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How to Complete the 2024/2025 CSS Profile

By Will Geiger

Will Geiger is the co-founder of Scholarships360 and has a decade of experience in college admissions and financial aid. He is a former Senior Assistant Director of Admissions at Kenyon College where he personally reviewed 10,000 admissions applications and essays. Will also managed the Kenyon College merit scholarship program and served on the financial aid appeals committee. He has also worked as an Associate Director of College Counseling at a high school in New Haven, Connecticut. Will earned his master’s in education from the University of Pennsylvania and received his undergraduate degree in history from Wake Forest University.

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and Cait Williams

Cait Williams is a Content Writer at Scholarships360. Cait recently graduated from Ohio University with a degree in Journalism and Strategic Communications. During her time at OU, was active in the outdoor recreation community.

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Reviewed by Bill Jack

Bill Jack has over a decade of experience in college admissions and financial aid. Since 2008, he has worked at Colby College, Wesleyan University, University of Maine at Farmington, and Bates College.

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Edited by Maria Geiger

Maria Geiger is Director of Content at Scholarships360. She is a former online educational technology instructor and adjunct writing instructor. In addition to education reform, Maria’s interests include viewpoint diversity, blended/flipped learning, digital communication, and integrating media/web tools into the curriculum to better facilitate student engagement. Maria earned both a B.A. and an M.A. in English Literature from Monmouth University, an M. Ed. in Education from Monmouth University, and a Virtual Online Teaching Certificate (VOLT) from the University of Pennsylvania.

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Updated: February 12th, 2024
How to Complete the 2024/2025 CSS Profile

The CSS Profile (College Scholarship Service) is an online application created by the College Board, which is best known for the SAT standardized test. The CSS profile is used by nearly 250 colleges, universities and scholarship programs to provide financial aid. This financial aid is separate from aid that a student might receive from their state government or the federal government through the FAFSA. This can be a big deal for students who may qualify for specific scholarships and financial aid that are only awarded by a particular college.

In this post, we will be covering:

Who should complete the CSS Profile?

First things first: you will need to figure out whether you actually need to complete the CSS Profile. The only students who need to complete the CSS Profile are students who are attending or applying to one of the colleges, universities, or scholarship programs that require the CSS Profile. 

You can jump ahead to this list of all of the institutions that require the CSS Profile in 2024-2025. You will also find each institution’s specific CSS Profile Code.

How is the CSS Profile used?

When you are completing the CSS Profile, you may notice that it goes into much more depth than the FAFSA. This is intentional, because the CSS Profile captures much more information than the FAFSA about your family’s financial situation. Private school tuition and medical bills are just two of the additional data points that will be considered with the CSS Profile.

How to complete the CSS Profile

Next, we will walk you through the steps of how to actually complete the CSS Profile:

  1. Create a College Board Account
  2. Gather the necessary materials
  3. Select your program
  4. Complete the application
  5. Submit the application

Step 1: Create a College Board Account

If you’ve taken the SAT, PSAT, or AP exams, the College Board website may look familiar! If not, you can create your College Board account to get started.

Step 2: Gather the necessary materials 

Next, you will need to gather all of the necessary documents and materials to complete the CSS Profile (note that these are the same materials that are required by the FAFSA). This will include:

  • Your Social Security Card
  • Your Driver’s License (if you have one)
  • Your Alien Registration number (if you are not a U.S. citizen)
  • Your W-2 Federal Tax Return
  • Records of your untaxed income
  • Current bank statements

You will also need some information from your parents, including:

Once you have all of this information available, you can move onto the next step!

Step 3: Select your program

Now, you can select the specific institutions where you will be submitting the CSS Profile. As mentioned earlier, these are the colleges and organizations that will require the CSS Profile. It is important to note that if you are applying to colleges, you should select all of the colleges that you’ll be applying to.

Step 4: Complete the application

Now you are ready to actually complete the CSS Profile application!  Here’s what you can expect to answer:

  • Basic personal questions about you and your family 
  • Questions about income, assets, and expenses 

If you have any questions or anything is confusing, you can request help in the form of live chat, email, or phone. The CSS Profile also has an application dashboard that will help you keep track of your progress on the application.

Step 5: Submit the application

The last and most important step is to submit the application! One of the things that you will notice is a payment requirement. The CSS Profile payment is $25 for your first institution and then $16 for additional reports. However, you may qualify for a fee waiver from the College Board so you can avoid this application fee. 

Generally, CSS Profile deadlines are pegged to the college’s application deadline. You can learn more about CSS Profile deadlines in our article.

2023-2024 CSS Profile Institutions & Codes

CSS CodeInstitution
1001Adrian College
1003Alabama A&M University
5007American University
3003Amherst College
4007Arizona State University
6011Arkansas State University
0193Armenian Student Assoc of Amer
3075Babson College
2037Bard College
3795Bard College at Simons Rock
2038Barnard College
3076Bates College
6032Baylor University
1059Beloit College
3080Bennington College
3098Bentley University: McCallum Graduate School of Business
3096Bentley University
3107Berklee College of Music
1064Birmingham-Southern College
3083Boston College
3116Boston University: School of Medicine
3087Boston University
3089Bowdoin College
9785Boyce College
3092Brandeis University
3189Brown University
2049Bryn Mawr College
2050Bucknell University
0029Buttonwood Foundation
4034California Institute of Tech
6081Carleton College
2074Carnegie Mellon University
0520Caroline E. Hill Scholar Fund
1104Case Western Reserve U: MED
1105Case Western Reserve University
5691Christendom College, VA
4054Claremont McKenna College
3279Clark University
1124Cleveland Institute of Music
3280Colby College
2086Colgate University
3282College of the Holy Cross
5115College of William and Mary
1134College of Wooster
4072Colorado College
2174Columbia U: Business School
2116Columbia U: College and Engineering
2173Columbia U: College of Dental Medicine
2202Columbia U: Journalism School
2184Columbia U: Occupational Therapy
2166Columbia U: School of Arts
2095Columbia U: School of General Studies, NY
7982Columbia U: School of Law
2148Columbia U: Vagelos College of Physicians/Surgeons
3284Connecticut College
2822Cornell U: College of Vet Medicine
2099Cornell U: School of Law
2098Cornell University
5866Creative Institute of Central Arkansas
2100Curtis Institute of Music
3351Dartmouth College
5150Davidson College
1164Denison University
1166DePauw University
2186Dickinson College
2194Drexel University
7059Duke Kunshan University
5156Duke University
2185Duke University School of Nursing
5158Duke University: Nicholas School of Environment
5152Duke University: School of Medicine
2196Duquesne University
2224Eastman School of Music: U of Rochester
5183Elon University
3367Emerson College
0140Emory U: Sch of Medicine
5187Emory University
3390Fairfield University
2259Fordham University
0467Francis Ouimet School Fund
2261Franklin and Marshall College
5222Furman University
2314Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
5587George Washington U: Law S
9608George Washington U: Public Health, DC
5246George Washington University
7306Georgetown U: Law Ctr
3466Georgetown U: School of Medicine
5244Georgetown University
4563Georgetown University in Qatar
5248Georgia Institute of Technology
0112Gestalt Institute of Cleveland
2275Gettysburg College
5314Global Citizen Year
4293Great Basin College
6252Grinnell College
2277Grove City College
0060Guilford Scholarship Assoc
6253Gustavus Adolphus College
2286Hamilton College (NY)
3447Hampshire College
3434Harvard College
3441Harvard U: Dental Sch
4238Harvard U: Harvard Medical School
4341Harvey Mudd College
2289Haverford College
2334Hilbert College
1295Hillsdale College
2294Hobart and William Smith Coll
0206Horace Greeley Scholarship Fd
7333Icahn Sch of Med at Mt Sinai
1320Illinois Wesleyan University
2339Jewish Theological Seminary of America, NY
1357John A. Logan College
5315Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, M
5332Johns Hopkins University
5346Johns Hopkins University School Of Medicine
5532Johns Hopkins University: Peabody Conservatory
2340The Juilliard School
0274Kamehameha Schools
1370Kenyon College
2653Kutztown University
2361Lafayette College
1392Lake Forest College
1398Lawrence University
2365Lehigh University
5370Loyola University Maryland
6390Macalester College
2396Manhattan School of Music
2400Marist College
3514Massachusetts Inst of Tech
0935McGill University
0186MES Fund, Inc.
3526Middlebury College
6033Minerva University
4167Montessori Inst of North Texas
3529Mount Holyoke College
0085National Merit Schol Corp
4572Nevada State College
6173New Canaan Community Foundation
7929New Canaan HS School Foundation
3855New Saint Andrews College
2785New York University
3667Northeastern University
4006Northern Arizona University
1561Northland College
6490Northwestern College
1565Northwestern University
3669Norwich University
2305NYU Long Island school of Medicine
2234NYU: Grossman School of Medicine 
1587Oberlin College
4581Occidental College
3482Oliver Porter Killam Jr Private Foundation
1595Olivet College
4394Otis College of Art and Design
2804Patrick Henry College
4619Pitzer College
4607Pomona College
1630Principia College
3693Providence College
4654Reed College
2757Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst
1730Rhodes College
6609Rice University
5573Ringling College of Art and Design
6845Rise
2760Rochester Institute of Technology, NY
3729Roger Williams University
2763Rosemont College
3780Sacred Heart University
6629Saint Louis University
4744San Francisco Conservatory of Music
4851Santa Clara University
4693Scripps College
1842Sewanee: The University of the South
0439SF Mainliner Scholarship Prg
2814Siena College
2815Skidmore College
3762Smith College
7050Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, NC
9856Southern Baptist Theo Sem
6660Southern Methodist University
3763Springfield College, MA
3748St. Anselm College
6619St. Edwards University
5598St. Johns College (MD)
4737St. Johns College (NM)
6638St. Olaf College
7473St. Tikhons Orthodox Theological Seminary
4758Stanford U: Sch of Medicine
7832Stanford U: School of Law
4704Stanford University
5630Stetson University
2819Stevens Institute Technology
2821Swarthmore College
2823Syracuse University
6820Texas Christian University
0550The 200 Club of Morris County
4828Thomas Aquinas College (CA/MA)
3903Thomas College
3905Town of Chelmsford Schol Fund
1809Trevecca Nazarene University, TN
3899Trinity College (CT)
6831Trinity University
8865Tufts U: School of Dental Medicine
3901Tufts University
6832Tulane University
2920Union College (NY)
7152Univ of California: San Francisco
1832Univ of Chicago
4842Univ of Denver
3936Univ of Massachusetts: Medical School
5815Univ of Miami
1839Univ of Michigan
5816Univ of North Carolina Chapel
1841Univ of Notre Dame
2495Univ of Penn: Law School
2951Univ of Penn: Perelman Sch of Med
2947Univ of Penn: Sch of Veterinary Med
2933Univ of Pennsylvania
2907Univ of Pittsburgh: Sch of Med
5569Univ of Richmond
2928Univ of Rochester
2915Univ of Rochester Sch of Med/Dent
4852Univ of Southern California (USC)
5820Univ of Virginia
1814University of Cincinnati: College of Medicine
3663University of New Haven
5841University of Virginia: School of Law 
0670Vanderbilt University: School of Medicine
1871Vanderbilt University
5130Vanderbilt University: School of Law
2956Vassar College
2959Villanova University
5558Virginia Commonwealth U: Sch of Med
5084Wake Forest School of Medicine
5885Wake Forest University
3307Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
6926Wartburg College
5887Washington and Lee University
6929Washington University: St. Louis
2279Weill Cornell Medical School
3957Wellesley College
3959Wesleyan University
4948Westminster College
4951Whitman College
4953Whitworth University
6941William Jewell College
3965Williams College
3969Worcester Polytechnic Institute
4748Wyoming Catholic College
3987Yale College
3809Yale University: David Geffen School of Drama
3989Yale University: Physicians Associate Program
3975Yale University: School of Architecture
3807Yale University: School of Art
3809Yale University: School of Drama
3990Yale University: School of Medicine

Source: The College Board

Next Steps

Next Steps

Next Steps

Frequently asked questions about how to complete the CSS Profile

Does the CSS Profile give more money than the FAFSA?

The CSS Profile does not necessarily give more aid than the FAFSA. Rather, it is a different source of aid that a select set of colleges use. When in doubt, you should fill out the FAFSA every year and check with your school about whether they accept the CSS Profile.

Should everyone fill out the CSS Profile?

Unless your school requires it, you should not need to fill out the CSS Profile. The CSS Profile is quite in depth and filling it out is very time consuming. If you need more aid in addition to the FAFSA, you should look for various scholarships that are available if your school does not use the CSS Profile.

Does the CSS Profile check bank accounts?

The CSS Profile is much more thorough than the FAFSA. Instead of aiming to just understand your income and expenses, the CSS Profile seeks to understand all of you and/or your family’s assets that may aid in paying for your education. Medical bills and tuition for private school are some of the factors that the CSS Profile considers that the FAFSA does not.

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