No. Many posters will tell you yes because there are a small number of schools where it might matter. And no we can't tell you which ones they are.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Check each school your kid is applying to!

Everyone handles it differently.
Some require it, some don’t.

+1 some schools don't require CSS. None of the ones my DC applied to did.

And we don't qualify for FA.

+1
DD got merit aid without filling out CSS. It just depends on the school.

Anonymous wrote:Check each school your kid is applying to!

Everyone handles it differently.
Some require it, some don’t.

+1 some schools don't require CSS. None of the ones my DC applied to did.

And we don't qualify for FA.

Anonymous wrote:Financial aid forms are not required for admission for domestic applicants to any US college.

There are a few colleges that require FAFSA to rule out Pell eligibility before awarding certain non-need-based scholarships. Often, you don't actually need to submit FAFSA until you are notified that you are considered for the scholarship.

Not long ago, in a discussion about VT (one of the schools requiring FAFSA for merit) stated that they were notified to submit FAFSA to get a specific merit award, they never submitted, and got the merit anyway.

Most colleges do not require financial aid forms for non-need-based merit scholarships.

I am not aware of any college that requires CSS Profile for non-need-based merit. (Obviously, it may be required for a combination merit/need scholarship at schools that require the Profile.)

My kids were awarded merit at several schools. We have never submitted a financial aid form.

+1 on check each school directly on their financial aid site and caveats for CSS. We had the same question of OP and still a bit confused on the bold statement for 'scholarship' money. We submitted CSS yesterday. Pretty much all the schools DD applied required FAFSA (all but 1 were state schools in-state and OOS). Many only schools only required FAFSA but 4 schools required CSS (2 public and 2 private) in addition to FAFSA. You have to go to each school's direct individual financial aid page to be sure. AI wasn't always accurate as the first pop-up in google search and you need to see what schools says for CSS specifically. Some said CSS only if international schools.

Some schools said if student wanted to be considered for scholarship aid, submit CSS. This is the part that was tricky to navigate. In my mind, merit aid pretty much is scholarship aid. After hitting submit (and paying the fee), I went back in to the school and dug further and saw that we didn't need to do CSS for that school for merit-ONLY aid. Some schools say 'certain scholarships' require CSS but don't elaborate further. However, many do say up front do CSS only if applying for need-based aid and then follow with the 'certain scholarships' type language.

Definitely some schools just use test scores and GPA for merit aid and say they autocheck for merit aid if student is admitted so no CSS needed. DD got merit aid from one rolling admissions school with no CSS requirement and just FAFSA.

It's question on additional 'scholarships' which now sound like many may just be those that are financial need based or scholarship sponsor based which may or may not be need based... that will be our next step adventure to navigate.

BTW - minutes after submitting CSS, you may get an email from college board saying the school requires submission of supporting docs - tax return, W2s etc. It may be you upload to College Board or it may be direct to the school. College Board says 3-5 days to process to send to the school. So give yourself time depending on the deadline established by the school for CSS/financial aid application. Also, there was one school that said the forms MUST be signed in PEN and NO electronic signatures were allowed. Realized this AFTER hitting upload and submit in CSS based on some small print on the side afterward. Google AI said there may be an exception if taxes prepared by professional but the school website did NOT say this exception was allowed that I could find. Had to go back and print the forms, sign, scan and then upload again.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any specific example of where fafsa *is* required for merit aid? I can’t find a single example.

Fordham

This. DD applied to a handful of EA schools, and Fordham is the only one we submitted FASA and CSS to. Assuming she is accepted to ND, I believe they might ask for FAFSA for work study funds. That's what recall happening with our older DC.

GMU required us to file before discussing merit, but that was several years ago. You should still file, though, to take advantage of the federal unsubsidized student loans. You can't get them without filing FAFSA>

Anonymous wrote:Any specific example of where fafsa *is* required for merit aid? I can’t find a single example.

Fordham

Any specific example of where fafsa *is* required for merit aid? I can’t find a single example.

Check each school your kid is applying to!

Everyone handles it differently.
Some require it, some don’t.

Financial aid forms are not required for admission for domestic applicants to any US college.

There are a few colleges that require FAFSA to rule out Pell eligibility before awarding certain non-need-based scholarships. Often, you don't actually need to submit FAFSA until you are notified that you are considered for the scholarship.

Not long ago, in a discussion about VT (one of the schools requiring FAFSA for merit) stated that they were notified to submit FAFSA to get a specific merit award, they never submitted, and got the merit anyway.

Most colleges do not require financial aid forms for non-need-based merit scholarships.

I am not aware of any college that requires CSS Profile for non-need-based merit. (Obviously, it may be required for a combination merit/need scholarship at schools that require the Profile.)

My kids were awarded merit at several schools. We have never submitted a financial aid form.

Usually not, but sometimes

OP, this is a common and unanswerable question. You might be able to determine the right answer, if you do the research, re: a particular college. You will not get an accurate/overall correct answer here though that applies to everywhere.

People sometimes claim it is required for merit aid but I’ve never an example of that

We don't qualify for FA, but we still filled it out, just in case.

Not for us.
Received merit at Vermont, Case, Pitt, Elon, CU-Boulder and somewhere else. Didn't apply for anything.

Is FAFSA or CSS required either for either application or for getting merit based aid?. We don't qualify for any need based so is it worth filling in these forms? How is it useful?. Can this be submitted later if universities ask?