Who We Are
College Planning Experts, LLC. works hands-on with families who want to obtain the most value for their education dollar. Our services are designed to assist in several areas including career choices, college selection and financial assistance. Our unique process is designed to address the challenges and issues facing college bound students. We help customize a series of programs that fit the needs of each family’s unique circumstances as well as their financial goals. We hold your hand while educating you through the entire process of positioning both the student and the parents for optimal results in both college admissions and the funding process.
Family Financial Positioning
We teach parents how to maintain their current lifestyle, continue to fund retirement, as well as pay for college ….all at the same time. We pride ourselves in discovering missed cash flow and ‘tax scholarships’ to create the funding that’s necessary to address college expenses. We will create a comprehensive plan with college funding and retirement as core objectives.
Student Positioning
Student positioning is our way of matching the student’s academic abilities and desires with a group of college's where the student can be successful and happy. This is then matched with the institution’s ability to give financial assistance with the family’s ability to pay.
Our Student positioning process has two steps:
Step one: We provide the student unlimited access to a state of the art online aptitude software designed to confirm or focus a student’s career goals and subsequent major(s) to pursue.
Step two: Step two is a phone interview with one of our expert career counselors. The counselor will discuss with the student the realities of choosing the right college and how they should approach the college search process. This call will last an hour or sometimes more. At least one of the student’s parents must be in attendance to listen in and is encouraged to ask questions. This is a powerful tool to successfully matching the student with the right colleges based on a set of scientific factors – SAT/ACT scores, their GPA, the family’s finances, the student’s educational interest and the student’s general outlook on life. We will not choose the college for you but instead make the whole family aware of the right college(s) based on their circumstances.
This second step can reduce the overall cost of a college for all families that employ this scientific approach. The process helps in two ways. First it should help the student graduate in four years instead of five or more. Secondly, it shows how to find academic awards that were once thought unattainable.
Who We Work With
Are you the parents of a college-bound student beginning the college process or maybe you already have a student in college and feel there must be an easier way? You can learn to relieve the stress, confusion and complexity associated with the college planning/funding maze and find the best school for your student and your pocketbook.
Although family’s situations may change, the struggles most families are going through are very similar. See if any of these concerns sound familiar to you:
- You are having to pick colleges based off cost for your student because you feel financial aid is no more than a dream based on your income/assets. The fact is, with proper planning, families who position their student favorably in the eyes of the college can see an increase in aid regardless of income. So in reality, choosing a college strictly off its sticker price (in most cases) should not be a family’s number one priority.
- With the high cost of college, you feel you have to alter your retirement plans. The last thing you will ever want to do is to minimize your retirement planning to pay for college. You can’t borrow for retirement, so by all means don’t spend it on college. There are ways to link college with retirement, so you can accomplish both at the same time.
- You haven’t had the time to save enough for your first student’s college education let alone the younger ones. You are not alone, over 90% of families don’t have enough funds on hand to pay for one year of college regardless of their income. The fact is, funding college is not a savings issue, but it’s a cash-flow issue. Properly structuring your cash-flow can greatly increase your ability to cover the costs of college without giving up the lifestyle you are accustomed to. You want to properly craft your cash-flow and assets to make paying for college a financial reality while maintaining your retirement goals.
How We Work
Guiding Beliefs and Values:
A college education is paramount. We send our kids to college either because we went or we didn’t. Regardless, we want them to have a college education that can open doors, provide future success and happiness.
College is expensive. College tuition increases on average 7% annually, and what’s little known is 1 in 4 students are actually graduating on time. Both of these factors can raise college costs drastically and seriously impact your family’s financial/retirement plan. Taking the time to understand this process and taking control is key to reducing college costs which will ultimately reduce the negative impact college will have on retirement.
The financial aid system is confusing and complex. Did you know 90% of financial aid requests are submitted with errors or inconsistencies causing delays and losses in financial aid awards? With over $100 billion dollars available in aid every year and over 20% of it in the colleges’ own coffers, knowing what colleges have, and how to position your family for it is crucial.
You can pay for college without going broke in the process. Many parents will sacrifice everything to put their children through college, even excessive borrowing to cover rising college costs, only accentuates the problem. Using our “student positioning” concept, families can pay for college using strategies to increase cash-flow, save thousands in yearly tuition expenses, and utilize tax and investment savings. All potentially making a college education what we call a "financial non-event.”
The financial aid formulas may not reflect what you can really afford. Many families delay their planning in the hope that financial aid will relieve the burden of paying for college. Unfortunately, most financial aid awards come in the form of loans; many of them may never get it. That’s where proper planning comes in. When done correctly, funding a college education can be attained without hardship to the family’s financial future.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why should we consider working with a College Planner?
Working with a college planning specialist will make you aware of planning tips and strategies most people don’t even know exist. Utilizing a combination of these little-known strategies can tremendously benefit your family and your pocket-book. The services that we provide are set up to relieve you from the stress and anxiety that is typically associated with the thought of paying for college. It is extremely valuable to have an advisor working on your behalf throughout this process.
College is the second highest expenditure for many families, next to the purchase of their home. Have you ever purchased real estate without seeking the advice of a professional? Of course you didn’t. Paying for college shouldn’t be any different. There is crucial information you need to know about the college funding process before you begin.
We make too much money and won’t qualify for financial aid. What type of planning can you do for us?
Most of the families we assist qualify for little to no “need-based” financial aid. We help these families by creating a plan that involves a combination of academic student positioning along with financial and tax planning strategies. Many of six figure income clients are surprised to learn that after strategic planning, they too can qualify for financial aid.
Do you give out loans or scholarships?
No, we are not a lending institution or a scholarship fund. However, depending on your needs, we will identify and recommend the best college financial tools for your situation.
Do you help find grants and scholarships for our child?
Yes, we do help your student find grants and scholarships. First you should know there are three types of grants or scholarships. There are those awarded by the federal and state government (which are mostly need-based), there are those offered by the colleges and universities, and there are private scholarships that are offered by clubs, foundations, corporations, etc. We attempt to help a student qualify for as many as possible. This involves employing a combination of academic and financial aid strategies. (However, we are NOT a “scholarship search” company.)
I already work with a financial advisor or CPA. Can’t my advisor do this type of planning for me?
Typically the answer to this is no. There are a small percentage of financial advisors or CPAs trained in the late stage college funding niche. For instance, a physician who is a general practitioner would not think of trying to perform heart surgery on a patient. That procedure would be referred to a specialist. It is similar in our specialty. Most financial advisors and CPAs are unfamiliar with this type of planning. We receive regular referrals from other financial advisors and CPAs who appreciate our specialization and client services in college funding planning. They believe our services add a lot of value to the services they are providing to their clients.
It is said that colleges will negotiate or discount tuition. Is this true? What degree of success are parents experiencing in this area?
Colleges will deny that they "negotiate" with parents, but the fact is that if the school wants the student, they may sweeten their initial aid offer during the "Appeals Process." Your odds are improved if the school really wants your child because of a special skill, talent or scholastic achievement.
Often times there are "Special Circumstances" that the family is experiencing that should be presented directly to the financial aid director or officer at the college. In effect, you are asking the college to use "Professional Judgment" based on this information to reconsider its initial offer. “Special Circumstances” may be another reason for the Financial Aid Award to be "negotiated" through the appeals process. How he or she views your specific situation and what action is taken is at the discretion of the individual financial aid director.
