What we have learned about the 2021-2022 CSS Profile, and it hasn’t been made public yet, but it’s actually available now, is that families can get added before October 1. I’m not sure that the College Board wants everybody to know that yet, but if you want to get a head start it’s available.
We have found, after going through it, many times over, it’s almost identical to last year. Very few changes.
The one we did find, which we expected, is there is a COVID-19 specific question that asks if you and your family has been impacted by the pandemic. If your answer is yes, they want some details. They want to potentially build this into the financial aid packages, even though they’re just asking for 2019 tax information. Everybody’s well aware that many families have a completely different reality than they did about six months ago.
Again, the CSS Profile is just about identical as in previous years. The only big difference is the fact that COVID-19 is a specific question in which they’re asking details if your family has been impacted by the pandemic.
We’re advising our clients, even if that’s the case, sit tight, we’re not going to answer or provide details about how our family’s been impacted by the pandemic just yet. We want to wait until after we’ve received our financial aid award. That strategy has proved most effective in the years past. And speaking with our folks in financial aid offices across the country, we’re think we’re going to stick to that strategy.
