The CSS Profile is an application for college financial aid required by 300 colleges, universities and scholarship organizations. Completing the CSS Profile, short for the College Scholarship Service ...

Applying to college is an exercise in paperwork: recommendations, essays, the application itself, and the FAFSA — the form that determines whether your student is eligible for federal financial aid.

The CSS Profile, administered and maintained by the College Board, the same group that develops the SAT, opens the door to nonfederal scholarships and other kinds of institutional aid that can make a ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Robert Farrington writes about higher education and student loans. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid is usually the ...

It’s the season for would-be college students and their families try to figure out how to pay tuition bills. On Oct. 1, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or the FAFSA, went live. The FAFSA ...

The CSS Profile is an additional student aid application beyond the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) required at hundreds of private and public schools to be considered for ...

Hundreds of colleges use the CSS Profile to award institutional grants and scholarships to students. The 2025-26 form opened on Oct. 1, 2024. Many, or all, of the products featured on this page are ...

The CSS Profile is a financial aid application for school-based aid like scholarships and grants. You’ll still need to complete the FAFSA to qualify for federal and state financial aid. Unlike the ...