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Hi Class of 2026 (parents and students)!

It's September, which means it's time to begin thinking about how to finance college and decide about whether to apply for need-based financial aid for the 2026-2027 academic year.  If you decide to apply, the required forms and deadlines vary school by school. It is the student and family's responsibility to keep track of this information, which is posted on each college's website. The deadlines can be as early as the date the student applies for early-action (in other words, October 15th or November 1st could be a deadline for some of you). KNOW YOUR DEADLINES.

This is an intro email -- I will be sending out weekly emails throughout the month that will provide additional details about the logistics of this process. 
 
October 1 is the first day any student who is a US citizen or eligible non-citizen (typically green card holders) can access, complete, and submit the necessary financial aid forms for the upcoming 2026-2027 school year. Don’t try to get a head-start or you will be working with the wrong version of the form(s).

For any student to be considered for need-based financial aid (including student loans), students who are a US citizen or eligible non-citizen (typically green card holders) must file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

About 170 colleges (mostly private and often highly selective) ALSO require submission of the CSS Profile to be considered for need-based financial aid. This list of schools can be found here, but it is always best to verify with the institution itself by double-checking the website. There is no scenario in which a family would complete the CSS Profile and not complete the FAFSA – the CSS Profile is an additional form.

If the student is NOT a US citizen or eligible non-citizen, the financial aid policy and application process varies by institution. In most cases, you will need to file either the CSS Profile or an institution-specific form. Check with each college for their instructions. To see which institutions give financial aid to international students, refer to this resource. 

Here are some big picture questions to help you get started in thinking about this process:

WHAT KINDS OF AID MIGHT I BE ELIGIBLE FOR?
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  • Merit Aid -- merit aid scholarships MOSTLY do not take a family's income/assets (financial need) into account at all. In some cases, scholarships can be a hybrid of merit/need. In some rare cases, the college may require a student to submit a FAFSA (and, if required, CSS Profile) to be considered for merit aid, but that is not typical. 
  • Grants -- grants are gift aid that, like scholarships, do not need to be repaid.
    • Federal grants -- Low-income students (family AGI of less than $60K per year) may be eligible for a federal Pell Grant
    • State Grants -- typically low-income eligibility and requires additional forms
    • Institutional Grants -- grants awarded directly by the college as part of the financial aid package. To be considered for these, you typically will need to file the FAFSA and, if required, the CSS Profile
  • Student Loans -- if the student intends to take out any student loans (capped at $5500-$7500 per year), the student must file a FAFSA.

​WHAT ABOUT OUTSIDE SCHOLARSHIPS?

We get asked about outside scholarships a lot, especially in the spring when everyone has their financial aid award letters and are trying to decide how to make a particular college work for the budget. If you think you want to pursue these awards after reading this section, start that process now (if you wait until March, you will have missed most deadlines).
 
Here's a few things to bear in mind when considering whether to pursue outside scholarships:
  • The student and/or family will need to spend a good bit of time identifying possible scholarships where the student meets eligibility requirements
  • The student will need to allocate time to completing applications (and often writing one or more essays) for each potential scholarship
  • These awards are often small-dollar amounts ($100, $200, $500) -- so in many cases, the student might justifiably wonder whether they'd rather have a guaranteed $200 from a part-time job or spend an hour or more completing an application for a $200 scholarship they might not win!  There's a return-on-investment factor to consider, so it’s smart to weigh how the student's time might be most wisely spent
  • If the student applies for some of these scholarships, they are one-time awards. So, the student either needs to plan to repeat the process each year in college to keep the budget level OR they need to divide all outside scholarship earnings by 4 to spread it out. 
  • Scholarship displacement policies may also work against the student. Some colleges have policies that reduce the amount of institutional aid awarded by the amount the student earned in outside scholarships (this is especially true if the scholarship provider will disburse the funds directly to the college). Is this fair? No, but be aware before investing tremendous amounts of time in identifying and applying for outside scholarships that this policy could up-end your efforts at reducing your overall net cost. 
  • If the student has a unique talent, background, health condition or the student/family believe they might be eligible for special scholarships relating to those factors, by all means pursue those as they may naturally have a smaller applicant pool (and be less competitive).
  • If you're still interested in pursuing some of these, here are some aggregator sites that might be worth considering (but create a new email address just for this purpose as the inbox will be flooded on a daily basis): Fastweb, Going Merry, Unigo, and Appily (formerly Cappex). 

WHO SHOULD APPLY FOR NEED-BASED FINANCIAL AID?
  • Anyone who thinks they may qualify for need-based aid at any point during their undergraduate years should apply as an incoming freshman. Some colleges may impose a one-year waiting period on students who require need-based aid in later years and did not apply as an incoming freshman. Others may disallow institutional aid for all 4 years (typically the case for international students) if a student does not apply as an incoming freshman. Unexpected financial events can occur, so it's often best to plan for the worst-case scenarios.
  • Any student where the family will have two or more children in college at the same time, which could significantly lower the threshold for need-based eligibility. The FAFSA no longer uses the number of children in college as a factor in federal aid eligibility, but this sibling question remains part of both the FAFSA and the CSS Profile, which would allow any college to take that data into account in awarding institutional aid.
  • Anyone applying for merit aid at institutions that require the FAFSA or CSS Profile for consideration for such awards. Although most colleges do not require the FAFSA or CSS Profile for merit aid consideration, it is best to verify on each college's website or with the admissions office. 

IS THERE A DISADVANTAGE IN APPLYING FOR FINANCIAL AID?
  • Sometimes. Higher education institutions are businesses that try to meet net tuition revenue goals. In the final stages of building a class, an applicant with moderate to substantial need may lose out to an applicant with no projected need.
  • Does this mean that full-pay applicants always receive an advantage over applicants with need? No. Each year, colleges hope to admit the best freshman class in their history, not the least expensive. 
  • Be honest with your consultant about potential eligibility for need-based aid as many college applications do ask if the student intends to apply for need-based aid or not. The student’s answer here should be accurate and truthful.

WHO SHOULD NOT APPLY FOR FINANCIAL AID?
  • If the sticker price of every college on the student's list is not a financial burden and the family is confident that there will be no significant financial hardships during the student's undergraduate years, then there is no reason to submit the FAFSA or the CSS Profile. 
  • Anyone who has no intention of taking out any federal student loans. 

DON'T SOME STATES REQUIRE SUBMISSION OF THE FAFSA AS A GRADUATION REQUIREMENT?

Yes (including Texas!).  But parents can typically easily opt-out if so desired. 

ANYTHING ELSE IMPORTANT WE SHOULD KNOW BEFORE DECIDING WHETHER TO APPLY FOR NEED-BASED AID?
  • For US citizens and eligible non-citizens, the biggest factor in need eligibility is parent and student Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) located on line 11 of the US federal tax form (Form 1040). The income in question is from two years prior to the year the student will enroll in college. So, in other words, if the student is enrolling in Fall 2026, the year the FAFSA and CSS Profile will look at is 2024.
  • Note: even if you’ve requested an extension on filing your 2024 tax return, you must still meet any applicable deadlines for FAFSA and CSS Profile for each college your student applies to this fall.
  • Parent and student assets are the second most important factor. Reportable assets include savings and checking accounts, investment accounts, real estate (equity in the primary home is excluded from the FAFSA but included on the CSS Profile), and the net worth of a family farm or business (both now excluded from the FAFSA but will be evaluated in the CSS Profile). Assets excluded from both forms are qualified retirement accounts, art, jewelry, furniture, and cars. 
  • A very broad and general rule of thumb: if the family's AGI is less than $75K per year, need-based aid is very much in play; if the family's AGI is more than $200K per year, need-based aid will be very limited and only available at the most selective and well-endowed institutions in the country. 

Again, there will be additional emails going out to cover the logistics of each of these forms during September, so stay tuned!

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