Hi, was thinking about stating any present and future financial concerns in the Special Circumstances section in the CSS profile. Supporting parent financially (has documentation) and recent layoff announcement at work but not sure if I will be affected. I figure stating them doesn’t hurt but don’t know if there are any downsides. Do those qualify as special circumstances? Anyone tried or are/were in similar situations? Your thoughts? Thanks for your input.
You can note whatever in the additional section…but if you really want a special circumstances consideration, you will need to apply for this with the college using their process. So…reach out to the colleges and get the process for each college. It won’t be the same from place to place, and you will need to ask for this at specific colleges. It’s not a generic request.
Usually students request this at their top acceptances for college. But get the process because you will need it at each school.
Noting it on the Profile isn’t enough for a special circumstances consideration.
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Supporting parents yes. But you have not been laid off as yet, so I would not include that. You can communicate with financial aid offices (not a student answering the phone) with any updates. At least that is what we did.
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Thank you for your input. They are helpful.
Sample of one. We knew my husband was going to be laid off in December of our older kid’s first year of college. We communicated with the financial aid office…and they were polite that they did nothing at all for at least 3 months after a layoff because the hope was that the parent would be looking for and gain employment.
But we found out the process, and what documentation would be needed for if/when we needed to request a special circumstances consideration.
We needed official pink slip letter, previous year tax returns (showing DHs income), the amount of any severance he was being paid and when and how that was being paid, my current pay stubs plus end of year for the previous year. We also had to have submitted the FAFSA and Profile (this was a Profile school) so the school could see the difference in pre and post job loss financials. And our school wanted three months of bank statements.
Remember, they wouldn’t even consider this for three months post layoff. We gathered everything we needed, just in case.
You need to find out what you will need…and have it at the ready if needed.
Contact the financial aid office for guidance.
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This was the policy at the large public university where I worked, minus the CSS Profile requirement.
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Thank you
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