CSS Profile fee and waivers for Ghanaian students
The CSS Profile costs $25 for the first university and $16 for each one after, and the College Board's own fee waiver is only for students living in the United States. You can still apply for aid if you cannot pay. Several universities, including Harvard, Dartmouth, Amherst and Bowdoin, accept a free form instead, and others, such as Columbia, consider waiver requests by email. Ask each university before you pay.
How much does the CSS Profile cost?
$25 for the first university, then $16 for each one after. The CSS Profile is the College Board's aid form, used by most private US universities that fund international students. Ten universities cost $25 plus nine times $16: $169 in all.
That is small next to a full scholarship. For many Ghanaian families it is a lot in October, when application fees, test fees and document costs all arrive in the same few weeks. Paying is not the only way in.
Can I get the College Board's fee waiver from Ghana?
No. The College Board's automatic fee waiver is for undergraduates living in the United States, and it is based on American family income. You cannot get it from Ghana, whatever your family earns.
American guides that say "most students qualify for a free CSS Profile" mean American students. Ghanaian families read that line, then find at the payment screen that the Profile is not free for them.
Which universities accept a free form or waive the fee?
Several, in two ways. Some accept a free form instead of the Profile. Others waive the Profile fee when you ask, or after they admit you.
| University | What it offers international students | How or when |
|---|---|---|
| Harvard | A free alternate application for financial aid | Harvard's own form |
| Dartmouth | The ISFAA instead of the Profile, where the fee is a serious hardship | Download and submit to the aid office |
| Amherst | The ISFAA instead of the Profile, where the fee is a hardship | Request it through the applicant portal |
| Bowdoin | The ISFAA instead of the Profile | Bowdoin's own copy of the form |
| Reed | Its own international aid application, where the Profile fee is a hardship | Reed's own form |
| Columbia | Considers fee waiver requests from low-income international students | Email the aid office |
| Swarthmore | A Profile fee waiver code for admitted internationals who asked for aid | Appears on the aid checklist after admission |
| Yale | Reviews requests for Profile fee payment codes | From November for early applicants, February for regular |
Policies change between cycles, and the exact conditions matter. Read each university's own page before you rely on this table.
Is the free form as good as the CSS Profile?
Yes, at the universities that accept it. Amherst, for example, says the ISFAA carries the same weight as the CSS Profile. These universities offer a free form because they want to hear from students who cannot pay the fee.
The ISFAA, the International Student Financial Aid Application, is the free form most of them use. It asks much the same questions as the Profile: your parents' income, savings and property, who lives in your household, and large expenses.
Three things work differently:
- You send it to each university yourself. Universities publish it as a PDF or in their own portal. You fill it in, your parents sign it, and you send it the way that university asks.
- Each university may want its own copy. Some use their own version of the form.
- Documents go straight to the university. You do not use IDOC, the College Board's document upload service. You send payslips or bank statements to the university if it asks for them.
If you file the Profile for some universities and the ISFAA for others, use the same figures on both. Our guide to choosing between the ISFAA and the CSS Profile covers the forms in detail.
The real risk is missing the deadline while you wait for a waiver. Ask early, and treat the aid deadline as your deadline, whichever form you use.
How do I keep the cost down?
Sort your list before you pay anything. For each university, find out whether it takes a free form, waives the fee, or needs the paid Profile. Then send the paid Profile only to the universities that need it.
- Ask before you pay. An email to the aid office costs nothing. Say you are applying from Ghana, that the fee is a hardship for your family, and ask whether they waive it or accept another form.
- Use the free form where it is accepted. It is not second best.
- Add universities to the Profile with care. Each one costs $16. A university that would never fund an international student is $16 spent on nothing. Our list of universities that meet full need is a better place to start.
How do I pay the fee from Ghana?
Online, by card. The College Board's help page lists the payment methods it accepts. Most Ghanaian students pay with a parent's debit or credit card.
Sort out two things before the day you submit:
- Switch on international online payments. Many Ghanaian bank cards are set up for local use only. Ask the bank to allow online payments in dollars. This can take a few days.
- Check the card limit. The bank charges the card in dollars and converts the amount, often with a fee on top. Make sure the limit covers the total.
If the payment fails at the last screen, do not keep retrying the same card. Call the bank or use another card. Your Profile stays saved while you sort it out.
What should I do this week?
List your universities. Next to each one, write "free form", "waiver possible" or "paid Profile". Then email the aid offices you are unsure about. By the time your Profile is ready to submit, you will know exactly what it will cost.
You can do this alone with each university's aid page. If you would rather have someone build your aid plan around these choices, that is part of the Scholarship and Aid Sprint.
Questions people ask
How much does the CSS Profile cost?
$25 for the first university and $16 for each one after. If you send it to ten universities, you pay $25 plus nine times $16, which is $169.
Can international students get a CSS Profile fee waiver?
Not from the College Board. Its automatic waiver is for undergraduates living in the United States. Some universities waive the fee themselves or accept a free form instead, so ask each one before you pay.
What is the ISFAA?
The International Student Financial Aid Application. It is a free form that some universities accept from international students instead of the CSS Profile, usually when the Profile fee would be a hardship. Dartmouth, Amherst and Bowdoin are among them. You send it to the university directly.
How do I pay the CSS Profile fee from Ghana?
Online, by card. The College Board lists the payment methods it accepts on its help page. Your Ghanaian card needs international online payments switched on, and many banks make you ask for this.