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

Gail Holt: [00:00:00] Glad that so many glad that so many could join us. Um, I am, I always enjoy delivering this presentation. Um, a deep dive into the CSS profile. I have been using the profile as a part of my work as a financial aid administrator for. Uh, I guess it’s been probably more than 30 years. So I’ve used it at several institutions, uh, and, and I really think it is actually advantageous to families.

Uh, so it is great that you’re here to learn more about it or maybe get a refresher, um, because I do know that you’ll get questions from families. You may even get groans from families. Oh, why do I have to fill out this profile? Uh, it’s, it’s longer, it’s harder. We’re gonna try to dispel some of those myths for you today, uh, and really show you, um, why it’s great and how you can help your families, uh, as students are, are looking to get the financial aid that they need, uh, for college.

Wherever [00:01:00] that may be. So, uh, we encourage you to participate in any way you’d like. As Stephanie mentioned, the recording will be available later if you want to use the q and a, which won’t necessarily be part of the recording. Uh, do do that. The chat is, uh, not disabled. You can also use the, the live transcript, and I think everybody’s fairly familiar with the audio settings and, and things like that with, with Zoom.

So we’ll keep, we’ll keep moving. You probably do know about MEFA if you’re here. If you don’t know about MEFA, welcome. It’s a fantastic organization that. Partners with the financial aid community and as a nonprofit and, you know, community organization, their interest is really to help families. And we do that together ’cause we share that same interest in helping families afford college.

We’re not here to, to sell things. MEFA does have some great resources, uh, in terms of educational materials as well as lawn materials, but, [00:02:00] uh, but we’re here. Really collaborating and making sure you’re getting the information you need. So we’re gonna dive right into the profile. Now, the profile, uh, is created by the college board.

Um, it is officially called the CSS profile, which comes from a time when the, there was a, a service called the scholarship, uh, service. And, um. And that’s, it’s now just been shortened to CSS profile. So it is an online application. It is an online application that is actually open, uh, right now. Uh, but many colleges use it, probably actually more than, uh, 200 colleges and universities are using this application.

And those colleges and universities are throughout the United States. We’ll show you how you figure out. Uh, which institutions are, are using it. Um, but it is, um, [00:03:00] you know, all colleges are required to use the fafsa, the free application for federal student aid. If they’re administering federal funds. The profile is then used in the administration of institutional funds.

And so those are the, the or, or any non-federal funds. So as I said, it is open now. Uh, it actually opened about a week ago, and students and families can start filling it out. One of the primary advantages of the profile is that it can be used, uh, both by domestic and international students. So for institutions that accept and offer financial aid to international students, um, they’ll, they’ll use the profile, get the, I gotta get back into the, okay.

So I started to say, you know, why institutions use it. Um, it is [00:04:00] because it’s used by institutions for non, uh, federal funds. It really comes from institutions that typically have a substantial amount of their own funding, institutional funding that they’re looking to distribute, uh, across their students.

So if schools can only distribute federal funds, which are really fairly limited. In the scheme of things, then they don’t really need more than the fafsa. If they have any institutional funds or a significant amount, they may want more detailed information because as we look at high cost institutions, that the breadth of of students across those institutions really can have financial need that varies quite widely.

And with the majority of financial aid being need-based financial aid, um, and that’s who’s gonna use the profile schools that are looking to be able to use an institutional methodology, and we’ll talk a little bit about that. [00:05:00] Um, schools can ask some customized questions and one of the things, uh, that the profile allows, that the FAFSA does not is families can start to really add.

Uh, specificity or context or special circumstances to their application in ways that they cannot do with the fafsa. So this is the homepage of the CSS profile and this is where families will find that they’re starting. Um, it’s always good to make sure that a family’s landing on the most, um, you know, the application, um, and make sure it’s the correct website.

So sometimes what we’ll we’ll suggest to families is that they go to the college that they are, uh, considering and looking at, go to that college’s application page for financial aid and use the links that the college has. Um, and that will get families to the right website. But you see [00:06:00] here the website, URL, um, it’s a.org website, so that’s worth paying attention to.

And then there’s lots of information. To get family started. The most important thing to start with is the the aid year. So we are starting the front end of the 26 27 financial aid year. This corresponds to the year that your students may be entering college, um, at this time. So students are who are enrolled right now are in the 25, 26 year.

And they’re applying. The high school seniors are applying for 26, 27. You’ll see a button off to the right for those students who may be looking to either return or apply for the spring of 26, but that is less common, which is why it’s not highlighted. You’ll see, um, some important links to more information across the top, including, uh, the profile being [00:07:00] offered in Spanish.

Uh, and then we’re gonna dive into the colleges that require the profile, how to apply, very importantly, information from parents. So, first thing, who requires the profile? So this page will take and show, um, how you can determine, uh, all the institutions that are currently using the profile. 4 26, 27 application year.

You can search for a specific institution using the filters at the top. Um, and what you’ll notice are some columns, because the profile is one application. But it does come with components. So the profile may be used by institutions for certain populations, and so the populations are listed there if for domestic students or for international students.

And so that’s a [00:08:00] way to decipher exactly how an institution is using the profile. Application. If you’d like to search for who are all the profile institutions in a, in my state or a certain state. You can, you can do that, um, using these filters also. The profile, unlike the FAFSA, is used for, uh, both biological or adoptive parents.

So the student’s, parents both are, are oftentimes, uh, or may be asked to complete information, and that is typically ca you know, there may be come from two different households or there may be a custodial and a non-custodial household. So the. Column for non-custodial parents will say whether an institution is actually asking for information from a second household.

And then the final column on the right, uh, is to designate institutions that use the college board’s document [00:09:00] imaging service. This allows institutions that need some supporting materials. It allows the student to upload supporting materials only once. Then that information is disseminated to the colleges that require it.

And they also disseminate, uh, not only the image of that information, but they key some of that important data to make the process of institutions digesting this information into their financial aid systems much, much easier, much more efficient. Um, and so sometimes you might hear a family say to you, why can’t I just email this, these materials to, uh, the institution that they want?

I hope your answer is, first of all, emailing con, you know, information that has their, uh, their personal information on it is not secure. Email is not a secure method of communicating private and sensitive information. In [00:10:00] addition, it’s not just about the colleges collecting that image. We do need these data elements keyed, uh, and in in our system.

And in order to do that, we need this service. So hope you’ll, you’ll support us in that. Uh, and then here are some of the other resources. There’s, there’s definitely resources, especially when there’s two households. Uh, both parents may have questions about how they’re going to provide this information.

So there’s specific one pagers for the non-custodial parent. Um, there’s also a video, which is really great if a student would like to kind of get a. Parents would like to get a sense of how am I gonna go through this process? What’s it gonna look like? Um, we’re gonna talk about fee waivers, which is very important, uh, for, for families.

So, we’ll, we’ll get to all that, but that, those are also resources that are on the, the homepage. So what happens, um, in the sign in process, [00:11:00] um, the student can use their college board account and the advantage of using the student’s college board account to access the profile. Is that if the student has already received a fee waiver for the SAT, then that fee waiver will automatically carry over to the, the, the profile.

Um, also alternatively. Uh, parents can create a new student account and, um, you know, that would be a, a, a separate account for each student. If they happen to have multiple students applying for college at the same time, they’re going to use two different accounts, and that is the same with the FAFSA as well.

So you may be familiar with that already. So here’s, you know, really the, the key to the profile, the customized application. The application is based on the student and specifically the colleges where they’re [00:12:00] applying. So there are different segments, um, as I just laid out with requiring different kinds of information, but there’s also different segments of types of questions and institutions can specify that, that information.

So. The advantage here is that students should only start a profile when they’re sure that they’re applying to an institution. That requires the profile, and then they can complete the profile for that institution. And then if they decide later that they wanna add an institution, they can do that. And what they should do is go back and make sure that there aren’t sections.

Maybe they now need to complete for that institution. It’s, it’s not burdensome. It may add a few more minutes to completing the application, but the advantage for students is that they’re only answering, and families are only answering information as it is absolutely required. So the profile, um, has modern features.

You can complete [00:13:00] sections in any order. You can, you don’t have to do it all at once. It’s mobile friendly. So if you are familiar with an older version of the profile, uh, you will notice that many things have changed. And so I’d, I’d like to reiterate that a few times, uh, that, that the profile. Because it is, um, a third party because it is a product that’s been invested in, uh, and because it’s a product that receives regular updates from financial aid administrators as well as families, they do keep it, uh, they do keep it updated.

So, of course I think it’s always good to just reiterate so that you, we can, uh, reduce frustration that the save and continue button is always your friend. I always say you can’t hit save too many times. Uh, we all get interrupted. And the last thing that, that we want is to have data that we’ve worked hard on, not saved.

I’ve, I’m, I’m confident that we’ve all experienced that, that pain, um, as [00:14:00] families are going through questions, there are hints. And notes and guidance. And so that can appear in a variety of places with a little question mark or, you know, you can get a little bit more detail, uh, so that you can have the full understanding of what is being asked by that question.

I will say that the, that is important. Anything that is a dollar value. Um, if it doesn’t apply, that’s totally fine. Families should fill that in with a zero. Uh, but if there are other questions that, that, that don’t apply, they can also, uh, be left blank if they’re not required. And, and the, the traditional method of the red asterisk is used for what’s, what’s required.

All right, let’s dive into what is required. Um, so the, the question, the, the application centers around. Family and parent information. So the student is gonna start by setting into context who is in their family, who are their parents, who are their [00:15:00] stepparents, and they should report everybody, um, that they’re, they’re aware of.

And it may seem a little bit counterintuitive to include a parent that is deceased, but this is important information so that. Um, that the student is not asked for information from a parent or isn’t asked a question about why are you not reporting this parent? Um, we’re trying to be as comprehensive at the beginning to be as sensitive throughout the course of the application.

Uh, birth dates help to determine ages of siblings and parents. Email addresses help for communication. Uh, legal guardians in the course of the profile should be reported as parents, and this is one of the few places where the profile will diverge from the fafsa. You may remember that legal guardians are not.

Considered, uh, parents or, or contributors on the [00:16:00] fafsa, but, uh, because institutions have various policies, students should list the legal guardians and if they wanna follow up with institutions later to determine how that information, will that information be used, uh, that’s always a good idea. So the, the custodial parent and their spouse, uh, will provide information about their household.

And so dis determining who that custodial, uh, or primary or first household is for the students, uh, is the same. The definition is the same as the fafsa, so whoever is providing more. Financial support, uh, to the student in the past 12 months, and, uh, so hopefully that is familiar. As I said, you know, you can determine which schools will require information from the other parent.

Um, and that would be on their website. It would be on the, [00:17:00] the first, the co, the profile’s homepage. As I said, what happens is the student provides an email address, that’s all they need to know about that non-custodial parent. And then the information is sent to that parent and then they create an account.

And I think, yeah. So they create an account. And actually I think that’s on the next slide. So let me just pause here and address what is a very, very common question. Um, and you may be part of helping families with this. What if that non-custodial parent information is not available? So if it’s, if it’s really, um, what happens is if.

The student is only listing one parent. Then they’re going to be asked, why are they not listing another parent? And they’re gonna be asked to provide reasons for not listing another parent. These are the most common, um, that they don’t know who the parent is. Um, and that certainly can happen if the parent is deceased or, uh, incarcerated or [00:18:00] there’s other documented cases, uh, of abuse.

There could be other situations for the student in which they would not be, um, reporting or, you know, have context around wanting to provide context around that other parent. So based on their answers and kind of the composite of these answers, the non-custodial parent questions may be removed. Now it is possible that inst institutions may ask for some follow-up information.

But it’s, um, it’s possible that they won’t either. So there is a waiver request form. Um, this waiver request form hopefully is fairly consistent across, uh, institutions. There is a universal form and many institutions will use it to make life. Uh, more straightforward for families that are already in a complex situation.

Um, so if you as a [00:19:00] counselor know that there’s a difficult situation with a student, you may want to encourage them to investigate or explore the waiver request process. Um, we have been seeing a little bit more. Situation in our aid office, um, in which a student, uh, applies to an institution. They work really, really hard to get that parent to, uh, provide information when they really haven’t been in contact with them.

They’re, they don’t have a relationship with the parent and the only contact to contact is this college search process. Um, and then when they get here. They then reveal that there’s really no relationship and that they don’t want the parent information, um, considered, or it’s a hardship, you know, variety of situations.

And so many times we say, we just wish they had told us this information upfront because it really, um. It, it really does cause [00:20:00] some struggle in, uh, for the, for the student, um, in, in ways that maybe they didn’t have to go through, uh, if they had had a little bit more support, uh, to explore this waiver process.

The worst that it’s gonna happen in the waiver process is that we’re gonna say, unfortunately, we can’t waive the parent’s information, and you do still need it. But, um, in those cases where it’s appropriate, uh, we would like the students to have support in asking for, for that, that waiver. Okay. So when there is a more amicable and relationship between the student and their parent.

What, what does that look like? Uh, so as I said, the parent will receive an email to submit the profile from the, the what the student started. Uh, and then the, the parent completes a separate, uh, profile account. They’re gonna be using the student’s information. Um, it’s a student account, but, but their information is what?

Will, will be used in the, uh, creation of that account. [00:21:00] And then in the email is the ID value, which is what is used to link the student’s application with this parent’s application. The information is secure. Um. And, you know, the other parent can’t see any of the information. The student can’t see any of the information.

So if there’s concerns about the security of their information, uh, the confidentiality of their information, then you know, you know, assure them that through two separate accounts that will, you know, can be assured. Um. So that information, again, in order for the non-custodial parent information to be requested, a student has to have added a college that requires information from that non-custodial, uh, parent.

So again, not asking the student to do anything until it’s absolutely [00:22:00] necessary. If there’s access to a fee payment code, uh, that can be given to a non-custodial parent as well. And, um, if there are two different accounts, so if you have the parent’s account and then the non-custodial parents, you know, the primary parent and the secondary parent, those do need to be two different email addresses.

Okay, so what are the, what’s the information? Um, obviously we’ve talked over and over about the colleges. Where are the students applying in terms of income information? The information that’s gonna be requested is the same as the fafsa, again, the parent and student 2024 income. So this is income of information that should already be well available.

It should have been filed, um, quite some time ago. So that is the, what is supposed to be easy because students can readily access, families can readily access the 2024 [00:23:00] information. Now they are asked about 2025 income, which is occurring obviously right now. And so hopefully in the course of that application, the student and the family, they’re gonna know if there’s really anything different.

Um, and they have the opportunity during the application to say. The 2025 information is quite a bit different. I’m expecting it to be even different still in 2026. So that’s just a checkoff box. They don’t need numbers for that. Um, but this will help a school engage with the family to provide, you know, if there’s anything that the school can do to follow up with them or provide information about an appeal process.

That’s the advantage of having this information upfront on the profile from the beginning. Just like the fafsa, the parent student assets, um, including businesses, uh, are included. Um, the, the business piece is a little bit different with the FAFSA this year. [00:24:00] Um, but, but let’s just stick with for the profile.

Uh, businesses are in, information is included. Uh, household information number in college, as you know, the number in college while it’s asked for on the profile, on the fafsa. Is not used in the calculation, but, um, the number in college can be used more, uh, commonly by schools that are using the profile.

So these are the items that we request, uh, and suggest that families have on hand. Is there some completing the profile, the 2024 tax return, w twos, untaxed income, that sort of thing.

So there, while there are some more questions on the profile than on the fafsa, um, this really does help to assess a better ability to pay. It helps to get more resources to, to families and students that have greater need and, [00:25:00] um, and really distribute the resources, um, to the best option available, uh, by colleges and universities.

Parent assets. Um, the home is part of the profile and that varies from the FAFSA as well as the businesses and farms in ways that the businesses and farms are not requested on the fafsa. Uh, another differentiation is that on the profile, parent assets that are held in siblings names are. Reported on the fafsa, if there’s a 5 29 plan that the sibling is the beneficiary of that is not reported on the fafsa, so, so this is a place of variation.

And then the, the profile does ask about retirement values, and [00:26:00] that is specific to what is in the retirement account, not the income portion of what you’re contributing to the retirement in the given year. That is also. Asked for, but the actual current fair market value of the asset itself. One of the reasons that this is asked for is so that parents understand that they’re putting things in different boxes, so they’re distinguishing their retirement assets from other kinds of assets.

You know, they shouldn’t be reporting something twice, so if it feels like they’re reporting something twice and repeated, they might wanna pause and make sure they’re understanding the question. Um, so that’s the reason primarily for asking about retirement value. It is not, um, a, a portion of the standard institutional methodology.

And, you know, I would say occasionally it may be used for appeal purposes and that can kind of go both ways. Sometimes schools may look at it [00:27:00] when a student is appealing, if it’s a really low value, um, and try to do something more for a family if it’s a really high value. Uh, maybe less so, but, um, that’s gonna vary from school to school.

Now, here’s again, asking more questions is valuable because the profile is going to ask in ways that the FAFSA does not. What are parent expenses? So do you have medical and dental expenses? Do you pay for secondary tuition for, uh, a, a sibling? Do, are there education loan payments that the family is making?

All those expenses are possibly things that an institution will use to lower the family contribution of their applicants.

Uh, family data. Here’s another place. The, the FAFSA’s just gonna use a number. What size is your household? The profile’s going to ask, you know, [00:28:00] who is in the household, what’s the relationship? Are they in school? What are the school expenses? And that’s sometimes information that that can be utilized. Um.

Also this is the profile is an opportunity for students to, uh, respond to have they already received notice that they are, uh, receiving an an outside or an external or a private scholarship? Or do they know that their parent is going to be eligible for a tuition benefit? So by reporting this information on the profile.

Schools can include that information in the initial aid offer. This helps to reduce the stress that’s caused when. There are revisions to an aid offer. Um, you know, we don’t want families making decisions on information that’s going to change. So we do try to collect as much information upfront as possible.

And then, you know, we want families [00:29:00] to be able to share with us their special circumstances, their unusual occurrences, anything at all that needs clarification. There are some, uh, points in the application whereby. Uh, noting something, they’ll be asked to fill in more details, but having a little bit more detail will help us.

So maybe a family says that they’re providing support to other family members. We’re gonna ask them, can you give us a number about what is that support to those other family members? Because maybe we can take that into account right up front. Um. Then there is a, an opportunity for colleges to, to add some supplemental questions.

The college board has done a great job in really trying to reduce those, those instances. Um, because in the past that has been an area in which the profile really. Could, would take a long time to complete because you’d think you’d get to the end and then [00:30:00] there’d be all these other questions. And because they were asked by insti individual institutions, some of the flavor of those questions were very similar and that was confusing for families.

So there’s been a lot of consolidation and a lot of elimination. And so this whole section, uh, while it still exists a little bit, it is far better than it, than it used to be. The profile, um, for all the reasons that I’ve just laid out to you in terms of what goes into the profile, the front end processing, the backend processing, the technology, all of that, uh, it, it does, it, it includes a fee and it requires a fee.

So one profile costs $25, additional school reports are $16. However, um, there is a a fee waiver process that we’re gonna jump right into. So, um, a family will automatically be granted a fee waiver if they meet, you know, one of the [00:31:00] criteria their household, A GI or adjusted gross income is a hundred thousand dollars or less.

The student, um, is award of the court, um, and still under 24 their. An independent student, the student has already received the SAT fee waiver, as I mentioned. Um, and, and this fee waiver program is available to all levels of students. It’s not, it’s no longer just entering students. Um. It is, it is all students and it is unlimited.

So they’re, they’re not limited to a, a certain number as they were in the past. You do need to be living in the United States. So the fee waiver program is not available to international students at this time. Uh, but that’s where fee payment codes come in. Some institutions will give students fee payment codes.

Um, some schools or community-based organizations will have fee payment codes and, and that’s an option as well. [00:32:00] And non-custodial parents also, uh, will be able to, uh, uh, receive these fee waivers if they meet the criteria as well. So what this means is that really a significant portion. I, I wanna say it’s, uh, I didn’t check the numbers before this presentation, but I wanna say it’s like 40% of of profiles, uh, do meet these criteria.

And so it is a benefit to students that, um. Really need, um, you know, are, are well served to not have to pay for the profile. And typically families that that don’t can probably afford the, the nominal fee that that is included. And this is how fee payment codes are. Um. Garnered, um, they can be purchased.

Um, they, if they’re purchased and given out by a college or a university, then they can only be used for submission to that college or university. [00:33:00] Um, so those exist as well. Um, students should, um, review their information as they are completing it. Parents, same thing. Um, oh, one other thing that I forgot to mention on the fee waivers is that, um, the student is told that they qualify for the fee waiver as soon as they meet one of those qualifying, uh, indicators.

So if they automatically log in with their SAT. Log in and that qualified them. They’re gonna know upfront, you qualify for a fee waiver. If it’s at the point where they answer the question about are you an orphan or word of the court? They’re gonna be told you qualify for a fee waiver, and so forth and so on.

So it’s at whatever point in the application, they don’t have to get all the way to the end to find. Am I gonna qualify for a fee waiver? So I hope that also is reassuring and makes things easier for, for families and more specifically [00:34:00] students. Um, so there are some prompts, um, to help students identify places where they may be, um, want to reconsider, see if they made an error, um, and then they’ll check off, off.

And if they have to pay, then they’ll be asked to pay at that point of the, at the time of submission. And because of the pay piece of it, that’s why I say, um, and, and recommend that they only apply if they’re sure they’re going to, they only fill out a profile if they’re sure they’re applying to that college.

Um, because if they’re uncertain, why pay for it? I do wanna, okay, so I wanna address, um, there another further advantage of the profile and the work that the college board has done is they’ve, they’ve created a version of the profile, the experience for the the student, and the front end is exactly the same no matter what.[00:35:00]

On the backend and behind the scenes, colleges have an opportunity to ask, basically for fewer questions from the family, um, that are coming to that college. So it’s called a lighter experience because there are less questions, but there is not a, you shouldn’t use that termin terminology, um, out in the wild, as I say.

Um, just affirm that whatever questions a family got. Then those are the questions that that college wants from them. So if they say, well, I filled this out last year and I got asked some additional questions. You can say, well, based on the colleges you’re applying to, those are the questions that are being asked.

So colleges, um, are being encouraged to use this lighter experience for low income applicants. Uh, they can use it for their renewal applicants. So there is some variety here, but, but the idea is [00:36:00] ask for the complexity from the families that are most likely to have it, the, the higher incomes. At the low income level, at the level where families have less complicated financial situations, they, you can ask fewer questions.

And this has been tested and, and proven. Um, and based on other things that the colleges are using, we, we’ve been using it, um, for the past three years at our institution. Uh, and it really does make it better and easier and more, uh, dare I say, enjoyable for, for families. Um, there’s a dashboard, so that’s also important so that the student can kinda assess all the different things, uh, from the status of their application.

What are the next steps, uh, did they pay? Um, so this is the place to go when it seems like something’s not quite processed. We will often, um, hear from families that say, you know, I don’t understand why you don’t have my profile. I know I [00:37:00] submitted it. And usually the answer to the question is go back in and see if you added our college.

If you added our college, then it’s possible that you just didn’t answer a few more questions. See if there’s a few pieces missing, and then it will be sp it will be, uh, sent to us. But that’s a, a common occurrence and, you know, people make mistakes. Um, and, and that happens. Uh, so. When that occurs, there is the opportunity for students to make corrections on the profile.

Uh, you can do this once. So the idea here really is. That you made a mistake, you know, it was a mistake or something, you know, sort of very specific and you just need to go in and correct that mistake. It’s not about, uh, you know, parsing it out. Uh, well I wanna change this answer and I wanna change that answer.

No, it’s, um, so there are some specific, there’s a dropdown box of, of kind of what was the mistake? Was there, you know, a change in employment or [00:38:00] something, or did you actually. Make a mistake, um, because this came out of families that would submit the profile and then we would ask them about a business and they say, what business?

And we say, oh, well this business that’s right on your tax return. And they would say, oh, that business. So, um, this allows families to go back and, uh, add the information that should have been included initially. But the do the application does need to be originally processed. So it’s designed, this correction process is designed after a sort of a, a 24 hour, uh, period, and you can’t do an ad, a college and a correction at the same time, which is just sort of a, a technicality.

What I also said at the beginning, um, some colleges use a document, imaging service. This, as I said, is a way, um, that families can share documentation that colleges need, typically, [00:39:00] like tax forms. Um, it could be a specific college form that they need, uh, but you, but the student is gonna see this in the dashboard.

Um, they’re going to be able to get that form and then upload it in a JPEG or TIFF or PDF format. So there’s a few different ways to do that when submitting tax forms. We always ask for all pages and all schedules so that we don’t have to go back and say, oh, you were missing the schedule one or the missing the schedule three.

So just tell them to get the whole return, um, and just upload it all together. And there’s, um, you know, service, uh, ways to get support, um, as well if that’s needed. Uh, but here’s the overview of the IOC page. Happy to answer questions as we go about that. Uh, the support center is great. Um, they’re also frequently asked [00:40:00] questions.

Uh, sometimes, you know, students should be using the email that they should be using to file the profile should be an email that they’re going to have access to for multiple years. So it is not recommended that students use a high school email address, uh, because if the, that high school email address is gonna expire after they enter college, then they’re going to have to figure out how to change their email address.

Uh, with the college board and with the profile application, which is definitely possible, but it’s just one more hassle that nobody needs. So if they have a Gmail or another family account, that’s, that’s what they should be using. Um, there are great resources as I started out with, um, from MEFA and so we want everybody to know about it.

These are some easy to use QR codes that will take you to some, uh, of the MEFA resources, but there’s a lot out [00:41:00] there. Uh, I’m glad that you’re participating in the, the webinars. Um, as well as there’s also webinars for families and you can share those. Um, and let’s see, what else? Um, but as I said, students can, um, they can sign up for emails, which are very, very helpful reminders from mefa.

And also they can start filling out the, the forms, both the, the FAFSA and the profile. Uh, we want you as school counselors to have all wonderful information on MI a’s redesigned website, so a QR code for, for you, uh, in terms of. All kinds of webinars and tips and deadlines and lists and articles and, and so much more.

So again, we are so grateful that MEFA has these resources for you. We’re grateful that MEFA connects school counselors with financial aid folks and families. Uh, we invite you to check out the opportunity [00:42:00] that MEFA. Offers to, um, invite a financial aid professional like myself to your, your school to deliver a financial aid session to your families.

If that’s something that you’d like to do, take the work outta your hands, uh, and put it in someone else’s. There’s all kinds of social media tools, so wherever you connect on social media, me, MEFA is there and posts just good, um, connecting points and, um. Their contact information. I think this brings you to the US to the end, and we have a good 15 minutes.

Uh, I would love to answer any questions that you have or, uh, I do love talking about all of this stuff and I probably do tend to talk a little quickly, so I’d also be happy to, you know, circle back to anything that you wanted a little bit more detail on.

Stephanie Wells: Thanks Gail. I do have a couple questions teed up for you.

Great. Um, a [00:43:00] couple of them I was able to answer easily and you covered it pretty well, but one question I thought you might be able to elaborate on is, is there any way to print questions to review after saving progress? So before submitting, I did mention that there’s a pre-application worksheet, but I didn’t know if you wanted to add a little bit to that.

Gail Holt: Um.

Stephanie Wells: Or any tips?

Gail Holt: I don’t know if I specifically have tips. I mean, usually you can print your screen or you can. Screenshot, you know, if there’s pieces that you wanna revisit you, you know, you don’t want to answer right in that moment. You wanna take a screenshot of, of a page of questions, and then go find your documents and answer them more accurately.

I, I guess, you know, I, I hesitate for families to get, um, two. Worried about the specificity of an answer. I mean, we, of course, we want the information to be as accurate as possible, but in, I constantly hear [00:44:00] from families that say, you know, oh, well, I, I haven’t submitted yet. I, I need to keep looking at it. I, you know, they, they labor over it and, and we don’t want families to labor over it.

Get your tax return, you know, get your bank statement. We want roughly, you know, how much, how much of your investments. You don’t need to get that to the penny. If you know roughly what they are, just send the message to families to really do the best they can, um, and get the application submitted. We, we are not looking for families to spend hours on this.

Really. It should take, you know, if, if the, if the FAFSA takes 15 minutes, the profile should take under an hour. You know, I would like to say 30 minutes, but, you know, maybe that’s not, maybe not everybody moves at that speed, but certainly under an

Stephanie Wells: hour. Great. Thanks. That’s great. Uh, one more question. When you invite a parent as a contributor, can you use the same email for them and their partner?[00:45:00]

Gail Holt: So you need two different emails per account. So if the primary household has an email, the secondary H household has to have a different email. But when you’re in the application, so if the non-custodial parent is in their application, they are answering information based on themselves and whoever they’re married to.

That’s all one application. And. You don’t need another email for that. So I hope I understood the question.

Stephanie Wells: Yep. I think you

Gail Holt: got it. Yep.

Stephanie Wells: That’s what I thought too, but I don’t have any other, oh, hold on one. There’s one more that just came in. Should the student do the CSS profile form first and then send an invite to the parent?

Gail Holt: Yes. So. Y you guys are doing such a great job. You know, your fafsa, I, I can tell I got this question yesterday from the

Stephanie Wells: parents’ profile webinar too,

Gail Holt: but, um, yes. I mean, the, the student or the parent can start, but I will just [00:46:00] reiterate that the most important thing is that the profile that they have decided, they absolutely are going to apply to a college or univers.

That requires the profile and, and get that information onto the application, you know, at the beginning. And I, and it is asked for at the beginning. Um, so does it matter if it’s the student or the parent? Um, not as much as it matters with the, the fafsa. Um, I’ll just say that not as much as it matters with, with the fafsa.

I, I think because the profile can be intimidating. Parents may wanna sit down with their student, um, and do it together. Um, yeah, hopefully that’s helpful.

Stephanie Wells: Yeah, that’s helpful. Um, so students who are residing in the United States, um, but their parents are not residing in the United States, they can still fill out the profile even if their parents aren’t living in the United States.

Correct. [00:47:00]

Gail Holt: Yes. I guess, um,

Stephanie Wells: depends if

Gail Holt: they’re international or not the student. Right? Right. I, you know, I think it’s, it’s, it’s gonna be a question of what is your permanent residency? You know, where do you live? And so if you’re filling out the profile with parent information and the parent lives in another country, and the student, let’s just say the student’s here for school, they’re gonna be treated as an international.

Application. Um, because the other advantage, and I didn’t go into the detail about international students, but when you’re living in another country, you can answer the financial questions in the home currency that you’re living and that makes it so much easier for families to just answer. They don’t have to do the conversion themselves.

Um, the currency conversion, they just answer in the, the currency of, of where they live.

Stephanie Wells: What if the student’s, a permanent resident or us citizen, but the parents, [00:48:00] you know, maybe live in another country.

Gail Holt: So it’s still based on where you live. So the student, the, the, the que where

Stephanie Wells: the

Gail Holt: applicant, I think it’s where the, the parents live.

Stephanie Wells: Okay, gotcha.

Gail Holt: Um, the student will answer the question about their citizenship and so their citizenship information will be correct. Um. And will be based, you know, the aid will be based on their citizenship.

Stephanie Wells: Right. That’s helpful. Uh, one more just came in if you have a minute, Gail. Yeah. So if a parent is unemployed at the time that they fill out their profile, but then they get a job in the next few months, should they submit a correction?

Gail Holt: N No, that’s a good question. Um, so the application asks for 2024 information. They should be reporting that information. It will ask, um. You know, what is your income information for 25? So if you’re saying that they’re [00:49:00] unemployed, let’s just say today, then they may report that their income is lower for 2025 based on their best guess of what, you know, we’re, we’re getting closer to the end of 2025.

So hopefully they can kind of, um, guesstimate, um. But if they, let’s say they get a job in December of 25 and that’s gonna head into 26, no, they shouldn’t do a correction. Um, the, the 26 information is actually not gonna be requested for two more years. So unless a college is specifically in touch with the family to say, has there been any change in your income situation, please tell us.

I don’t know how often that happens, you know, colleges are, the whole point of reapplying each year is to get, you know, the, the next year’s information. So it is going to change. Um, and students who are in that situation absolutely should always have conversations with the college. [00:50:00] About what will, you know, how can I best prepare for changes in my income situation, be they positive or negative?

Um, that’s always a, a good conversation, uh, because we don’t want any family to be caught off guard. We don’t want any family who’s got a child in a second year, a third year to feel, uh, like they are not prepared to finish.

Stephanie Wells: Right. Do most schools have, uh, families complete the profile every year or just once as a freshman?

Gail Holt: Uh, that’s also a good question. Um, many colleges do require it every year, but not all. Some will require it only for the first year. I would say that this light process enables, uh, colleges and universities to use it more for their returning students because it will ask fewer questions and it will get at the heart of really, has anything changed?

Um. But we’re [00:51:00] still, you know, looking at the, you know, it’s going to vary from school to schools. I guess the bottom line on that, right. So looking at college’s websites, looking, um, encouraging your students to go look at the financial aid, uh, section of a college’s website, and specifically, what are the renewal procedures?

What do current students or renewal students or returning students, whatever words they use, need to do, uh, for reapplying for financial aid? Great.

Stephanie Wells: We don’t have any more questions. I think you did a great job explaining everything and thank you for answering a few, uh, extra questions. Uh, we will send a link to the recording as well as, uh, the PowerPoint slides probably tomorrow.

So keep an eye out for that and make sure you, uh, submit your forms if you have your PDP points collected so that you can get credit for that too. All right. Well thank you Gail. This is a great webinar and uh, thank you everybody. Have a good one. Bye.