The PROFILE form is administered by the College Scholarship Service (CSS), the financial aid division of the College Board. The CSS PROFILE is required by many private colleges and universities to determine your eligibility for non-government financial aid, such as the institution's own grants, loans and scholarships. The CSS PROFILE was formerly known as the FAF.

The biggest differences between the CSS PROFILE and the FAFSA are:

Submission dates: The CSS PROFILE can be submitted in the fall; FAFSA cannot be submitted before January 1.

Specific questions: The CSS PROFILE contains questions specific to the school or program you're applying to; FAFSA contains the same questions for everyone.

Different methodology: The CSS PROFILE determines your financial need differently than the FAFSA, taking into account such factors as whether your family owns a home. In general, the CSS PROFILE asks for more detailed information than FAFSA.

Minimum student contribution: The CSS PROFILE requires this; the FAFSA doesn't.

Greater reliance on professional judgment: The CSS PROFILE gives financial aid counselors greater freedom to grant aid based on a student's particular circumstances.

Cost: CSS PROFILE costs $5 plus $18 for each school or scholarship program selected; the FAFSA, as the name implies, is free.

You can complete the CSS PROFILE online.

When you register for the CSS PROFILE, you will need the PROFILE code of the school or program to which you are applying. Use this form to find the correct code.

The city and state fields are optional and may be used to narrow the search. If the full name of the institution doesn't match, try using a substring. For example, searching for schools with "MASS" in their name will yield "BOULDER SCHOOL OF MASSAGE THERAPY", "UNIV OF MASSACHUSETTS-LOWELL", "MASSACHUSETTS INST OF TECHNOLOGY" and many others. To find schools that begin with "MASS", enter "^MASS". To find schools with both "MASS" and "TECH" in their names, enter "MASS.*TECH", where ".*" is the PERL wildcard sequence.

You can also use this form to look up a school name based on their CSS PROFILE Code.