Continuing Students - DACA, Long-term Undocumented Applicants, and Green Card Applicants
2021-22 Financial Aid Application Process Requirements
As a returning student who completed an application for institutional aid in 2020-21, the only application you need to submit at this time is the 2021-22 CSS Profile (Custodial and Noncustodial Parents).
The upper class financial aid deadline is March 1, 2021. Please be sure to complete your CSS Profile by the deadline in order to have your institutional aid offer in place before the fall bill is issued in July.
Completing the CSS Profile
- Access the CSS Profile. College Board has created interactive instructions to assist you.
- Cornell’s undergraduate CSS Code is 2098 (Cornell Vet: 2822, Cornell Law: 2099) - students should select “continue” if any warning message pops up on the college selection page.
- The registration step has been eliminated; applicant information will be saved from the moment you first interact with the CSS Profile.
- If parents are divorced, separated, or were never married, your noncustodial parent will need to complete a separate CSS Profile. Each parent will access their CSS Profile with different College Board log-in credentials.
- College Board recommends that the student and the custodial parent start the CSS Profile application first. Although the noncustodial parent can start the application at any time, the noncustodial parent will not be able to complete the application until the student selects a college that requires the CSS Profile from the noncustodial parent.
- To keep financial information private, the student and parents should not share their College Board account passwords with each other.
Next Steps After CSS Profile Completion
Unless specifically requested, you do not need to submit additional documentation at the present time. If supporting documentation is needed, you will be notified via your Cornell email and the Student Center To Do List. Please pay close attention to any instructions received from our office and respond as soon as possible.
We will begin notifying applicants of 2021-22 aid eligibility late spring via email to the student’s Cornell email address.
Instructions for first-time aid applicants or additional requests made by the Financial Aid Office
In the event that we need additional documentation, we may ask you to submit tax documents directly to the Office of Financial Aid and Student Employment via one of the following methods below. Please be sure to include your name and Cornell ID number on your documents.
Secure Fax: 607-255-6329 or;
Secure Online Upload
Continuing students who are first-time aid applicants will need to complete the additional aid requirements.
Select the dropdowns below for further instructions.
Per IRS guidelines, we require parental tax information if your parent's earnings are greater than the minimum filing threshold.
Federal Withholding Tax
Undocumented students (with and without DACA status) are to be treated, for tax purposes, as any other foreign national student. The Internal Revenue Service classifies grant aid in excess of tuition and mandatory fees as taxable income and requires Cornell to withhold 14% in taxes if you are a non-resident alien and not eligible for exemption from taxes under a tax treaty. If you are deemed to be a "resident alien" based on the amount of time you have been present within the U.S., or if you are from a treaty country that includes a treaty article that would grant an exemption from tax withholding, Cornell would not be required to withhold 14% of excess aid.
In order to evaluate either option for non-withholding, the student will need to complete a Foreign National Questionnaire. Access to the on-line Questionnaire can be gained by emailing the FNIS system administrator requesting a user name and password.
Do you have further questions?
The Office of Financial Aid and Student Employment has staff available to assist applicants with DACA status and with a pending Green Card application through the financial aid process.
607-255-5145; finaid@cornell.edu