,250],"class_list":["post-1496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-scholarships-united-states","tag-application-process","tag-css-profile","tag-financial-aid","tag-scholarships","tag-undergraduate-degree"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>CSS Profile Guidelines | Scholarships &amp; Financial Aid - UniRely<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ask your UniRely Counselor for an empty CSS Profile document and fill it with a pencil or pen before starting with your actual CSS Profile online! 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