If your child's list includes private colleges, the FAFSA may be only half the paperwork. Many private colleges also require the CSS Profile — and it looks at your family's finances much more closely.
What the CSS Profile is
The CSS Profile is an online financial aid application run by the College Board. Many private colleges and some scholarship programs use it to award their own institutional aid. The FAFSA governs federal aid — and in New Jersey, state aid through HESAA — while the Profile feeds each participating college's own grant decisions. Each college decides whether it requires the Profile, so check the financial aid page of every school on your list.
How it differs from the FAFSA
- It asks more. Expect questions that go beyond the FAFSA, often including more detail on assets, home equity, and any business you own. Colleges then apply their own methods, so the same family can see very different results from school to school.
- It can be school-specific. Colleges can add their own questions.
- It may ask about both parents. When parents are divorced or separated, some colleges require information from the noncustodial parent too. Check each school's policy early.
- It has a fee. Per the College Board's CSS Profile help center (checked October 2026), the Profile costs $25 for the first college and $16 for each additional college, and some students may qualify for a fee waiver.
Why it matters more for business owners
For a family with a small business, rental property, or an LLC, the Profile is where structure shows. How income is reported, how business assets are presented, and the decisions made in the years before college can all appear in the numbers a college sees. That is why we treat the Profile as a planning question, not a data-entry task — and why it belongs in the same conversation as your tax strategy. Every answer must be complete and accurate.
How to prepare
- Build the list first. Note which colleges require the Profile and each school's own deadline — they can be earlier than you expect.
- Gather documents: tax returns, W-2s, business records, bank and investment statements, and home value and mortgage information.
- Keep it consistent with the FAFSA. Where the two forms ask the same thing, your answers should match.
- Plan for the noncustodial parent, if that applies to your family.
- Keep copies of everything you submit. You will want them if you appeal an aid offer later.
Where NJPFB helps
A college planning advisor, an insurance strategist, and a CPA look at your family's numbers together, so what you report on the Profile, the FAFSA, and your tax return tells one consistent story. When offers arrive, we help you compare them against what the college actually charges — see why sticker price isn't real price. Learn more about our college financial aid planning, or read our FAFSA help guide for NJ families. Aid outcomes vary and are never guaranteed.