When applying for financial aid, the number and complexity of the required financial aid forms varies by school. As a general rule, private schools typically require more in the way of financial aid forms, including a CSS/Financial Aid Profile, which is administered by College Board. These additional and more complex forms are meant to more accurately uncover the total income and assets of the student and his/her parents (if dependent).The problem typically comes when you are applying to multiple schools and therefore must fill out a wide-range of financial aid forms. While the two primary forms are standardized (the FAFSA and the CSS/Financial Aid Profile) and can be sent to all schools, each school may have its own Institutional Financial Aid Form. Furthermore, each state that you are applying to schools within may have their own form for State Grants. To complicate matters even more, each school has its own set of deadlines and each state has its own deadlines for their financial aid forms.
When applying to multiple schools, it may be wise to seek advice or services from a Financial Aid Form Preparation Company. You can start by checking out the forms required by the schools to which you are applying. The “Complexity” column is just a sum of all financial aid forms required by that school. Congratulations to the University of Pennsylvania for having the most complex process among the Top 50 National Universities.
School NameFAFSAInstitutional Financial Aid FormCSS/Financial Aid ProfileOtherComplexityUniversity of PennsylvaniaXXXX7Columbia UniversityXXXX6Cornell UniversityXXXX6Boston UniversityX XX6Harvard UniversityX XX5Yale UniversityX XX5California Institute of TechnologyX XX5Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyX XX5Duke UniversityX XX5University of ChicagoXXXX5Dartmouth CollegeX XX5Johns Hopkins UniversityX XX5Northwestern UniversityX XX5Rice UniversityX XX5Georgetown UniversityX XX5Tufts UniversityX XX5University of RochesterX XX5Washington University in St. LouisX XX4Wake Forest UniversityX XX4Lehigh UniversityX XX4Boston CollegeX XX4Case Western Reserve UniversityXX X4Tulane UniversityX XX4Syracuse UniversityX XX4Worcester Polytechnic InstituteX XX4
