Introduction to Financial Aid Application Process

The cost of attendance in US colleges and universities could be quite high. As an African student, you want to start preparing for your financial aid application process early enough.

If one doesn’t have a college board account, you need to open one. College board is a non-profit organization that enables thousands of students to submit financial aid applications and financial documents, register for the SAT examination and any other standardized test that is relevant to international students. College board is a useful platform as it also allows students to renew their financial aid annually once they are in college.

College board’s relevant components to international students explained.

• The CSS profile- CSS is the acronym for College Scholarship Service, and it enables international students to submit their institutional  financial aid applications. It is a long form with seventeen different sections that require a student to keenly read the questions and accurately answer them. This is because there are minimal chances to correct one’s CSS profile, and any errors made could negatively affect your financial aid application. It is also important to take note of the schools that accept CSS profiles for financial aid applications.
• IDOC- This is an acronym for Institutional Documentation Service. This is a secure portal that allows students to submit requested financial documents to schools. Some of these documents include non-tax filer statements and letters from employers. Financial documents are sensitive documents and they should not be sent through email. If a school does not use IDOC, they normally provide a secure portal where one can upload the requested documents.

Preliminary preparations for financial aid application

1. The first step taken, as stated above, is opening a college board account. The following details are important when starting a college board account: birthday, full name, email address, a unique and strong password, graduation date from high school and your high school’s name. There is also the option of adding your parent’s details such as their email address. That way, they will receive emails from the college board too. In special cases where a student is under the age of thirteen, a parent can help them open a college board account.
2. After creating a college board account, it is good if a student starts to talk to his or her parents about financial documents. Start collecting bank statements and any other relevant documents from them as early as possible. You don’t want a situation where you have a few hours to a financial  document submission and you are missing the document. One should also look through the CSS profile questions and ask their parents about their income, assets and expenditure.The answers they provide will come in handy when you are filling your profile for submission.
3. Submission of CSS profiles to schools requires a fee of $25 dollars for each school, and $16 dollars for any additional reports. It is important to note that schools provide CSS profile waiver codes for students who cannot raise the required fees. Therefore, once a student has come up with a list of schools they would like to apply to, they should send out emails to the schools as soon as possible requesting for CSS profile waiver codes. The emails are mostly addressed to the school’s financial aid office This should be done early enough because sometimes the schools run out of the waiver codes. Sending out these emails early enough will also enable a student to know if a school uses CSS profiles, and if not, the school normally responds with an alternative method of applying for their financial aid.

After all this is done, start filling out your CSS profile carefully, paying attention to details and accuracy. Read and re-read through it, ensuring that all the figures are captured accurately. Pay keen attention to the financial aid submission deadlines, so that you don’t miss any. Once you have thoroughly counter checked the details of your CSS profile, you are good to submit your application!

It is vital to keep track of your emails and applicant portal in case a school requests for a financial document.

NB- if a school does not use the CSS profile, they could be having an option of submitting an ISFAA or ISAFA form. Some schools also have a portal where one applies for financial aid. Be sure to know the kind of application that your school accepts, to avoid making any mistake.