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College Planning

The biggest financial transaction that people make is usually buying or selling a house. You have a TEAM of people helping you get the transaction done: Realtor, Loan Officer, Title Agent. Would you buy or sell a home without your Realtor team? AND you pay your realtor 3% of the transaction!

Most people who are not a W2 employee use a CPA to help them file their taxes AND we pay them well to ensure that we are following the rules, minimizing what we pay and maximizing our refund.

Putting your student through College is the second largest transaction that you will do and you will likely do it multiple times. Unlike above, most people do this one on their own! There is help available and this help can save you a lot of money!

 

4 Keys to Cutting College Costs

Most parents have no plan when looking for Colleges for their children and this is big mistake! If you decide to do this on your own, then you should use the following keys as your guide. It will save you a LOT of money!

 

  1. Parents MUST lead the college selection process.
  2. Higher education is actually a buyer’s market
  3. Gather the PEGS (price, Expected Family Contribution, graduation rate and starting salary) to start the process
  4. Understand how financial aid works to get the best price

We are here to be your Guide to a complex and confusing process and we are here to advocate for your family and the costs you will incur. Our aim is to get your student into a College that you can afford and that they can thrive in.

 

College Funding Specialist

A College Funding Specialist will

 

  • determine what you will be expected to pay (EFC), which is not the same as what you can afford!
  • determine if you qualify for financial aid
  • determine if you qualify for merit aid (scholarships)
  • determine your 1 year and 4 year cost for each College
  • provide a list of Colleges for your student’s major that provide the most financial and/or merit aid
  • provide online access to College search and scholarship tool
  • provide ideas to enhance financial and merit aid
  • calculate student loan projections
  • collaborate with you to come up with a budget
  • perform a College GAP analysis
  • provide College savings strategies
  • provide strategies to minimize the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) and maximize Financial Aid
  • fill out your Financial Aid forms (FAFSA & CSS Profile)
  • assess and appeal family circumstance changes and College Award letters to the College
  • we stay with you all the way up to your student stepping on Campus

 

These require more specialized planning…

DivorcedRemarried

 

Service Packages

ServicesCollege PlanningAnnual Retainer
$2,400$600
How much Colleges think you can afford (EFC)YY
If you Qualify for Need-based GrantsY
If you Qualify for Merit-based ScholarshipsY
1 Year Out of Pocket Cost (for each College)Y
4 Year Out of Pocket Cost (for each College)Y
Need-based Aid Enhancement IdeasY
Merit-based Aid Enhancement IdeasY
Student Loan ProjectionsY
College Pre-Approval BudgetY
College Funding Gap AnalysisY
College Savings StrategiesY
Reallocation of Assets to lower EFCY
Financial Aid FormsFAFSA - Y - Free
CSS Profile - Y - excluding filing fee
Y
Student Award Letter Analysis and AppealsYY
Access to PortalYY
Student Access to Aptitude TestingY
PayPay

College Planning Package: Ideal for families that don’t want to pay the full sticker price and are looking to see if they can maximize the amount of Aid available (Financial & Merit Aid).
Annual Retainer: Ideal for parents who want a College Funding expert on retainer to ask questions and to help with successive years Financial Aid form submission. Must have purchased College Planning Package previously

 

Additional Services

ServicesConsultingAwards PackageBusiness Owner-Sole Proprietor PackageAthletes Package
$200/hr$500$1,000Included
As requestedY
College Award Letters AnalysisY
College Award Letters AppealY
Tax StrategiesY
List of Colleges in your Sport & avg. ScholarshipY
List of Colleges with your Major that do your SportY
Recruitment Education
Y
Education of Athlete's LifeY
PayPay
Pay

For the Awards Package: If we can’t get you 100% more than what the package costs, there is no charge.
For the Business Owner Package: If our strategy doesn’t pay for itself in the first year, there is no charge.
There is no charge for the Athlete’s Package.

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