Need Admissions and Financial Aid Help? Here's How To Hire a Private College Counselor

In a recent college admission industry journal a brave admissions Vice President commented that 'Sadly, in the last 20 years we have lost our way in admissions. Colleges are no longer centered on counseling students; we are focused more on recruiting and competing for them. The students are just a way of keeping score. Furthermore, we charge different prices to students whom we value more or less because of our internal institutional priorities...Private counselors who strike a balance between helping students find the right match for their abilities, interests, and personality and assisting families in locating affordable choices are valuable.' We couldn't agree more. So who is looking out for your student in the admissions and financial aid process? Not the colleges anymore. Independent counselors, however, have no agenda other than what is best for their students. College is big business, first and foremost. You may not need a CPA to do your basic taxes and you may not need legal help for routine matters. But if you're facing an IRS audit or having to go to court you want a professional in your corner. The same can be said of college admission and financial aid. The stakes are high, to say the least. Given that a bachelors degree from a public institution will cost $50,000 to $75,000 and a degree from a private institution can cost upwards of $175,000 or more the dollars alone beg for a professional's expertise. Consider also that the difference in average lifetime earnings between a high school graduate and a college graduate is $1.2 million and climbing. So where can you find help? And how do you know that you've found a professional? In an ideal world, the first place to seek assistance would be from your high school counseling office. But in reality, too many high school counselors are not 'college' counselors per se; only a small amount of their time and resources are dedicated to college admission and only very rarely do counselors understand the intricacies of the financial aid process. Too many counselors are simply overworked and lack the time and resources to offer meaningful personal attention and guidance. There are also no widely-known and recognized certifications for independent counselors such as the CFP or CPA designations, although such certifications do exist. And it is all too easy to find 'independent counselors' with little or no experience other than their own children's admissions and financial aid processes. A disgruntled parent can make a bad counselor. However, armed with the right questions, you can find true experienced professionals. When interviewing an independent college counselor be sure to have these questions answered to your satisfaction: 1. Professional Credentials/Experience Do not ask if they have college admission and college counseling experience - ask them to tell you specifically how many years in admissions, how many years in financial aid, how many years in college counseling, how many years in private practice, and which institutions they served. The ideal is to find someone - or a team - who has direct experience in all of these areas and knows the tips, tricks, ins, outs, politics, processes, calendars, expectations, and language of college admission and financial aid. 2. Professional Associations Ask if your independent counselor is a current member of professional associations. Professional associations, such as regional chapters of the National Association of College Admission Counseling, keep counselors up to speed with developments, issues, ethics, and news within the college admission and financial aid industries, not to mention that such associations foster collegial relationships between professionals. It would be nice to have your counselor personally know the deans and directors at the colleges your student will apply to. 3. Number of students You want to know that your counselor is a full time professional and will work with your student appropriately. However, you also want your counselor to have a reasonable case load. You do not want your student to be that counselor's fourth (why so few - does she know what she's doing?) nor his 400th (will he be able to spend any time with my student?). 4. College & Campus Familiarity You want to know that your counselor has personal experience with many different campuses and that they visit different colleges whenever possible. Matching the student to the right college is crucial. Colleges have personalities. Students have personalities. If your counselor has not visited the campus they do not have a good understanding of the college, period. It would be like finding a mate through an old-fashioned classified ad (nice college with leafy trees and okay professors seeks student with 1200 SAT score...). The better the counselor knows the colleges and knows the students the more successful the matching. 45% of students who start college do not finish; often this is because the it's just not the right place for them and, frustrated and demoralized, they drop out. 5. Money Matters No, we're not talking about counselor fees here (although these vary wildly - we've seen everything between $500 and $30,000). You need to know to what extent your counselor understands the financial aid process. Ask if they fill out or help you with the FAFSA and CSS Profile applications for need-based financial aid. Ask them if they think you need to fill out the forms even if you don't think you will qualify for need-based aid (the answer is yes, of course, so you can be eligible for merit awards and loan packages). Ask if they will be able to provide you with a college funding plan with a breakdown of estimated family contribution numbers, line-by-line estimated financial aid packages, and if they work with a financial planner or college funding specialist to suggest ways to improve the family's bottom line. Most independent college counselors do little to none of this, so you may want to cut them some slack; just know that such help is out there for those who want and need it. The stakes are high, but there is excellent help available. Just be sure you find a pro, someone you trust, respect, and whom you know will work well with your student.

About Author: Bill McCumber is the founder of iCollegeCoach, a leading provider of college search, admission, financial aid, and college funding services. For more information please call 1-877-Coach-13 or visit iCollegeCoach.

Outrageous College Textbook Costs - Help Is Here - But Is It Working?

College textbook prices are outrageous! In some cases, books cost so much that they are forcing students to skip college all together. The Higher Education Opportunities Act (HEOA) was signed into law in 2008 in an effort to help with this problem. Beginning in July 2010, all college campuses were required to implement these new provisions with reference to textbooks and specifically this problem.

New Provisions:

Provision 1 - ISBN's at Registration: All federal and state financial aid eligible colleges are now obligated to provide students with the ISBN numbers and retail prices for all required and recommended textbooks for each course, before and during the registration process.

Provision 2 - Rental Programs: All colleges are being encouraged to provide students with information about textbook rental programs that are available on campus. While there may be multiple programs out there, the college is only being encouraged to provide information about those that the college has a direct relationship with. There are also many private textbook rental programs available through the internet.

Provision 3 - Used Textbooks and Buy-Back Programs: Colleges are also being encouraged to provide information about the availability of used textbooks and textbook buy-back programs on campus. Again they are only providing information about the university sponsored or college bookstore approved programs that their campus offers. Many others exist, including Amazon.com.

Provision 4 - Other Alternatives: Every college is being encouraged to provide information about current and potential alternatives to high textbook prices. With electronic textbooks and other cost savings strategies becoming more readily available on campus, universities are trying to find ways to inform students and make these alternatives profitable.

Additional Suggestions: The HEOA also offered some suggestions that could help students and professors to find additional textbook savings.

Suggestion 1: It was suggested that the textbook manufacturers are being asked to let professors know the comparative pricing of alternative textbooks before or during the selection process, so that professors can elect to choose a lower cost textbook alternative for students if available. Previously, professors were not given any pricing information about the textbooks that were being recommended by the publishers for their courses. As expected, the recommended textbook was generally the newest and most expensive edition.

Suggestion 2: It has also been suggested that textbook publishers try to avoid minor revisions that cause a previously selected textbook edition to become obsolete, just because a few minor revisions have been made. It has been suggested that this practice has been taking good quality, 3 and 4-year old used textbooks out of the available textbook market. This practice has been growing more and more widespread in recent years as publishers are trying to enhance their revenue stream... at the direct cost to the student.

Summary:

Hopefully the steps taken by the HEOA and others that are coming from outside the campus community will help bring textbook expenses down and allow students to make college more affordable again. Even though these provisions and suggestions have been made public for all colleges that receive federal financial aid, I have not seen a dramatic change so far. My hope is that if more students and parents hear about these changes, the schools, bookstores and publishing houses will be forced to operate with our college students and their families best interests at heart. Only time will tell.

Please share this article with anyone that you believe can benefit from the textbook cost savings that will occur if these provisions and suggestions are properly utilized and enforced.

Keith Maderer is a financial expert, author, speaker and father of five. He has been a financial adviser in the Western New York for over 30 years. He is the owner of SENIOR Financial and Tax Associates and founder of the Maderer Foundation, a private scholarship program for area youth.

The Eight Worst College Financial Aid Mistakes - Avoid Them

Contributing Author: Keith Maderer

With college costs rising faster than inflation and financial aid shrinking, you can't afford to make mistakes when it comes to sending your child(ren) to college. If you do... it will definitely cost thousands, even then of thousands of dollars per child. Now if you have an extra $5,000, $10,000 or $20,000 sitting around and don't mind giving it to a college... then this article isn't for you. For all others... Please read carefully!
Going to college can be a very complex and stressful time for many families. Especially with your first child that begins the process. While it may get easier with each child, if you make any of the following mistakes, it will cost you money.
If you are fortunate enough to be reading this while your oldest child is still in middle school or just entering high school, then you should have plenty of time to methodically make the most out of the college financial aid process. If your child is about ready to graduate or already in college, then you better get started right now and plan to spend some quality time making the adjustments necessary.
Eight Mistakes That will Cost You Plenty
Mistake 1: Not Starting Early Enough: The main reason families make costly mistakes during the financial aid process is that they wait until the last-minute and are rushed. If you start early and plan your steps on a timeline, you will be ready and prepared to take full advantage of the process.
Mistake 2: Not Paying Attention To Deadlines: Another big mistake is missing a financial aid deadline. If you don't file the right forms with the right departments before the required deadline, you lose the opportunity to get the financial aid for that semester and generally cannot reapply until the following semester.
Mistake 3: Not Filing The FAFSA: The dreaded first-time FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) isn't as bad as most families believe it is, but if you never file it, you are guaranteed to be overlooked by the financial aid system. Most colleges require the FAFSA to be filed, even if you will not qualify for Federal aid, just so they can offer you any private scholarships, grants or endowment opportunities. So always file the FAFSA.
Mistake 4: Not Utilizing EFC Reduction Strategies: Every applicant that applies to college and requests financial aid will have an Estimated Family Contribution or EFC calculated based on the financial information that is provided. If you know how to use these EFC reduction strategies before you are required to file, you can lower your EFC and increase your financial aid dramatically.
Mistake 5: Student Loans: Many students and their families use the wrong types of students loans, don't use them at all or fail to look into which student loans are custom-made for their situation. A vast amount of information on student loans is available and all you need to do is read it. It will compare the different types and then you should be able to decide which is best if loans are required.
Mistake 6: Paying For College With Retirement Money: Every year I hear and read about parents that are tapping their 401K or other retirement plans to help pay for their children's college expenses. They either withdraw or borrow funds for education and neither method is a good idea for most families. Don't sacrifice your retirement for your child's education, because they probably will not be able to take care of you in retirement if you do.
Mistake 7: Not Appealing Your Offer: Appealing a financial aid offer from a college can be a great way to get additional aid, especially if you believe some mistakes or omissions were made when you initially filed. This is the time to clarify and correct any issues that you discover and request an adjustment if possible. It generally cannot hurt to ask for more and it gives your student the opportunity to make some great contacts inside the financial aid system.
Mistake 8: Not Asking For More... In Years 2 to 4: As a student continues through college, most never visit the financial aid office again after their freshman year. If you make regular visits each semester and inquire about additional aid, scholarships or grants, you may be pleasantly surprised by how much aid is available (and sometimes unclaimed), specifically for 2nd, 3rd and 4th year students.
Summary: This is a just a summary of the major mistakes that I hear about each and every year. Each of them is avoidable if you just take the time to do your research, get organized and plan your strategy. Obviously, the earlier you start, the better prepared you should be... so get started today and save a bundle.
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Keith Maderer is a financial expert, author, speaker and father of five. He has been a financial adviser in the Western New York for over 30 years. He is the owner of SENIOR Financial and Tax Associates and founder of the Maderer Foundation, a private scholarship program for area youth.  He is the author of the book, "How To Get Your College Education For Less.",