Some Questions Regarding My Messy 2024 CSS supporting documentation

Paying for College FAFSA & CSS Profile
1

I filled out the FAFSA so all the aggregate numbers reported (i.e. AGI, interest income etc) match my 1099 form perfectly and I guess that will be populated into CSS.

Where it gets messy is that the supporting documents will not. What I mean by that is for example, the name of the entities on my Schedule B (for interest) will not match any supporting documents but the total amounts will. It’s complicated but a brokerage house was bought out by another brokerage house etc.

Q1. Will IDOC/CSS ever require the statements from the brokerage houses or will the reported aggregate numbers on the 1099 good enough. Will IDOC/CSS require schedule B?

Q2. For retirement accounts, they list 401k, 403b etc. But they do not list state pensions (which I will receive if I make it to a certain age). Do I have to report my anticipated state pension somehwere?

Q3. For home value I’m reporting $150K below what zillow says as our interior is not rennovated like the surrounding houses of comparable sales. Will this trigger issues?

2

Brokerages get bought. The schools will tell you what is required. Submit those docs as you have them. That’s not a concern

As for home value, follow the instructions. Don’t deviate.

Many schools don’t count home equity and those that do - you don’t want to raise a flag. So follow the directions. After all, two identical homes can have aesthetic differences or renovations and yet the value of those renovations doesn’t move the needle that much. And $150k unless your house is $3 mil - seems very high and if your house is $3 mil, you’re not getting aid

So do as instructed. Let them figure out the rest.

1 Like
3

No.

4

For home value, at least one college said they basically look at Zillow. On the day we submitted the forms, I took the Zillow “Zestimate” and just put that in. I also took a screenshot of that estimate so that I’d have it in case all of a sudden home prices go up.

5

You don’t have to report the pension anywhere as it’s not worth anything at the moment. They’ll see the deductions on your W-2 but it didn’t affect anything as far as I can tell. As for the house I used the assessed value from my property taxes (which is lower than Zillow by a fair amount). It was never questioned. Many schools only use a percentage of the equity as compared to your income so it really doesn’t matter after a point what number you use. For example, if a school only assesses on twice your income and your income is $75k, then it doesn’t matter if your equity is $150k or $250k since you’re only getting assessed on the $150k regardless.

6

Thanks. So will they required a Schedule Bs which list the brokerage names on there to IDOC. If so, then I’ll just request an ammended documentation.

7

If they do - different schools ask for different items.

I would provide what you have. Not amended. Whatever your 2024 tax return was filed with.

8

Thanks. Are you sure about that? As mine will be fairly generous when I retire but who knows when that will be.

9

Thanks. Can you clarify why you think this is so. The CSS profile does mention the term “pension” along with 401k etc but then asks for a dollar amount. My pension will depend on years of service and highest salary which I have no way of knowing right now.

Thanks again.

10

Is there a dollar value for the pension right now?

Retirement accounts are excluded from financial aid calculations and I always thought they ask for the 401k etc so that the applicants know where to list it and won’t co-mingle it with non-excluded accounts.

11

Not really a dollar value now as it all depends when I retire and what my salary is. Further, who knows if it will be around in its current form!

The CSS profile explicitly asks for 401k balance the FAFSA does not.

12

A 401k is not a pension. that has a value

The FAFSA is for loan qualification and pell grant.

The CSS is asking for detail because that’s formal financial aid. Each school uses different things.

Very different forms and meanings.

In your case, the FAFSA is going to be irrelevant.

13

Yes I’m positive. It has no current value and therefore is not available to pay for college. It would be different if you were already collecting.

1 Like
14

@kelsmom perhaps can clarify.

Your public pension has no value to you until you start to draw on it, I believe. When you start to draw your pension, the amount you draw will be listed as unearned income.

I’m a retired public school educator. My kids graduated from undergrad in 2007 and 2010. At that time, I was not required to list my projected public pension…anyplace…on the FAFSA or the Profile. I was not drawing pension income at that time.

1 Like
15

We too! Thanks @thumper1

16

For some colleges, the FAFSA is also used to determine their awarding of their institutional need based aid. This is for schools that use the FAFSA only.

1 Like
17

Yes, but @Guy_Rien is talking about the differences of FAFSA and CSS - and any school meeting full need will require CSS. Some “lesser” higher end privates use FAFSA.

18

Except University of Chicago and Princeton (neither of those are “lesser privates”)… neither require the Profile…although Chicago has a very short form of their own…and Princeton has a longer financial aid form of their own. Both guarantee to meet full need for all accepted students.

But this is a digression from the question. A public pension has no value to the holder until they start to draw on it. I hope @kelsmom chimes in.

19

Yes. I used to work in financial aid. The value of pensions is not reported.

Good thing in our case. When D was applying to college, H had a healthy pension. A year or two later, the company went through bankruptcy & the pension was decimated.