1. Reporting parents on the CSS Profile
We are going to talk about how you report parents on the CSS Profile.

2. Reporting parents Often obvious, but sometimes not
Students are expected to report their
Biological parents
Current stepparents
Current parental partners
Current legal guardians
Understanding how to report parents is important
Students are expected to report their parents, whether it is their biological parents, their adoptive parents, their stepparents, or their legal guardians. Regardless of who the parents are or their relationship to the student, they are to be reported on this page.
Some students will have a parent or parents who died. Some students will only have a single parent because that student was adopted or conceived by a single parent. In some of those cases, that parent may have subsequently married or partnered.
Regardless of the number of parents or of the relationship of the parents or the status of the parents, all of the student’s parents are reported on the CSS Profile. This presentation will talk about how to report them on the CSS Profile.

3. Reporting parents The parents are together Both parents are reported
Each parent’s relationship to the student is noted
Father
Mother
Once both parents listed and relationship to the student selected, click on Save and Continue to advance in application
Students whose parents are together are simply reported – one parent in the Parent 1 row and one parent in the Parent 2 row. The parent’s first name and last name are reported, and then the relationship to the student reported. Once completed, the applicant clicks on “Save and Continue.”

4. Reporting parents A parent is deceased
If a parent is deceased, that parent is still reported and deceased is checked
Click on Save and Continue
If one or both of the parents are deceased, they are still reported as before. To report that a parent is deceased, check the deceased box on the appropriate parent’s row.
Once this is done, the CSS Profile will recognize that the student’s parent is widowed, and that the CSS Profile requires no further information about or from the second parent.

5. Reporting parents
Parents are no longer together but are not remarried or re-partnered
If the parents are no longer together, and are not remarried or re-partnered, both are still reported here
Click on “Save and Continue”
If the parents are no longer together and are currently single, both parents are reported – one to each row – then “Save and Continue” is clicked to advance.   This is the same as reporting parents who are together.  But on the next screen we’ll show you how you tell us the parents are no longer together.

6. What happens next?
Parents are no longer together but are not remarried or re-partnered
The marital status allows the parents to report they are
Separated
Divorced
Never married, not living together
Next, the marital status of the parents is asked, and this is where it is clear that the student’s parents are not together, and that the student has two households.

7. Reporting parents
Parents are no longer together and one or both parents are remarried or re-partnered
All of the student’s parents are reported
Father
Mother
Stepfather
Stepmother
The “Add Parent” button is clicked to add a new parent row
The appropriate information is added to report Parent 3
Up to four parents can be reported
If the parents are not together and at least one parent has remarried or re-partnered, the student’s parents are reported as before, and a stepparent is added.
The applicant clicked on the “Add Parent” button for a Parent 3 row to be added, then completed the information about that parent, selecting stepparent to identify this parent’s relationship to the student.
The CSS Profile allows up to four parents to be reported.

8. What happens next?
Parents are not together – how does the CSS Profile know which parent is which?
The parent(s) with whom the student lives selected
The parent(s) providing information selected
Determines if application is being completed by
Student and custodial parent
Noncustodial parent
Two surviving parents who report that they are no longer together will see this next page. Single widowed parents, and single parents who adopted or conceived as a single parent will not.
All living parents from the parents page are listed here.  The applicant will be asked to identity which parent or parents the student lives with the most and then will be asked to report which parents information will be reported on this application.
It is important here to select all applicable parents in each of these questions, especially if one or both of the parents have remarried or re-partnered. In this case, if the student lived with Joe, the father, and Sally, the stepmother, then both Joe and Sally would be checked. Similarly, if it was Joe’s and Sally’s information to be reported on the application, both Joe and Sally would be checked.
This section is critical for determining whether the application is being completed by the student and the custodial parent or by the noncustodial parent. The parents the student lives with the most is considered the custodial parent, and that application will always include both the student’s and the parents’ financial information. The other parent will report his or her financial information, but no student income or asset questions will be asked. Properly identifying which parent’s information goes on which form is critical to getting information to the student’s colleges correctly.

9. Reporting parents Single parent through adoption or donor conceived
If the parent is a single parent who either adopted the student or had the student as a donor conceived child, the Parent 2 row must be removed
Click the X at the end of the Parent 2 row to remove
If a parent is a single parent of an adopted or donor conceived child, that parent will only report him or herself as Parent 1. The Parent 2 row will need to be removed, as trying to advance with the Parent 2 row blank will result in error messages. To remove the Parent 2 row, click on the “X” under “Remove.”

10. Reporting parents Single parent through adoption or donor conceived
The next page will ask for you to select a response to explain why you did not list a Parent 2
Once the appropriate selection is made, the CSS Profile will continue and will ask for your Parent 1 information
If only one parent is listed, you will be asked to explain why there is only one parent. At this point, you can select an appropriate response.
Not reporting the parent on the Parents page and designating a parent as unknown or as having no contact here still means that this parent may be required to submit a CSS Profile for the student. Any time a student has two living parents, even if one is no longer part of the student’s household, both parents will be required to complete the CSS Profile when required by the institution. If there is an issue with getting that parent to complete their CSS Profile, the student should discuss the situation with their college or colleges.

11. Reporting parents Student has a legal guardian
Court appointed legal guardians are reported as parents
Parents are also reported as parents
Students who have court appointed legal guardians report their legal guardians as their parent and any current spouse or partner is reported. The student’s parents are also reported, even if one or both are deceased.
Reporting the adults in the student’s life in this manner both helps the CSS Profile know how to present the rest of the application and gives the financial aid officer critical information about the student’s situation.
On another note, only those people who are court appointed are designated as legal guardians. If the parents have a private agreement with someone they designate as the student’s guardian, even if it involves a legal contract, the parents are reported as the parents on the CSS Profile, not the guardians.

12. What happens next? Student has a legal guardian
The legal guardian family is identified as the parents the student lived with the most
The legal guardian family is identified as the parents providing information on the CSS Profile
Surviving parents may be required to submit their own CSS Profile
Now, as with parents who are no longer together, the family supporting the student is identified as well as who is reporting information on the application.
Students with legal guardians should discuss their situation with their colleges early in the financial aid process. Colleges can provide clear guidance on their requirements and what information and documentation will be expected from the student.

13. Thank you! cssprofile.org
Getting Started with your CSS Profile Application
Other tutorials available
CSS Profile Tutorial
Completing the CSS Profile as the Noncustodial Parent
Contact information for customer support
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Resources for you
This brings us to the end of our presentation. For more information, please visit the links provided above.