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apply for financial aid. In order of frequency, they are
the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA),
the College Scholarship Service Financial Aid Profile
(CSS Profile), and, in many cases, the college's own
institutional form. e FAFSA and the CSS Profile are
only available online at www.fafsa.ed.gov, and
www.collegeboard.com respectively. When submitted
online, the FAFSA and the CSS Profile are sent to central
agencies to be processed and forwarded to colleges.
Families complete only one FAFSA and one CSS Profile.
Institutional forms, on the other hand, are requested
directly from each college and returned to its financial
aid office. It is your responsibility to obtain institutional
forms from the colleges by phone, letter or online.
THE FAFSA (FREE APPLICATION
FOR FEDERAL STUDENT AID)
Required by every college and university. As the name
implies, there is no fee connected to the FAFSA,
which determines your eligibility for Federal financial
aid funds, the backbone of every college financial aid
program. It is provided by the U.S. Department of
Education. e FAFSA is available online at:
www.FAFSA.ed.gov. Both the student and a parent need
a personal identification number (PIN) available at the
FAFSA site. Note: www.fafsa.com and www.fafsa.net, are
the websites of private companies who will try to charge
you money to fill out your FREE Application for Federal
Student Aid. Avoid these sites! It is your responsibility
to log on to the FAFSA website and establish a pin and
share it with your parents, unless they have obtained
one online. is will be your ticket to filling out the
FAFSA online. If your parents are divorced or own their
own business, they must fill out additional forms.
THE CSS PROFILE
is form is required only by those institutions listed
on its registration form. Completing it requires that you
register online by going to www.collegeboard.com.
Registration fees may be paid by credit card when
you register. e CSS Profile form asks all the
financial questions wanted by the colleges to which
you are applying. You can save your information as
you work, so you don't have to complete it all in one
sitting. Make sure you remember your registration
information so you can log back into the College
Board website to complete the Profile. ere is a
fee for each college you send the profile to. Colleges
requiring the CSS Profile also require the FAFSA.
INSTITUTIONAL FORMS
Some, but not all, colleges use these forms. ey usually
ask a few specific questions not covered on the FAFSA
or the CSS Profile. ese are available only from the
college and are returned directly to its financial aid office.
Again, obtaining these forms is your responsibility.
COMPLETING FINANCIAL AID FORMS
1. Assemble the records you will need:
» Completed income tax forms for the most
recent year or, if not yet available, the most
up-to-date tax information you have.
» W-2 Forms and other records of
money earned in that year
» Records of untaxed income such as welfare,
social security, AFDC or veterans' benefits
» Current bank statements
» Current mortgage information
» Business (farm) records
» Records of stocks, bonds, other investments
» Student's driver's license and social security card
» Student's alien registration card (if applicable)
2. Use proper names, not nicknames, and make
sure the social security number reported
matches the one on the student's card.
3. Complete all the required sections of the form.
4. If the instructions tell you to skip a question,
leave it blank. If your answer to a question is
"none" or "zero," put a zero in the answer space.
5. Make sure you submit the FAFSA and CSS Profile at
least five working days prior to your earliest financial
aid deadline. If you do not have the required tax
forms in time to complete the FAFSA, estimate
