The MEFA Institute^™: A Deep Dive into the CSS Profile

Please note that this transcript was auto-generated. We apologize for any minor errors in spelling or grammar.

[00:00:00] Hey, uh, like, Your host and guest presenter, Gail Holt. I join you from Amherst College, where I have been the Dean of Financial Aid for the past 11 years. I've been in financial aid for a couple more decades before that, uh, working at schools such as Boston University, Northeastern University, and Mount Holyoke College.

Um, all that is to say that I'm very familiar with financial aid. I love, um, helping families tackle, uh, and see the success of financing higher education, and I've been Uh, an administrator using the the profile for quite some time. So I love talking about the value and the benefits of the profile. And that's, that's what we're going to do today.

Um, so we will, we'll get started. Uh, we certainly invite you, [00:01:00] uh, to present, uh, to participate. Excuse me. Um. You can present if you'd like. I'm sure some of you can, but, uh, participate, uh, and you're probably very familiar with zoom tools such as chat and Q and a, um, and then there is a recording and that information will be available, uh, after if, for some reason you have to, you have to leave early.

And we'll answer your questions as we go. Sean Morrissey is the MEFA support system behind this. So we're glad to have Sean. And Sean will interrupt if there's something that needs to be clarified for the whole group. Um, MEFA is just a fantastic partner. Um, MEFA, I'm sure you know about MEFA or are starting to learn about MEFA, but they have a public service mission, uh, and that's why they make such good partners with the higher ed and specifically the financial aid and, um, Uh, admission communities [00:02:00] and professionals, uh, their presence.

There's plenty of presence on social media. So depending on how you've organized your information channels, um, I'm sure you can find MEFA on Facebook and Twitter and LinkedIn, uh, as well. So connect there so that you don't miss anything. Um, I will give a shout out to MEFA emails. I think they're great.

Concise and appropriate and timely. And that's really the key is, um, having organizations that, that keep information, um, you know, timely. You can also access webinars and things, uh, through their events, events page. So feel free to, to check that out. So we'll get started with, um, for those of you who, who may be newer, um, to the profile, uh, that, you know, we'll get started with, with what is the profile.

Um, the profile is an alternate application, uh, to apply for financial aid. So you may [00:03:00] say, well, why would you possibly need two applications for financial aid? One is certainly intrusive and, um, some would use the word burdensome enough. Um, the, all colleges do need to use the FAFSA. But probably more than 200 colleges and universities use the CSS profile.

And so today we'll, we'll talk about why that is. Um, but for colleges and universities that have significant financial aid, uh, to award themselves, the, the profile really is a better place to start. source to, to, to use for that. Um, the CSS profile opens each year on October 1st. It's actually open right now.

Uh, so if you're communicating with your students, this is perfect timing to share with them that they can start the profile. You may have heard, uh, that the, the FAFSA will not be available [00:04:00] broadly to everybody on October 1st. Um, the FAFSA is being rolled out to some very distinct groups for purposeful and targeted testing, uh, during the month of October and November.

And the expectation is that the FAFSA will be broadly available, uh, coming the beginning of December. Another reason, um, the profile, it can be used for both domestic and international students, so, uh, non U. S. citizens and non permanent residents. Um, can't, um, you know, can't file the FAFSA. And so the CSS profile, uh, is useful for them.

So why do you institutions use the, the profile, uh, aside from it being more detailed, um, that might go in, in your box of being more burdensome, uh, and, you know, more of a barrier. But I really do feel strongly [00:05:00] uh, as a financial aid professional that the profile is really part of the access equation as opposed to the FAFSA that really is a distribution tool so the FAFSA Is a very blunt instrument for distributing eligibility for federal funds.

Uh, and then some institutions do use only the FAFSA, that is true. But usually those institutions also have very limited funds and, and they need a blunt instrument as well. The profile is able to customize and really target resources to students who need it the most. So the profile, what's behind using the profile, is what's called institutional methodology.

And this is a methodology that really is trying to take a detailed analysis of family [00:06:00] resources and make sure that those resources are targeted appropriately. It's not all about income, as you'll see. Um, we'll also talk about the struggles and strains on family resources that would impact a family's ability to pay for college at Amherst College, for example, um, you know, institutional methodology is a formula that.

is used across a broad spectrum of institutions. Um, and at, at, at Amherst, we have a high population of students that actually have a lower family contribution with the institutional formula than they do with the federal formula. What that means at a school that meets full need is that a student might get more financial aid.

Debra Blankenberg Hartick, Ph. D.: Than they would just using the FAFSA. And so when you even when you account for cost at those institutions. Ph. D.: Those higher cost [00:07:00] institutions can at times be more affordable and this applies even before at Amherst before the simplified formula came in. So you may say, well, that's only because number in college, you know, came out, um, of the formula for federal purposes, but, but that's, that's actually not the case.

Um, we had institutional methodology, uh, family contributions that were lower than federal, uh, prior to that. Alright. Um, so we'll give you, if you haven't already explored, uh, the profile webpage, uh, and the homepage, this is a good place to start. It is css profile.org. Uh, and it's organized in a way that that really tries to help students from the get-go.

So the 25, 26, uh, information is there. And that is the prominent button. We're trying to guide students to what is most likely. The button for 24 25 is still there to the right. It's just not as [00:08:00] prominent because there will be students who still do need to fill out, uh, the profile for this current academic year.

They may be returning to college for the spring semester. So students or they're transferring, um, or something like that. So that's still necessary, uh, and it's there. The list of colleges that require the profile. This is sort of a one stop shop, um, place where you can find out, um, which schools are participating, and I'll, and I'll show you that, uh, in a little bit.

There's some tips. Uh, the information for parents is really helpful, especially when, uh, households, when there's two households for a student, um, and guides them that way. There's also some resources with the Big Future program, and, and there is. Um, there's also detail, uh, and some of this is available in, in Spanish, uh, so that's, that's helpful too.

So this, um, page here where you can, [00:09:00] this is best viewed on a desktop. Uh, I found that the mobile experience for this particular page, um, isn't, uh, as ideal. So on a desktop, this is going to, the participating institutions is not only going to list All the institutions you can scroll through. Students can search by code number if that's what they want.

Uh, you can search by name using the pull down. But the advantage here is you've got all the colleges and universities, so you don't have to go to each college's page and then navigate to find out where the financial aid, you know, application information is. And while that's a very important exercise, and I'm also going to say that students should do that, is that What this does is it provides sort of a, a clean line, um, in terms of what of the different, um, supplemental pieces in addition to the profile a college may require.

So, um, if you need to know if the, if the student is an international, well, does [00:10:00] the, does the school require the profile from international students? Does it require information from that second household? Does it require The use of IDOC, which we will hit on what, what IDOC is, but that's basically, uh, collecting information, uh, supporting document information.

Uh, you can search by your state and, you know, find all the schools in your state or a particular state that use Profile. So this is, uh, definitely, uh, a good, a good resource. Um, as I said, there's some other comprehensive tools here. Uh, so invite you to, to check it out. Uh, if you want to share with your families or check it out yourself, the video on completing the CSS profile, you know, might increase comfort, um, with this.

I mean, certainly the process of applying for financial aid Uh, you know, can feel intrusive. So the more families know about what to expect and how the questions are laid out and how the [00:11:00] process works to their advantage, um, the easier it's going to be and the less frustrating it's going to be. So how does the application work?

Um, as with most of these online tools, um, the student needs to have a login or the parent needs to have a login sign in. Um, this is a tool that is, uh, run and organized and owned by the college board. So it's helpful, uh, that students who already have a college board account for the purpose maybe of, of SATs or AP courses can use that same account to sign into the CSS profile.

Uh, parents can create, um, an account as, as well. Uh, and just to remember the CSS profile, just like the FAFSA, it is a student application. So each student needs to have their, their own, [00:12:00] uh, their own login. Now what's important about this customized, uh, process is the application is You know, it's designed to be smart.

It's designed to be based on following questions and information that is needed for the process of applying for financial aid. And because colleges and universities vary. And how they use institutional methodology or how they use their own processes. Um, the application questions can be slightly different and thus customized to the student.

So basically what's going to happen is when the student logs in, they're going to indicate what schools they want to send that information to. Um, and then the student will go through. So I say all this, if you're helping students and you see a different student experience from one student to another, that doesn't [00:13:00] mean that there's a problem.

Um, it just means that they may have chosen a different school set or their personal situation, uh, is different or a school, uh, has different processes. So that's not, uh, a problem. Um, but, but really schools are being pushed, um, to really think about what are the questions that you need, uh, so that we really can tailor the, the application can be tailored for students.

Um, there are many modern features that hopefully will, Um, and it will reduce, um, the, the experience in terms of frustration. Um, you, students can jump around to different sections or families can. Uh, you don't need to do the whole thing at once. Uh, and while it's possible, uh, to do it, um, on a mobile device, uh, maybe an iPad would work, but, but smaller devices, uh, may not be that, uh, helpful.

But, you know, I think some of these, these application, uh, tips, [00:14:00] uh, are. applicable to lots of software tools. Um, it's always good to just click save and continue as often as you can, uh, just to make sure that if you get distracted or called away or something, you don't lose, uh, information. Um, the application is really self contained.

So using the buttons in the application itself is better than using the web browser because, uh, that, that is outside. Very important is the fact that there's lots of hints and notes. So, you know, the application is not trying to bog families down with a lot of words and jargon, but when families don't understand something, you can get some additional information or expand a hint to read more detail about it.

Um, all questions, uh, should be [00:15:00] answered. And also, if a question doesn't apply or a family's, you know, not sure, they shouldn't overthink it. If it seems like this doesn't apply to you, then it should be, um, either left. It should either be a zero if it's a financial question, or it should be left blank if it's a non financial question.

Um, but, but that is, that is possible. It doesn't mean that every single applicant, question on the application. Um, is, is going to apply to every single family and while many of those questions have been, um, you know, tailored and there's smart logic, uh, and sometimes a question will be answered and, uh, some, some text will pop up just to double check and ask to, to try to help families prevent errors.

The goal here is to move through this application. as possible so that schools can get the information [00:16:00] and we don't have to kind of go back and forth. Um, the, the financial questions on the form should always be answered in whole dollars, no cents. Uh, so if they needed to be rounded, that's fine, uh, but they should always be answered in whole dollars.

So, Every year there's, there's a few students that we see that have some really large incomes. Uh, and sometimes that's an indication that they've used, uh, cents, uh, in their reporting of, of numbers. It's always a good idea. Also, in terms of general tips, To, uh, keep a copy of the completed form so that, um, you know, if a school administrator comes back and asks some questions about, uh, how that a certain question was answered, the family sort of has context of the application to be able to, to answer that.

Uh, so we'll start with, with parent information, what is reported, um, for parent information. [00:17:00] So the idea here is. It's to really family. The family structure, uh, has, has, is so varied across students and who lives in their household and how many parents and who's married and who's remarried and who's, you know, no longer, uh, alive.

And there's just all kinds of scenarios. And so the idea here is that to collect as much information about a student's household as possible in their parents so that the right, questions can be asked so that we're not asking insensitive questions, um, on behalf of, of a student application. So in this information, students should always answer, you know, all of their parents and all of their step parents.

And if a parent has passed, they report that too, because if they indicate that situation, Then the application can stop asking them further questions about that parent. Um, but [00:18:00] we need to ask some questions about to, you know, step parents, uh, to make sure that we are understanding the information. And that doesn't mean always that all of that information is going to be used, but it helps colleges to decipher and, uh, figure out what is going to be included and what should not.

Um, so the way that is, uh, included is to put, you know, date of birth information and email addresses for those individuals. In, in the case of the profile, which is different from the FAFSA, legal guardians are reported as parents. Um, so, The profile tries to mirror the FAFSA in as many, you know, similar ways as possible.

Um, this is one place that's divergent. Uh, and legal guardians, while, again, while that information is asked, schools may have different [00:19:00] policies on whether the legal guardian information is used or is not used. So, you know, that can be explored as the student moves forward in the application, uh, process.

But current spouses, uh, are, are, are important. Um, and then as I sort of said just a few slides ago in terms of what information schools will ask for some schools will ask for information from from both households when there are multiple households, a primary household and maybe a secondary household.

You know, non custodial is sometimes, uh, used also as a term. It's hard to get some of these terms exactly right that apply to all families, but either using the school's website or using that participating school page. It's schools that are reporting that information. It's not in the reporting that information.

We are reporting that information directly in the [00:20:00] portal. So that page of participating school should always be accurate and it should always mirror. a college's website. Um, it's not that the college board is trying to figure all that out. Um, the student will list the non custodial or the secondary household parent email address, uh, and then the student will be able to follow up with that, that parent, um, email.

Um, you may not in your world have that many independent students, um, but parent information is schools get to decide what age they stop asking for parent information. So it may be age 24. It could be later. Um, but colleges make that decision in their application settings.

So this is an important one. You know, what happens when the [00:21:00] secondary household information, non custodial parent information is not available? Um, this has really improved over the years. Again, trying to, um, you know, reduce as much as possible the harm that that students feel in having to go through this process of reporting what are sometimes very uncomfortable situations.

Sometimes they're not, but sometimes they are. So that's also part of the process of, listing the parents. Um, if a student doesn't list a second, another parent, there are follow up questions to ask why. Why did you not list a parent? Did you not list that parent for reasons such as they're deceased, or they're unknown, or they're incarcerated, or they've been involved with abuse?

And then there's some additional questions or responses that students can provide, um, [00:22:00] listed here about single adoptive parents or children that were conceived by a single parent at the time of conception or that they're not in contact with the non custodial parent. And it's through these questions that then colleges are going to decide If additional information is necessary.

So the, um, on the, the college board site, um, there is a waiver on the CSS profile page. Uh, there is a waiver request form. And so this is designed so that students can just fill this out once, uh, and then they can send it to multiple colleges if they need to. It is also possible. That based on how students answer some of these above questions, they may not get asked for that that waiver request.

Uh, and that again is a good thing. It's [00:23:00] designed to reduce barriers for for students. Um, but I have seen That's not a universal path. Uh, some institutions have decided that they need the confirmation. Um, some institutions have decided that they've done the analysis and, you know, there was enough evidence to show uh, that the information they received was accurate and correct and so they might as well just not ask for the information up front.

And again, I think that that is part of uh, the success, uh, to trying to create access for students. So in the many cases, um, where a second household, uh, you know, is functional and will need to provide this information, their information on the profile, they complete a separate and a secure profile. They are going to the same website.

They're creating their own parent account. Um, they don't need to [00:24:00] enter any student information because they're going to link the account. So the student has to complete the application or start the application first. And the way this works is that the secondary household can't Complete or start the application until at least one college that requires their information is added again.

We're trying to reduce how much information is shared and make sure that it's only shared if it is actually needed. So. Once the student puts in schools that they're planning to apply to, the student can then send an email to that parent, um, they send it with the student's ID, the CB FinAid ID, which is the, the link that would connect the student's account with the parents because they are Separate and secure.

Um, so the parent, that second household is not going to see the colleges [00:25:00] um, or they don't select the colleges excuse me, they do see the colleges but but they don't actually need to worry about selecting the colleges. That's um, behind, you know, controlled, uh, behind the scenes if it's necessary. Um, second households can use, uh, fee payment codes.

We'll get a little bit, uh, further into that in just a little bit. Uh, and of course, parents always want the confirmation that the other parent can't see their information, and, and that's absolutely true. They can't. Um, even if they're uploading documents to the IDOC, which we'll get into later, they can't see that information either.

Uh, and, and colleges and universities are not going to discuss. information about one parent with the other parent in these types of situations. So, um, hopefully that gives greater assurance in terms of the credibility, uh, of this application. So what information, um, let's get [00:26:00] into the information that will be asked for on the profile.

Uh, the general information, of course, we have to start with where colleges, uh, what colleges the student is applying to. I've talked about that. And for this academic year for the The 25, 26 academic year students who are applying to go to school next year, they're going to be using income information from 2023.

So 2023 income should have all been filed in April of 24. So. You know, a good number of months ago, uh, hopefully. And so they have hopefully that information easily and readily accessible. Um, information about 2024 may be asked. Um, so, you know, there's, there's a question about, do you anticipate changes?

And if you do anticipate changes, then. That will follow with what, what are those, those changes, uh, asset information, which [00:27:00] includes businesses. Uh, hopefully this will be a little bit better going forward now that the FAFSA is also asking about businesses, um, household member information. And, um, this is where also where the profile is a little bit different.

Um, the profile is going to, In most cases, use the number of children, uh, in college and will be institutional methodology currently still adjusts the family contribution based on the number of children in college. So the FAFSA is still asking for the number in college, but that is not part of the formula any, any longer.

So when families start the application, it's good for them to have their full tax return on hand for 2023, as well as the 2023 W 2s, if they have untaxed income, uh, in 2023 that come from 1099, Social Security, disability benefits, those kinds of [00:28:00] things, um, they should have those on hand, and then documentation of, of their, their assets.

So again, you know, there's lots of questions. Um, and you know, why is this a good, a good thing? Well, it really does get into a better estimate of a family's ability to pay. Um, this is also where the number of questions, uh, can vary by school. Um, so if a student is Completing, um, the profile once they add the, the school, uh, all the questions that that school wants to ask will be part of the application.

If they're applying to several colleges, it will be sort of the, the cumulative total. So the length of the application is ultimately going to be determined by, um, [00:29:00] you know, how, how, uh, schools are, what questions schools are asking. So again, if different students have different user experiences, um, that is definitely possible.

Um, so income and assets, um, I do want to highlight that on the profile, Uh, parent assets that are held in the names of children, including 529 plans. Those are part of the profile application. And then specifically expenses. There's absolutely nothing on the FAFSA application that asks about family expenses.

And on the profile, yes, there are more questions and some of those questions are to the advantage. Because the questions are about what, what is going to impact your ability to pay for college and significant medical or dental expenses [00:30:00] could impact families could already be paying tuition for an elementary or secondary school.

They could have their own educational loans. They could be, um, supporting family members outside of their immediate household. So there are customized questions that can actually reduce, um, a parent's, you know, calculated contribution. And so again, yes, it's intrusive. Uh, but there are reasons that, that, that is designed again to increase accessibility.

Thank you. I just we said a question. I was hoping that you could provide some clarification on if a family cash is in a 401k is that viewed as income or an asset on the CSS profile. Thanks, Sean. That is a very good question. Um, so 401k is if it is. Um, a [00:31:00] distribution, it will, uh, very often appear on the tax return.

So it can appear on the tax return as, as either taxable income or untaxed income. It is going to count as income. Uh, the, the profile does ask, and I, Yeah, it is here. The profile does ask the retirement value of the whole retirement. That is not part of the institutional methodology at this time. Um, it, it is, and it's not, you know, typically used.

It can be a helpful informational piece as schools are talking with families to try to understand, um, what might be some of their Their worries and their fears, um, about paying for college and future resources. Um, but to get back to the specific question, if it's cashed out, it's going to be on the income side and that's [00:32:00] where there should be probably additional conversation with the school because it's possible.

That if there was retirement money that was cashed out and it was back in 2023, and the student is applying to go to school now, starting in 2025, there's a big difference there. So what the family is going to want to do is, is, is, Add, they can either, um, I'll, I'll explain, um, in a second, uh, actually, you know what, let me just go to the next slide, um, there, they can explain in special circumstances that they, that this occurred and there's narrative that they can put on the profile.

This is another key benefit of the profile. There's absolutely no way to add narrative to the FAFSA. So you can't explain anything. Um, but the family could say we took 50, 000 out of our retirement. We had to, uh, you know, a tree fell on our roof and we had to replace the roof. And that happened in August of 2023.

And we [00:33:00] took the money out at the end of 2023. And, you know, please don't consider that as part of our income. We can provide documentation. And so that explanation gives the school the opportunity. To either just move it up front, which is possible, or the school may come back and say, okay, can you send us the documentation?

And then, you know, they may move it to another area. So the ability to explain special circumstances is also important. Um, the family data is important. So in the family grid, you know, the FAFSA just asks how many students are in your household. The family data asks who lives in your household? Who are the dependents and what's the relationship?

And really importantly, what is their date of birth? How old are they? The reason for how old they are is that the institutional methodology gives every family an allowance against [00:34:00] their assets based on the assumption that they're saving for college for each of their children. Each age and each year. of their children.

So if somebody has three kids and their total ages are, you know, I don't know, you know, 30, then there's going to be a significant amount of their assets that are protected from their original, you know, what they're reporting is net worth. And so, again, this is another way that the institutional methodology is, is more precise in comparing families.

Um, okay. Uh, so one thing I'll say about private scholarships, students should only report, um, private scholarships if they've been notified that they've received them. Uh, if they just are applying to scholarships, uh, they shouldn't put amounts there because the design here again is that schools are receiving this information and they're [00:35:00] incorporating these private scholarships up front in the financial aid offer.

We don't want to be going back and forth with families. We don't want to tell them one thing and then have to change it. So we want all of this information, including tuition benefits, um, generally that are transferable to other schools. If there's a tuition benefit that's only available to one school that the students applying for, It's probably not helpful to send that information to a lot of schools, or if you report that, if the family reports that tuition benefit, they should say, this benefit was reported, but it's only applicable to, um, you know, a certain state school or something like that.

It only applies to, you know, UMass or something. But usually those schools know, you know, what students are getting anyway, uh, supplemental questions. There is a limited, um, subset of questions that schools can add to the application. Um, and for [00:36:00] those of you who have been, um, Familiar with the profile for some time.

You may remember an era where there were lots of supplemental questions and everybody asked supplemental questions and they all added up and it doubled the time that it took to complete the profile. That is no longer happening. The College Board has pushed colleges and universities really, really hard to reduce those questions.

So there are still some, but nowhere near to the degree, the degree that they used to be. Also add that when a student fills out the profile, they can always come back and add another school. So I believe that students should only add the profile, you know, add schools for the profile that they are certain that they're going to be applying to, because it is a fee based application, which we'll get to right now.

Because it's a fee based application, wait until you're certain that you're applying to that [00:37:00] school. And you can always add schools later. If you, if you say, oh last minute, oh yeah, I finally, I decided yes, I'm going to apply to Amherst College. Um, they can add that in. And then at the point that they add that other school, If there's a section of the profile that wasn't initially asked, but is required by that school, then that information will come up at that time.

Again, we're just trying to ask what is necessary at that point for the, for the student, not asking students to answer and families to answer more than they absolutely need to. So because of all the work that goes into this application, Um, it does cost money. Uh, and so the initial application is 25 and that's a little bit cheaper to file additional school reports.

Uh, you can pay with a credit card or a debit card, um, non custodial parents, second household only pays one flat rate, 25, regardless of how many [00:38:00] schools. Um, and then there is, um, there are ways for the fees to be waived, and this is also important, um, because the, the waivers, For again, for those who have been in this with working with the profile for some time, the fee waivers have, uh, grown over the years to again, make it more accessible for all levels of socioeconomic, uh, status.

So if a family, meets a low income criteria, which is under 100, 000. Uh, if they, uh, are an independent student, uh, from the standpoint of, of not having, uh, you know, the parents, they're an orphan or a ward of the court. Um, and then they get a fee waiver. If they've already received an SAT fee waiver. then they can receive a fee waiver for the profile.

And these fee waivers are available not only to incoming students, but also transfer students, returning students and [00:39:00] independent students. So that's all been expanded and there's no limit, um, on how many schools a student can use the fee waivers for. That is also, um, At this time, the fee waivers are not available for international students, um, but there is another option for them that I'll hit in a second.

Uh, and students do have to be living in the U. S., so that's how the designation from, you know, domestic to international, uh, students is applied. Uh, noncustodial or second household families can also, uh, meet the, the fee waiver guidelines. So separate from fee waivers would be fee payment codes, and fee payment codes are where somebody else is paying the fee for the applicant.

Uh, so that could be colleges and universities, it could be college based organizations. Uh, I'm sorry, community based organizations. [00:40:00] Um, it could be, you know, high schools, potentially. Um, but basically one code is for one application. So, if a college gives, uh, a fee payment code to a student, it can only be used for that college.

Uh, if there's other organizations, um, then it can be used probably for any college, but it's still a one to one basis. And there's, there's no limit on how many, um, fee payment codes can, can be used. So when the profile, uh, is submitted, um, of course, students should always review, families should always review what has been submitted.

And, um, there's sort of some error checking just to make sure that there's not any inconsistencies that would need to be followed up on. Um, and then they, you know, confirm that they've done that and then whether or not they have to pay would come into play. Um, again, modern features like the [00:41:00] dashboard, you can see whether it was submitted, you can see the status.

What's nice about listing the college is you can see what their other dates are, which is, which is nice. Um, also the link to IDOC and we're going to hit that next, but that's really, um, critical. And while this dashboard is really, really nice, um, every college has a, a portal, an admission portal, a financial aid portal.

Sometimes they're exactly the same. Sometimes they're, they're slightly different. Um, but it's that portal that's going to be really the source of record. So as much as I love that the information is consolidated in one place here, it's still necessary for students to check their. Portal at each college and make sure that everything that's being requested has been received.

Um, applications are not reviewed typically until they're complete and [00:42:00] colleges are so pressed. Um, that, that oftentimes there are, they're not necessarily sending out incomplete notices to all students and we as colleges struggle with that because we know students have applied to many places. And so. It doesn't feel good that they're getting five different emails saying, you know, complete, incomplete.

We, we know that they're not good with email. We know that it's challenging to manage all that. So it's better if students can organize, um, their application in kind of maybe setting, uh, you know, a web folder where they list and have all the portals, you know, maybe they have a financial aid paid, uh, folder and they list all the portals there and they just kind of.

Go through them over an hour or so, um, once every few weeks and kind of make sure that the, all the items are there. So that's a really good, uh, well, before I segue into the IDOC, we'll hit corrections. Uh, [00:43:00] sometimes Families can make mistakes in completing the profile. So a sort of new feature in the last couple years, uh, is that students can submit corrections.

They can submit one correction, um, in certain situations. And these are the situations that most often needed a correction. Uh, so if a student didn't put any parent information, because sometimes what happens is the parent is completing the application. And, um, the parent answers the student questions.

And so it, um, it makes it appear the student is independent when they're not. Um, so you can go back and correct that. Uh, another thing is that sometimes, uh, families don't report that they own a business. Uh, that also happens. Uh, so we want them to be able to go back and correct that, uh, because that can have, uh, some negative consequences.

And, and then there's sort of a catch all of, I just made a mistake. Um, or [00:44:00] there's been a change in my employment. So that, um, happens and then schools will look at that information. But, but the first, the primary application has to have been processed before you can submit a correction. So usually that's about 24 hours.

Uh, and you can't do a correction and add a college at the same time. So do one and then, you know, do the correction and then you can go back and, uh, add another college. But there's, there's no, there's no cost for that. So what's IDOC? IDOC is the document imaging service, um, that colleges use, uh, to help collect supporting documentation.

And, um, usually that is, are things like copies of tax returns. Um, so basically the student is, and the family is completing the information on the profile. Then they, Upload basically fairly easily the tax information [00:45:00] and then those images, that information gets data entry keyed in a data file that goes to the college and the image gets sent to the college.

And this is to make sure that we're, again, reducing errors and making sure that there's high quality of information. On here. So, uh, this is why the school's portal is so important, uh, because oftentimes families don't include all the pages of their tax return, uh, and colleges will maybe sometimes add the missing piece to their portal, but they're not adding it back.

It's too hard to go back to the IDOC portal and add it there. Some colleges may do that, but, um, most I think, uh, do not. So. You know, the most common thing is when colleges say all pages and schedules, just do all pages and schedules, the most common pages that are [00:46:00] omitted, uh, would be the schedule one, um, probably one, two, and three.

Um, and then sometimes on the schedule one would indicate if there's also a schedule C or a schedule E. Again, it's easier for the family if they just send everything all at once. And again, applications aren't going to be reviewed until they're complete, so students, you know, really should be checking the portal to make sure that it's complete.

Colleges all have the dates by which they're asking for this information. If you can help your students to try to plan, uh, not to submit information at the very last minute, that would be ideal. And I am sure that's a struggle for you, just like it's a struggle for us. Um, but the reality is that when a student submits the profile during high volume times of year, it can take three to five days to get to us.

And sometimes [00:47:00] when things aren't going smoothly, Um, in processing world, uh, it can take more than five days, and we hate that, um, but these are people behind the scenes that are keying data, um, it's staffing, they're trying to, whatever, scale up, scale down, figure out how to, you know, manage, um, resources, and sometimes things don't go perfectly.

So if students can really plan a couple weeks in advance, that's going to be to their, their benefit. Nothing happens overnight. Uh, rarely, uh, during slow times, maybe, but students aren't completing their applications during slow times at this time of year. Uh, there definitely are resources and support, uh, for students, and those, uh, are available on the, the Contact Us page.

Um, I will, Pause here for a second, because there are definitely some things that you can do, um, right now, um, you know, helping [00:48:00] families to, uh, know what the deadlines are, either using the, the application, um, the participating schools page, or encouraging students to check out the colleges. Web, uh, financial aid, uh, web pages.

Um, I said that the CSS profile, uh, opened, um, is already open now. And the FAFSA, we're really hoping, will be fully open and functional, hopefully as of December 1st. Um, but these QR codes, uh, are also ways that you can connect with MEFA to really get some good, uh, resources, um, make sure they're available for you.

Uh, you can encourage students and families to get their FSA ID now. That is something that they could do. And, uh, also encourage students to use net price calculators so that they can start to get a feel for, you know, what their, um, resources, how their [00:49:00] resources may be interpreted by different schools.

And then these are the social media sites, uh, that I mentioned at the beginning, um, in terms of all the different places, uh, I'm sure there's one here that, that you use, um, and, and again, you know, MEFA provides some really timely, helpful reminders and, and resources and, and we, you know, they're just a great partner to work with as financial aid folks.

So we're glad we can, um, they're, you know, Accessible also by email for questions, uh, and we would certainly love, um, to take some of your questions now in, uh, the remaining, uh, few minutes of this webinar. And thank you so much for, you know, for, for joining us.

I can either keep sharing if I need to go back, or I can stop sharing so that, um, [00:50:00] we can see each other a little bit more. Any questions that came through? Currently there are no open questions. Awesome. I'm going to take that as I did a fabulous job. You really did. You're very thorough. Um, I do want to address, I don't think I said this at the beginning.

Um, I think, you know, oftentimes folks attend these webinars looking for, You know, what's what's brand new? What's the latest and greatest? And I think that the key theme of 2526 is hopefully stability. So there really aren't changes to the profile because I think all of us, all of us have had enough change to last us for some time with the FAFSA.

So we'll let the FAFSA get everything squared away. Profile will stay stable, uh, and predictable, predictable, uh, for, for a little while and then we'll go. But I, I think that the work that's been done in, in recent years really, uh, [00:51:00] brings the profile to a better place. And also, I would love to hear if you have a different opinion on that.

And if there's, if there's some places that you think the profile can continue to improve, I'm always happy to, to be a vocal ambassador in my, um, conversations with, uh, folks who work on the profile and at the College Board. Thanks, Gail. A question did just come through. Is there a place on the Common App that shows families that CSS needs to be filled in addition to the FAFSA?

I don't, I don't think so. Um, I, I think the best place is to use the participating, uh, colleges page, uh, on the CSS profile or going to the colleges direct, um, web page. Oftentimes admission web pages will also list financial aid timelines, um, and then they usually link to the financial aid office as well.

There's so much information in [00:52:00] Slate that I think it's challenging to add more there. One more question. Do parents create a parent account separately with their own information with the link provided in the student's email invite? The secondary household, so the student will email the secondary household if that is applicable and then that parent will create their own account with their information.

What they should remember is that they're not adding any student information that's not necessary and that sometimes confuses people because they think oh I'm filling out the application it's for me it's it's not really it's for the child the student but it's the parent's information. In terms of the primary household, um, That, if the parent is, uh, creating the account, if you're not using the college board [00:53:00] account, then that primary parent can also, uh, start that application.

And at that point, student information would need to be included, because that's the starter part of the application. I hope that sort of made sense. Yes, thank you.

Great. We're warming people up now. And one more question. Do students have anywhere to submit GPA academic awards and the such on the CSS profile? Not on the CSS profile. Usually financial aid that is awarded based on merit and academic talent, um, is through is decided typically by admission. And so that information is usually part of the admission application and determined there.

So, yeah. Everything, uh, that I can think of on the profile is all [00:54:00] financial. The only exception to that is the actual scholarships that have been already awarded from an entity outside of the institution. And that's sometimes that can, something that can be confusing for students too. I've seen many students who answer that, you know, external scholarship question reporting their, their Pell Grant.

Um, we know about the Pell Grant. We know about the eligibility. So really the only items that should be reported in that external scholarship question are the ones that are coming from community based organizations or the high school or, you know, churches and, and things that are outside of federal and state and institutional sources.

One more question in the explanation section. Can you explain a student is physically disabled and unable to do work study or work during college? Um, certainly in the explanation section, you [00:55:00] can put any narrative you want. I don't think that's in my, my financial aid administrator position, I would say that's not necessary.

So when student employment is offered as a portion of the financial aid offer, there's no requirement that a student accept it. Um, some schools don't even have students actively accept the awards. So there's, it's not necessary. And it's, It's highly unlikely that an institution would replace that student employment with grants and scholarships.

Um, however, I think a better time period would be after the offer is received, and a student is, um, narrowing down their resources, they could certainly be in touch with a school and say, Um, Are there any other options to student employment if, uh, I have an accessibility issue and, and can't work? Maybe there are jobs that [00:56:00] would still be options for that student.

Um, At, in our student employment office, we have accessibility requirements. And so students can still apply for jobs, and they work with that supervisor to determine If they can meet some, um, components of being able to work, and that's all happens on a college campus, just like it would happen in the real, the rest of the real world.

Thank you, Gail. I don't see any other open questions at this time. Great. Well, that was perfect timing then. So thank you all again for, for joining us on this, uh, start to the week. I hope it's been an okay Monday afternoon for you and, um, hope the rest of the week goes well. Thank you. Thanks [00:57:00] again.