When families start the financial aid process, most have heard of the FAFSA. Fewer have heard of the CSS Profile — and some only discover it exists after they've already missed the deadline.
Both forms are used to determine financial aid eligibility. But they work differently, go to different schools, and can produce very different results.
Here's everything you need to know about both forms and how to figure out which ones you actually need to file.
What Is the FAFSA?
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the federal government's financial aid application. It's administered by the U.S. Department of Education and determines eligibility for:
- Federal Pell Grants
- Federal Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans
- Federal Work-Study
- Most state-administered grant programs
- Many institutional grants at public and private colleges
The FAFSA is free to file and available to essentially every student planning to attend a U.S. college or university. It becomes available on October 1 for the following academic year and uses prior-prior year tax data (so the 2025–26 FAFSA uses 2023 tax information).
Many families with middle or higher incomes skip the FAFSA assuming they won't receive need-based aid. But the FAFSA is required for federal loans regardless of income, and many schools use it to determine eligibility for institutional grants that aren't purely need-based. Filing costs nothing and closes no doors. Here's why it's always worth filing.
What Is the CSS Profile?
The CSS Profile (College Scholarship Service Profile) is a financial aid application administered by College Board — the same organization that runs the SAT. Unlike the FAFSA, the CSS Profile is not a federal form and is not free (though fee waivers are available for qualifying families).
The CSS Profile goes directly to the colleges and scholarship programs that require it, and it's used to determine eligibility for institutional aid — money that comes from the college's own endowment and budget, not the federal government.
About 240 colleges and universities currently require the CSS Profile, and it's almost exclusively private colleges and a small number of well-endowed public schools.
Key Differences Between the Two
Free Application for Federal Student Aid
Administered by the federal government. Determines eligibility for federal grants, loans, and work-study. Required by virtually all colleges. Free to file.
College Scholarship Service Profile
Administered by College Board. Used by ~240 private colleges for institutional aid decisions. $25 fee per school (waivers available). More detailed than the FAFSA.
Which Schools Require Which
FAFSA: Required by virtually all accredited colleges and universities for federal and most state aid. Even if a school uses the CSS Profile, it still requires the FAFSA.
CSS Profile: Required by approximately 240 institutions. These are almost exclusively:
- Private liberal arts colleges (Amherst, Williams, Bowdoin, etc.)
- Private research universities (MIT, Stanford, Duke, Georgetown, Yale, Harvard, etc.)
- A handful of well-resourced public universities (University of Michigan, University of Virginia, and a few others)
If you're applying only to public universities or schools with smaller endowments, you likely only need the FAFSA. If you're applying to selective private colleges, you almost certainly need both.
There's no universal rule about which schools require the CSS Profile. A college's website or College Board's CSS Profile school search is the only reliable source. Don't assume a private school requires it and don't assume a public school doesn't.
What the CSS Profile Asks That FAFSA Doesn't
For a deeper look at the CSS Profile specifically, see What Is the CSS Profile?
The CSS Profile is significantly more detailed than the FAFSA. Key areas where it goes further:
Home equity. The FAFSA does not ask about the value of your primary residence. The CSS Profile does, and many schools factor home equity into their institutional aid calculations.
Business and farm assets. Small business owners and farmers often find that the CSS Profile creates a different picture of their financial situation than the FAFSA.
Non-custodial parent information. The FAFSA generally uses only the custodial parent's information after a divorce. Many CSS Profile schools require both parents to complete sections of the form — even in situations with limited contact or conflict.
Retirement accounts. The FAFSA protects retirement accounts from being counted as assets. The CSS Profile may include them in some schools' calculations.
Sibling information. The CSS Profile typically asks for more detail about siblings attending college.
How Each Form Can Affect Your Aid
Because the CSS Profile gives colleges more information, it can cut both ways.
For some families — particularly those with unusual circumstances not captured on the FAFSA — the CSS Profile provides an opportunity to present a more complete picture and potentially receive more aid.
For others — particularly those with home equity, business assets, or non-custodial parent income — the CSS Profile can result in a higher Expected Family Contribution and less institutional aid than the FAFSA alone would suggest.
The schools that require the CSS Profile tend to have large endowments and give substantial institutional grants. A school like Williams or MIT may ultimately cost less than a school with a lower sticker price and less funding. The CSS Profile is more detailed, but it's in service of more generously funded aid decisions. Here's how to evaluate whether your offer is competitive.
When to File Each Form
Many CSS Profile schools have priority aid deadlines in November — tied to Early Decision or Early Action rounds. If you're applying early to a CSS Profile school and want to be considered for maximum institutional aid, you need to file in October. See When Do Financial Aid Offers Arrive? for the full timeline.
How to Find Out What Your Schools Require
The simplest approach: check each school's financial aid page directly. Look for phrases like "required financial aid forms" or "how to apply for financial aid."
You can also use College Board's CSS Profile school search at cssprofile.collegeboard.org to see whether each school participates.
If you're applying to five schools and two of them require the CSS Profile, file both forms. The cost of the CSS Profile ($25 per school, with waivers available) is negligible compared to the institutional aid it unlocks at schools that use it.
Once your offers arrive from both FAFSA and CSS Profile schools, the comparison process is the same: strip out loans and work-study, look at the net cost of free money only, and evaluate what each school will actually cost your family. If you want to see every offer side by side, Merit can do that for you.
See What College Actually Costs
Upload your financial aid letters and Merit breaks down every dollar so you can make the right call.
- Break down exactly what you're getting
- Compare schools side-by-side
- Find room to negotiate for more