Prospective Students

To apply for need-based financial aid at Macalester, please review the following information.

Early Financial Aid Assessments
Students who are considering applying for admission via Early Decision can request an Early Financial Aid Assessment and receive their financial aid results before applying for admission.

International students
Information about applying for financial aid as an international student.

Undocumented students
Information about applying for financial aid as an undocumented student.

Federal/state financial aid only
Information about applying for federal and state financial aid without applying for need-based aid from Macalester.

US citizens/permanent residents
Please review the following information to apply for need-based financial aid as a US citizen or permanent resident.

2025-2026 Financial Aid Application Instructions (U.S. Citizens and Permanent Residents)

Frequently asked questions about applying for financial aid

To apply for need-based financial aid as a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, complete the steps below.

1. Indicate your intent to apply for financial aid when you complete your admission application to be considered for need-based financial aid from Macalester. In most cases, students who do not apply for financial aid cannot apply for aid after the time of admission or later during their time at Macalester.
   
2. CSS Profile
   Visit cssprofile.collegeboard.org to complete the CSS Profile. Include Macalester’s code (6390) in the school release section. There is a fee associated with filing the CSS Profile, which is automatically waived for many low-income filers.
   
   Divorced/separated parents: If your biological/adoptive parents are not married and do not reside in the same household, both parents must complete separate CSS Profile applications in order for you to be considered for financial aid from Macalester. For more information about this requirement, please visit our Frequently Asked Questions page. If you do not have contact with one of your biological/adoptive parents or cannot have that parent complete the CSS Profile, you can request that this requirement be waived. Some students will have this requirement waived automatically based on information on their custodial parent’s CSS Profile.
   
3. Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
   Visit studentaid.gov to file the FAFSA and include Macalester’s school code (002358) in the school release section. The FAFSA is used to determine eligibility for federal and Minnesota student aid programs. If you wish to be considered for federal and Minnesota programs only (and not Macalester financial aid), please see the instructions and contact the Financial Aid Office to express your intent.
   
   **FAFSA timing for ED1 and EA: The 2025-2026 FAFSA will not be widely available until December, 2024. In order to deliver financial aid results in a timely manner, Macalester will use the CSS Profile to determine eligibility for financial aid from all sources. Students will still need to complete the FAFSA at a later date to finalize eligibility for federal and Minnesota financial aid.
   
4. Tax documents (IDOC submission)
   After completing the CSS Profile (step 2 above), you will receive an email from the College Board IDOC service. This email will come from [email protected] and will provide instructions to use IDOC to submit tax documents and applicable supplements required to apply for financial aid from Macalester. Your IDOC information will specify which documents are required. Usually, this includes your parents’ 2023 federal tax return and W-2 forms. Parents who do not file a tax return will be asked to complete a Non-Filer Statement (provided by the IDOC service).
   
   Please note that there can be a considerable time lag (up to two weeks) from the time that you submit documents to IDOC and the time that they are received by Macalester. This is normal and is caused by the time it takes for IDOC staff to process your documents. If you see your documents within the IDOC portal, you can rest assured that they will be received by Macalester and that we will consider the documents “on time” if you submitted them to IDOC by the deadline.