Don't Make These Mistakes When Getting Ready To Fund College

Look For College Funding

Here is where you should find out how much money you'll need to pay.  You'll then have to find out how you're going to pay.  That is a whole other ball game. 

Very few families, even the top earners, have the kind of cash flow that allows them to pay an extra five, ten, or twenty thousand dollars a year without blinking an eye.  Almost everyone will have to find other sources of cash.  Fortunately, there are plenty out there and we can show you how to find them.

For those of you who have not taken advanted of our FREE Diagnostic Evaluation, don't wait another minute!  We will explain how to find all the money you need and how to pay for your child's education.  To book a FREE Diagnostic Evaluation, just call my office at (866) 949-7935 and we will be happy to help you!  Or sign up for one of our FREE College Funding Workshops, to locate one nearest you, visit our website proedserv.com and click on the Workshops Tab.

Private Schools

The FAFSA is the financial aid application form for public schools. If your child is applying to certain private schools, you should also have completed a CSS/PROFILE. This form will list all of the schools where your child is applying. It's the job of the College Scholarship Service (CSS) to send copies of the profile to every school on the list.

About a month later, you should begin receiving acknowledgement forms from each of the schools confirming that they have received your information. The number crunchers at these schools will now be producing their own version of an EFC. If there are any more schools that your child is considering attending, this is the time to review the list and make the additions. You still have time.

If you have any questions be sure to check out our website at http://www.proedserv.com

Would You Like To Save Money For College?

When you do your taxes every year, don't you try to pay as little in taxes as possible?  So why wouldn't you want to position yourself to be able to pay a little as possible for a college education?  A certified college consultant can save you thousands of dollars off the college bill, but you have to get started right away!  Colleges look back to your child's Junior year of high school to find out how much you can afford to pay for college.  Being proactive and positioning yourself in a way to save thousands can be the difference between paying for your child's college bill and retiring when you want to.  Give us a call at the office 866-949-7935, or visit our website www.proedserv.com, to attend one of our free college funding seminars to know if you have taken the right steps to pay the college bill.  For more daily updates, follow us on Twitter or friend us on Facebook, just look at the bottom of our website, www.proedserv.com, and click on the links!

Your EFC statement

The most important part of the Student Aid Report is at the top of the page. This is where you'll find an estimate of your Expected Family Contribution (EFC), the amount of money that the government calculates you should pay for your child's education.

Now, when you have completed the FAFSA, you were asked a ton of personal questions. Not one of those questions asked how much you think you can afford to pay. It's a shame because that question you could have answered easily. Chances are, the financial aid administration will get it wrong; the amount they think you can afford will usually be much, much higher than the amount you think you can afford.

If you've already received your SAR, your Student Aid Report, or if you're still waiting for it, you should keep that in mind before you open the envelope. You're not likely to see a big fat zero there. It rarely happens.

The vast majority of parents take one look at the EFC figure and wonder how and where are they going to find that kind of money. That's the next stage of the college process.

In the first stage of applying for financial aid, you gathered the information and completed the forms. In the second stage, you have to find the money. This is as much a part of going to college as taking ACT's and choosing a major. There's a whole range of specialized loans and grants that you can apply for, including some with very low interest rates and payments deferred until after your child graduates. Many, if not most college students use them, and they are a great way of raising the extra cash.

Grants and loans aren't the only method you can use though. Another method that makes paying for college far easier than you might imagine is a special mortgage technique that gives you the money you need on a tax-favored basis. This method doesn't work for everyone but if it does work for you, you should be able to kiss your EFC headache goodbye. If you'd like to know more about this technique- and find out if it will work for you or if you'd just like to learn more about all the other grants and loans available for college students and their families, just give our office a call at (866) 949-7935 or visit our website at http://www.proedserv.com

The Pell Grant

The FAFSA contains an application for the Pell Grant, the government's biggest financial aid program. Each year, the government gives out $29 billion to around five million students to help them pay for college tuition using Pell Grants, and the bulk of that cash goes to families who earn less than $30,000 per year. The Pell Grant isn't intended to help everyone pay for college; only students from families with low incomes. In fact, even qualified applicants only receive about $2,600, which doesn't go very far in filling the college tuition gap.

So if you find that you don't qualify for a Pell Grant, don't sweat it. There's a basket-full of other methods that you can use to find the money you need-and as a Certified College Funding Representative, we'll help you find them.

If you have any more questions, or are interested in our services, check out our website at http://www.proedserv.com

Financial Aid-Where to start

Just about everything your child has done to this point can affect the financial aid award they receive. Grades they have earned, clubs they have joined, activities they have participated in, and organizations they have volunteered for all impact how schools look at them. So where do you start? What are the steps that will allow you to send your child to the college of their dreams without having to claim bankruptcy?

Here's where you start. Your first step is the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). You need to fill out this form every year for each student, in order for them to be eligible for any form of federal aid including grants or loans

Fill out the FAFSA in early January using estimated numbers if need be. Complete them online, you can always go back and update the numbers later. Once you submit your FAFSA, the financial aid administration will read through your application, grapple with your numbers and calculate how much financial aid you should receive towards your child's education-and how much you should pay on your own.

Professional Education Services is here to lend you a helping hand through this complicated admissions process, if you have any questions take a look at our website at http://www.proedserv.com

Student Loan Selection

As much as parents want to, most of them are not able to write a check each semester to pay for their child's college education. Which is why loan selection is so important! Most people think taking any type of loan is bad, especially if you have some cash on hand that could be used. I don't always agree with this logic, and here is why. What happens if you decide to pay for your child's education with your life savings, then our of nowhere lose your job? Who is to blame at that point? Your child for wanting an education? You for volunteering to pay for it? These are very tough questions to answer because of how much the answer can vary from family to family. If you are interested in hearing more about how student loan selection can make a big difference in the amount of money you pay for college, visit our website, proedserv.com. We have a financial aid department set up just to help you answer tough questions like the one above. Our College Dream Builder™ product, is the answer that every parent needs to solve the difficult issues that will arise during the college admissions process. Check us out, and let us help you!

Pay For Your Kid's College Education, Or Retire?

Most families have to make the heart wrenching decision of whether they should pay for their child's education, or retire? With college costs rising faster than inflation, who knows how much college will cost your children by the time they are ready to start. Many parents are well on their way to a well-funded retirement, when the high costs of their child education is thrown upon them. So what decision is the best? Are parents obligated to pay for college, or should their children be responsible for their own education? The answer to this is, I don't know, each case has to be looked at differently. A plan that worked perfectly for your neighbor, may be the worst thing you could do. You need to have a plan, you need to have a blueprint that will lay out exactly what is best for you and your family. Check out our website, www.proedserv.com, to find a free college funding workshop near you!

Take a look at some of out satisfied customers!

Normally I like to give a tip or two on how to beat the high costs of college, but today I think I will let you all see a video of some of our clients. These are not actors, but actual clients of Professional Education Services that are ecstatic about the how we have helped them throughout the years. I promise I will get back to giving tips tomorrow! In the mean time, there are a bunch of videos of satisfied customers on YouTube.com, just search for College Dream Builder.