FAFSA and CSS How Tos and Pitfalls

No matter how simplified the FAFSA gets, elements of it are still confusing. The CSS Profile, on the other hand, keeps getting more complex, so it just gets more and more confusing. Here are a few tips to make filing go more smoothly-- and some pitfalls to avoid. Apologies for the laundry list format!

Set up your IDs ahead of time. Both the student and the parent need FSA IDs in order to file the FAFSA. You can create those now on the FAFSA website. If your student has taken the PSAT or SAT, they already have a College Board account; this is what you will use to file the CSS Profile. If they have not done so, they should set up a College Board account now.

Make sure that you complete the form for the correct year. If you are filing in the fall of 2024, you are filing for the 2025-26 school year. When you set up your FSA ID, DO NOT complete the version of the FAFSA that's there now (assuming it's before Dec. 1). That is the FAFSA for the current school year, which you do not complete if you are not already in college.

Both forms have sections for Student data and sections for Parent data. Make sure you are entering data for the correct person in the correct place.

Have your tax return handy when you file. For the CSS Profile, you'll want to have your W-2s available too. If you're filing the forms in fall of 2024 for the 2025-26 school year, you will be using your 2023 tax return and W-2s. Although the FAFSA will automatically link your tax return data to your FAFSA, you'll be asked several questions about your tax filing that you'll want to verify with your tax return data. The CSS requests data from multiple lines of your tax return and several boxes of your W-2, so you cannot file it without having those documents on hand.

Pay attention to what dates are specified for different information. Income information is from 2023. Assets are the day you're filing. On the FAFSA, eligibility for federal benefits is for 2023 and 2024; child support received is for the last complete calendar year-- which would be 2024 if you file the FAFSA in January.

Both forms break Assets out into different groupings, so make sure you put the right asset in the right section. Checking and savings accounts are one entry; "investments" are another.

Read the details in the pop-ups to determine what to include in these fields, and don't include anything that's not required. The FAFSA lumps all investments into a single bucket-- the student's 529(s), taxable investment accounts, second homes and investment properties, and trusts. The CSS includes more assets-- sibling 529s, nonqualified annuities, assets held in the names of siblings such as UTMA accounts, and equity in your primary residence-- but separates those assets into multiple entries. If anyone tells you "the FAFSA doesn't have instructions for what to include in assets," that is flat-out wrong. There is a pop-up box telling you what to include, as there is for the CSS Profile. You can also review the FAFSA formula for details, here.

The CSS requires some details on your home: current market value, outstanding mortgage balance, current monthly principal and interest payment (not escrow payments for taxes and insurance), purchase date and original purchase price.

Both forms now ask for the value of your business or farm. As with investment properties or vacation homes, you can subtract liabilities from that value.

Both forms adjust the value of items that you enter to calculate your Student Aid Index. For example, the FAFSA counts assets at 5.64% of their value, and assesses business values at progressive rates. DO NOT adjust those values yourself. If you have $10,000 in a 529, list $10,000 as an asset.

Both forms also ask for demographic information on the student and parent. Some of these fields are not required, so you can choose not to answer them. The FAFSA does require an input in every field, but for demographic questions there is a "Prefer not to answer" option.

The CSS asks questions about how much parents expect to contribute to college, what outside scholarships the student expects, whether any relatives are helping to pay for college, and for any special circumstances. A rule of thumb for how much parents can contribute to each year of college would be no more than 1/4 of the balance of the student's 529 account. If the student has not already received an outside scholarship, do not include it. Special circumstances are best saved for a financial aid appeal; you don't want to enter a bunch of information in the CSS and then appeal your award only to hear, "Yes, you already told us about that and we've accounted for it."

Both forms ask what the student's grade level will be when they begin the 2025-26 school year. REGARDLESS OF HOW MANY COLLEGE CREDITS YOU HAVE EARNED IN HIGH SCHOOL, CHECK THE BOX FOR FIRST YEAR IF YOU ARE A HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT NOW. First-year students almost always get vastly more financial aid than do non-first year students. If you're currently a high school student, then in your first year of college you will be a first-year college student.

Both forms also require both student and parent(s) to e-sign the form. Make sure that both do so and that the forms actually get submitted.

Both forms allow you to go back and add additional schools to send to. It's free to send the FAFSA so if it's easier, you can send it to as many schools as you like when you file it. The CSS Profile charges

Perhaps most important: confirmations and requests for additional information will go to the student's email address. Parents, you know your student-- do you want to help them check their email account on a regular basis during the application period?