--- title: What Is the CSS Profile and Will You Need It to Get Financial Aid? description: The College Board’s financial aid application, CSS/Financial Aid Profile, is used by about 300 colleges and other scholarship providers. authors: - name: Greg Daugherty url: https://money.com/author/greg-daugherty/ at_money_since: 2015 articles: 22 covers: - Education - Business - Economy and Politics - Lifestyle - Personal Finance former_staff: true published: '2015-12-23T11:01:56.000Z' modified: '2015-12-23T11:01:56.000Z' section: Education tags: - College - College Board - colleges - financial aid - grants - scholarships word_count: 246 canonical: https://money.com/css-financial-aid-profile-college-board/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![151224_col_css](https://img.money.com/2015/12/151224_col_css.jpg) *Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., is one of the colleges that use the CSS Profile.* The CSS/Financial Aid Profile is an online aid application used by some 300 colleges and scholarship providers. It is administered by the College Board, the organization behind the SAT and other standardized tests. Unlike the more widely used Free Application for Federal Student Aid (or [FAFSA](https://money.com/what-is-fafsa-and-who-should-fill-it-out/?iid=sr-link4)), which is required for any kind of federal aid, as well as for assistance from most states and colleges, the CSS Profile is just for private, non-federal aid. You need to file a CSS Profile only if you are looking for aid from one of the organizations or colleges [on this list](https://profileonline.collegeboard.org/prf/PXRemotePartInstitutionServlet/PXRemotePartInstitutionServlet.srv). [![Best college education image](https://content.money.com/wp-content/themes/money2018/img/college-site-banner-02.png)](https://best-colleges.time.com/money/search-colleges/?xid=cm-mcpFindTheCollegeWidget) Also unlike the FAFSA, the CSS Profile isn’t free. Creating an application and sending it to one college or scholarship program costs $25; each additional college or program is $16. The College Board will waive the fees for low-income, U.S.-based students who are applying to college for the first time. The CSS Profile requires much more financial information than the FAFSA. Besides providing family income and savings information, you’ll have to report the value of your home, retirement accounts, and small business if you have one. But the CSS Profile also takes into account more expenses, such as the cost of living in your area and any money your family spends on private schools. According to the College Board, completing it generally takes from 45 minutes to two hours. ![](https://content.money.com/wp-content/themes/money2018/img/newsletter/money-homepage-newsletter-120.png) NEWSLETTER: COLLEGE\_PLANNERSign up for **COLLEGE\_PLANNER** and more [View Sample](https://money.com/subscribe/) You can learn more about the CSS Profile and how to fill it out at the [College Board website](https://student.collegeboard.org/css-financial-aid-profile). ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/css-financial-aid-profile-college-board/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Education", "item": "https://money.com/education/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "College Board", "item": "https://money.com/college-board/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "What Is the CSS Profile and Will You Need It to Get Financial Aid?" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/css-financial-aid-profile-college-board/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/css-financial-aid-profile-college-board/", "name": "What Is the CSS Profile and Will You Need It to Get Financial Aid?", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2015-12-23T11:01:56.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/css-financial-aid-profile-college-board/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/css-financial-aid-profile-college-board/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2015-12-23T11:01:56.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "What Is the CSS Profile and Will You Need It to Get Financial Aid?", "articleSection": "Education", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2015/12/151224_col_css.jpg", "width": 2100, "height": 1400, "caption": "151224_col_css" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Greg Daugherty", "url": "https://money.com/author/greg-daugherty/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/greg-daugherty/#author" } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2015-12-23T11:01:56.000Z", "description": "The College Board’s financial aid application, CSS/Financial Aid Profile, is used by about 300 colleges and other scholarship providers.", "abstract": "The College Board’s financial aid application, CSS/Financial Aid Profile, is used by about 300 colleges and other scholarship providers.", "@id": "https://money.com/css-financial-aid-profile-college-board/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2015-12-23T11:01:56.000Z", "wordCount": 246, "keywords": [ "College", "College Board", "colleges", "financial aid", "grants", "scholarships" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Education", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "College Board", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_Board" ] } ] } ] } ```