<p>I lost my well-paying job in the fall. I have prospects but no job yet. On FAFSA and CSS I have described myself as a displaced worker. On CSS, I included a narrative explanation of my circumstances. I am concerned, though, that colleges will look at our 2013 income and base an award off that, without giving sufficient consideration for our present reduced circumstances. Have I done all I can on the forms, and is my next resource the college financial aid office, after their determination is made? Is there anything else I can/should do other than use the explanatory section on the CSS profile? Thank you for your thoughts.</p>
<p>You can call each financial aid office and ask–do look on their websites to see if a process or forms are there for the picking first. But call each one and find out what to do for each one, as they can differ. You can also email the requests to them, or follow up with an email reiterating the phone conversation making sure you have the name of the person with whom you’ve spoken. </p>