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.

Scholarships

Working in the college funding industry, I have had the opportunity to give families some wonderful advice on how to beat the high costs of college. One piece of information I give parents shocks them every time, and that is that scholarships only make up about three percent of the financial aid used to pay for college. To put this in terms a little easier to understand, only about 3 cents on the dollar used to pay for college is from scholarships. Wouldn't you like to find a more efficient way to pay the college bill? Wouldn't it be nice to know some of the loop holes in the financial aid system that could save you thousands of dollars off the college bill? I have to tell you, that I wish I would have known the things I do now when I was getting ready to go to college. Thankfully, there are thousands of parents with children getting ready to go to college that still have time to avoid the mistakes I made. To do this, you must go see a college funding advisor, we are specialists in what we do, and we know how to work the system to your benefit. Check us out at our website www.proedserv.com, to find a free workshop to help you better understand the information I just gave you.

Financial Aid

Did you know that school selection is a large part of how much financial aid a student can receive? Colleges and Universities are businesses with a mission statement, and are looking for the right students to fulfill their mission. If you were able to know what schools are looking for which type of students, or which programs they are trying to fill; you could be able to position your student to get more financial aid. Professional Education Services offers the College Dream Builder™ product, backed by a staff of professionals who work hard every day to fight for your student to get into the school of their dreams. We know what schools are looking for, and are ready to position your student to try to maximize financial aid. Click on one of the links in this blog to sign up for one of our free college funding workshops.