What is a Certified College Planning Specialist?

A financial planner focuses on showing you ways to grow your income and to create wealth. As college planning specialists, our objective is to show you how to pay for college, and potentially make it a financial "non-event" for your family.

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 child, they may sweeten their initial aid offer during the "Appeals Process." Your odds are improved if the school really wants the student 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.

What do you charge for your services?

There is no charge for the initial consultation. We do ask that you bring our data form with you. All consultations will be held in the strictest of confidence. At this meeting we are interviewing you just as much as you are interviewing us. We want to make sure you are a good fit for our practice before a relationship is established. Our fee is based on the complexity of your case.