How to Complete the 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. Full Bio

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and Cait Williams

Cait Williams is a Content Writer Intern at Scholarships360. Cait is an undergraduate student at Ohio University pursuing a degree in Journalism and Strategic Communications. During her time at OU, Cait has become active in the outdoor recreation community and plans to study abroad in Spain. Full Bio

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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. Full Bio

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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. Full Bio

Maria Geiger

Updated: September 7th, 2023

The CSS Profile (College Scholarship Service) is an online application that is used by colleges to provide financial aid. The CSS Profile is actually a product of the College Board, which is best known for the SAT standardized test.

The CSS Profile is specifically used by nearly 400 colleges, universities, and scholarship programs to award institutional financial aid and scholarships. 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?
• How is the CSS Profile used?
• How to complete the CSS Profile
• 2023-2024 CSS Profile Institutions & Codes
• Frequently asked questions about the CSS Profile

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 2023-2024. 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:

• Your parents’ Social Security numbers
• Your parents’ W-2 Federal Tax Returns
• Your parents’ records of untaxed income
• Your parents’ current bank statements
• Your parents’ investment and business financial records

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

Source: The College Board

Next Steps

• Check to see if any of the colleges on your list are listed above, and if so, make sure you submit the CSS Profile by the correct deadline
• Remember that on top of completing the CSS Profile, you should also fill out the FAFSA too
• After you submit your CSS Profile, take time narrowing down your list of colleges
• Finally, make sure you are prepared to read your financial aid award letter from the school you plan to attend

Frequently asked questions about how to complete the CSS Profile