Financial Aid Applying for Financial Aid

To be considered for financial aid at Amherst in 2024-25, you must complete:

CSS Profile

Complete the CSS Profile form and submit it to the College Board. Amherst College's CSS Profile code number is 3003. Please complete the CSS Profile reporting your family's financial information in the currency of your home country.

Note: Applicants from North Korea cannot complete the CSS PROFILE; applicants from North Korea should complete the International Student Financial Aid Application (ISFAA).

Applicants for whom the CSS Profile application fee will present a serious financial hardship should submit a request to complete the International Student Financial Aid Application (ISFAA) by logging into their admission account. This form is completed by International financial aid applicants ONLY and must be uploaded to their Financial Aid Portal. Applying for financial aid using the ISFAA will not change an applicant's eligibility for financial aid; completing the ISFAA is considered the equivalent of completing the CSS Profile.

Applicants utilizing the ISFAA will upload the completed form to the Financial Aid Portal in the same manner as income/wage documentation described below. Applicants must wait until email instructions for setting up your Financial Aid Portal credentials have been received before uploading the ISFAA and income documentation.

If your parents are separated or divorced, both of the student's biological/adoptive parent(s) will complete their own CSS Profile or ISFAA. Each parent will access the CSS Profile with different log-in credentials. Parent 2 will need to create a College Board account before providing their information. It's highly recommended that the student and Parent of Financial record (Parent 1) start the CSS Profile first, as Parent 2 can't submit information until the student selects a school that requires the submission of Parent 2 information.

If any parent owns an interest in a business or a farm, please complete the Business/Farm Supplement. The completed Business/Farm Supplement should be uploaded to the Office of Financial Aid via the Financial Aid Portal.

Professional Judgment

Financial aid professionals have flexibility in adjusting a student's eligibility for financial aid due to special or unusual circumstances. 

Special circumstances include a loss of income, change in family size or additional expenses due to a student's disability. 

Unusual circumstances most often require an adjustment to a student's dependency status and the information they provide on their FAFSA form based on a unique situation, such as being homeless or foster youth.

Income/Wage Documentation

Please wait until you receive email instructions for setting up your Financial Aid Portal credentials before uploading your original 2022 documentation of income and taxes paid/withheld for your parents, and employer provided documentation of 2022 income and benefits to the Financial Aid Portal. Applicants from China should submit a Salary Certificate issued by the parents’ employer. Student income/tax documentation should be scanned and emailed or faxed (more secure) to the office.

If you have more than one document to submit, after clicking "browse" please select all files to upload using the Ctrl or Command key before clicking the upload button. 

All electronic documentation must be sent in .pdf format (images are not acceptable). All documentation should be in original foreign currency and your home language. All documentation and notations must be translated into English (it does not need to be a paid translation service; your own translation is sufficient).

Digital signatures are not accepted; original signatures are required on all forms.

Currency Exchange Rate Changes

If a currency exchange rate changes 10% or higher than the rate used in an initial award determination, students can request a review of the rate one time per academic year.  Reviews can be done in either early August or early December - the period just before payment of the bill to take into account the rate that would affect the families from that country close to the time of payment.  If the rate change is less than 10%, there will be no adjustment.  If the change of rate is 10% or more, there will be a full year adjustment if the review is completed in August and a spring-only adjustment if the review is done in December.  

If, upon review of an exchange rate, the change is 10% or more, all students from that country receive an adjustment at that time.

Candidates for Transfer to Amherst

Transfer applicants already studying in the United States who demonstrate financial need are eligible for financial aid at Amherst. To be eligible for financial aid, a transfer candidate must follow the same instructions as above.

This page was last updated October 30, 2023.