CSS Profile when Ghanaian parents are separated
The parent you lived with for most of the past year fills in the main CSS Profile. Many universities also ask your other parent to fill in a separate noncustodial parent Profile. If you have no contact with that parent, ask each university to waive it, and send a signed letter from someone such as a pastor, imam, headteacher or social welfare officer who knows your family.
Which parent completes the CSS Profile when parents live apart?
The parent you lived with for most of the past twelve months. The CSS Profile, the aid form most universities that fund internationals use, calls this parent the custodial parent. Their income and assets go on the main Profile.
Your other parent is the noncustodial parent. A university may ask them to fill in a second Profile of their own. Each university decides whether it needs one.
The College Board wrote these rules around American divorce, with custody orders and court dates. Ghanaian families often look different. Your parents may never have married, or a customary marriage may have ended without a court. Your father may work in London or Houston. You may live with a grandmother while your mother works in Accra. The Profile can handle all of these. You just have to know which box each one belongs in.
Does it matter whether my parents were married?
No. Where you lived decides who your custodial parent is, not your parents' marital status. A mother who never married your father counts the same way as one who divorced him.
This saves many Ghanaian families a worry. If your parents married under customary law and separated without going to court, they do not need divorce papers. If they never married, the same applies. They report the household as it actually is.
If your parents still live together, married or not, both of them go on the main Profile. The rest of this page does not apply to you.
Does a stepparent count?
Yes, on the custodial side. If the parent you live with has married again, your stepparent's income and assets go on the main Profile. They are part of the household that supports you.
If your other parent has married again, their new spouse goes on the noncustodial Profile instead. Universities differ in how much weight they give it.
What if I live with my grandmother or an aunt?
It depends on whether a court has made her your legal guardian. If it has, the Profile treats her as your parent, and her information goes in the parent sections.
If she cares for you without a court order, the Profile will normally still ask about your parents. This is a common arrangement in Ghanaian families. It can feel wrong when your parents have given little, but it is how the form works. In that case, do three things:
- Report your parents as the Profile asks, as accurately as you can.
- Explain the real arrangement in the Profile's notes: who you live with, since when, and who pays for your schooling.
- Write to each university's aid office and ask how it wants your situation reported. Some will use their judgement once they understand your family.
What is the noncustodial parent Profile?
It is a separate CSS Profile that your other parent fills in, with their own login and their own figures. It asks about their income, their assets and their current household, including a new spouse and any other children they support.
Not every university asks for it. Add your universities to your Profile, and the College Board tells you which ones need it. Many of the private universities that fund international students do ask, because they expect both parents to contribute where they can.
What if my father lives abroad?
He fills in the noncustodial Profile from wherever he is. A father working in the UK or the US fills it in the same way as one in Tema. He reports his income in the currency he earns it in.
Give him the deadline early. He will need his own documents, which may include a UK or US tax return. And if he sends you money, say so. That money is part of your family's real resources, and an aid officer expects to see it somewhere on your file.
What if we have no contact with the other parent?
Ask each university to waive the noncustodial Profile. The College Board publishes a waiver request form. It says plainly that each university makes its own decision, and that a request does not mean approval.
A letter makes your request believable. It should come from someone outside the family who knows your situation through their work. The College Board's form mentions an attorney, a counsellor or a member of the clergy. In Ghana, you could ask:
- Your pastor or imam, on church or mosque letterhead.
- Your school counsellor or headteacher, on school letterhead.
- A social welfare officer, if your family has dealt with the Department of Social Welfare.
The letter should say who the writer is and how long they have known your family. It should say what they know: for example, that your father has not lived with you or supported you since a given year, and that your family does not know where he is. The writer signs and dates it.
Send the request early. If a university has not decided on your waiver by its aid deadline, it may treat your file as incomplete.
What should I do first?
Write down who you lived with for most of the past year. Then add your universities to the CSS Profile to see which ones want your other parent's Profile. If any do and you have no contact with that parent, ask for the supporting letter this week. It is the slowest part.
Your family can do all of this alone, with the College Board's forms and each university's aid page. If you would like help deciding how to report your family and drafting the waiver request, that is part of the Scholarship and Aid Sprint.
Questions people ask
Which parent completes the CSS Profile if my parents are not together?
The parent you lived with for most of the past twelve months, called the custodial parent. If that parent has married again, the new spouse's information goes on the Profile too. It makes no difference whether your parents were ever formally married.
What is the noncustodial parent CSS Profile?
It is a separate Profile that your other parent fills in, from their own account. Each university decides whether it needs one, and the College Board tells you once you have added your universities. Many of the universities that fund international students do ask for it.
Can I get a waiver if I have no contact with my father?
You can ask for one, and each university decides for itself. Send the College Board's waiver request to each university separately. Include a signed letter on letterhead from a professional who knows your situation, because a request without one is rarely granted.
I live with my grandmother. Whose information goes on the Profile?
Your grandmother's, if a court has made her your legal guardian. If she cares for you without a court order, which is common in Ghana, the Profile will usually still ask about your parents. Ask each university's aid office how to report it, and explain your situation in the Profile's notes.