Ithaca College Makes It Easier to Apply for Financial Aid

By Danica Fisher ’05, November 4, 2021

IC no longer requires the CSS Profile.

Starting this fall, students applying for admission to Ithaca College who also want to be considered for Ithaca College’s need-based financial aid are no longer required to submit the College Scholarship Service (CSS) Profile, a form that is used by colleges nationwide to award institutional aid. Instead, applicants who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents need only submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), and applicants who are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents need only submit one financial aid application. Both the FAFSA and the international financial aid application are free, while there is a charge to submit the CSS Profile.

“This is the first of several approaches we are taking aimed at expanding access, increasing affordability, and providing greater transparency and clarity about the financial aid process,” said Laurie Koehler, vice president for marketing and enrollment strategy.

This shift will simplify the financial aid application process and reduce barriers to enrollment while making IC more accessible, affordable, and inclusive. Data confirm that requiring the CSS Profile was a barrier especially for first-generation and BIPOC applicants.

“Eliminating the CSS Profile will simplify the Ithaca College financial aid application process for students and parents and allow Ithaca College to offer complete financial aid packages to more students, earlier in the recruitment cycle,” said Shana Gore, executive director of student financial services.

“This is the first of several approaches we are taking aimed at expanding access, increasing affordability, and providing greater transparency and clarity about the financial aid process."

Laurie Koehler, vice president of marketing and enrollment strategy

By streamlining the financial aid process, both applicants and Ithaca College will benefit as financial aid packages are released more quickly. Additionally, because all need-based aid—federal, state, and institutional—will be awarded based on one application per student rather than two, financial aid packages will be more readily understandable by students and families.

“After analyzing data, we realized that our financial aid application requirements were serving as a barrier to many students, and disproportionately so to students from populations historically underserved by institutions of higher education—students of color, first generation, and students from low-income households,” said Gore. “This new approach, driven by data, is a step forward in changing that.”

This past year, more than 1,700 students who were admitted and completed a FAFSA to IC did not submit a CSS Profile, even though a portion of applicants would have had their CSS Profile fee waived—those from the lowest income households. As a result, these students received financial aid awards that were often dramatically lower than they might have qualified for, as their aid packages did not include institutional aid but instead only included federal and state aid. Without any Ithaca College need-based scholarships included, fewer than three percent of these students ended up matriculating at IC, which is significantly lower than IC’s overall yield rate of admitted students.

This student-centered decision was made in 2021 and is an important component of the marketing and enrollment strategy developed in 2020 and focuses specifically on affordability, pricing, and value.