FAFSA vs CSS Profile: Are financial aid offers final once posted on college portal?

In general, once an aid package appears on the official portal, it's usually considered their formal offer and won't be lowered unless there's a major change in your financial circumstances or they discover an error in your application. The fact that you're seeing an increase after submitting FAFSA is actually common - many schools do initial estimates with CSS Profile data, then finalize once they have your SAI from FAFSA. I wouldn't worry about them reducing offers that are already posted on their secure portals.

congrats on the aid packages! just make sure to accept them before the deadlines, my brothers aid got cancelled cause he missed the deadline by 2 days last yr... total nightmare

I work in financial aid at a university. Generally, once an official aid package is posted to the student portal, it represents the school's commitment based on the information they have. However, there are a few scenarios where it could change: 1. Verification selection - if your FAFSA gets selected for verification and the information doesn't match what was reported 2. Outside scholarships - some schools have displacement policies where they reduce institutional aid dollar-for-dollar for outside scholarships 3. Housing changes - if the package was built assuming on-campus housing and your daughter switches to off-campus 4. Enrollment status changes - dropping below full-time would affect the package But barring those situations, what you see on the portal should be what you get. The increase after FAFSA submission is very common since the federal methodology (SAI) often differs from the institutional methodology (CSS Profile).

DONT TRUST THE PORTAL!!! My daughter got a "guaranteed" $25k package last year that suddenly became $18k after we paid the deposit. The financial aid office claimed there was an "algorithm error" in their system. We fought it for weeks but ended up having to take out a Parent Plus loan to cover the difference. These schools are just businesses at the end of the day.

I think it depends on the school honestly. My kid's state university never changed their offer once it was posted, but the private liberal arts college adjusted it twice - once up (yay!) and once down (boo!) before enrollment. Maybe email financial aid offices directly to ask if these are final offers?

wait I'm confused, i thought FAFSA was for federal aid and CSS was for institutional aid? So how would FAFSA submission change what the school gives you? Sorry if this is a dumb question, I'm trying to figure this all out for my HS junior.

One more thing - make sure to check if these aid offers are for freshman year only or if they're renewable for all four years. Some schools offer attractive first-year packages that decrease in subsequent years. Look for terms like "renewable" or "multi-year" in the aid letters, or specific GPA requirements for maintaining scholarships.

I was in your exact situation last year and spent HOURS stressing about this!!!! My son's aid actually DID change but it went UP not down after they processed all his documents. I think once it's on the official portal it's pretty solid unless they audit you or something. BUT BUT BUT make sure to check if they're expecting you to take out loans as part of the "aid package" because some schools are SUPER SNEAKY and count loans as part of their generous "financial aid" which is totally misleading!!!!

As someone new to this whole process, this thread has been incredibly helpful! I'm just starting to navigate financial aid for my daughter who's a junior in high school. A few questions for the group: Should we be submitting CSS Profile in the fall even before we know which schools she'll apply to? Also, I keep seeing mentions of "gift aid" vs loans in packages - is there a standard way schools break this down, or do I need to dig through each offer carefully to separate the actual grants from the loans? Thanks for all the detailed responses above - definitely bookmarking this thread!