Proven Results
Experience
Since 1993, our partners have been guiding students and parents through the college preparation and funding process.
In the college planning industry, it’s not entirely about your list of services. It is much more about the back-office structure and actually assisting families in successfully navigating the process. Without the structure, the list of services will be basically inconsequential, as families won’t receive the full benefit.
At CollegePrepHelp, we have both – a comprehensive service program along with a back-office structure, support staff, and technology to effectively guide families step-by-step through the entire process.
3 Key College Planning Elements
A truly effective college planning program is made up of three key components: Educational, Social, and Financial.
Although there are three funding sources – the federal government, the private sector, and the colleges – it is the institution that ultimately decides what families pay.
The common knowledge is that college is both essential and expensive. The not-so-common knowledge is the fact that college is a business. Perhaps a bit harsh but very beneficial to the family if they are aware of this key factor upfront and prepare accordingly.
Core Building Blocks
- Building the Student’s Resume
- AP Classes
- School & Community Activities
- Summer Employment
- Career Options
- Talking with Those in the Field
- Naviance
- Job Shadowing
- PSAT / SAT / ACT
- Testing Dates & Registration Details
- Naviance Test Prep
- College Search & Selection
- Naviance
- College Fairs
- Admission Apps
- Campus Visits
- Funding Procedures
- CSS/Profile
- FAFSA
- Student Aid Report (SAR)
- Award Letters
- Loan Programs
Advanced Consultation
- Volunteer Work
- AP Classes
- Extracurricular Activities
- Admission Applications & Essay Reviews
- Letters of Recommendation
- Early Decision – Yes or No?
- Impact of Private Sector Awards
- Merit Aid vs. Need-Based Aid
- Admission & Teaser Offers
- Campus Visits
- Housing Deposits
- Final College Selection Deadline
- Funding Procedures
- CSS/Profile
- FSA ID
- FAFSA
- General FAFSA Filing Questions
- Student Aid Report (SAR)
- Expected Family Contribution (EFC)
- Adding a College
- Student Aid Deadlines
- How Colleges Retrieve Data
- Award Letter Evaluations
- Appeal Strategies & Procedures
Families Need an Advocate
Although the college planning and financial aid process is often depicted as free, easy, and something you can do yourself, that actually couldn’t be further from the truth. ALL of the decisions made by colleges on admission and funding are made to ultimately protect the interests of the school. To that point, colleges will discount their price to attract those students they would most like to attend. In essence, colleges are investing in these students and are looking for a return on that investment – for example, the student giving back to the school’s endowment fund after graduation.
Initially, colleges are always looking for ways not to discount their price to prospective students. They want to get the family to pay as much as possible while still getting the student to attend.
Just as colleges have their advocates in their entire admissions and financial aid staff, CollegePrepHelp serves as the advocate to the student and family. While the college is looking for the family to pay as much as possible, our structure is built around one core concept: helping the student and family receive the best education at the best price.
With admissions and financial aid applications, colleges review and consider all aspects of the student and family, from the student’s classes taken and grades to the parent/family income and assets. There are literally dozens and dozens of considerations.
Our eCollegePro Family Suite college planning program helps reduce or even eliminate the excuses colleges have not to discount their price. This will often lower the family’s overall out-of-pocket college expenses and dramatically increase the student’s odds of gaining admission.
The best way to explain what happens next is to think of it this way: colleges are looking for excuses not to discount their price. This may include grades, test scores, a poor essay, no volunteer work, and so on. The list for the student goes on and on.
For parents, there is one glaring factor: assets, how those assets are positioned, and how they are reported. This is where you come in! Your products – life insurance, annuities, basically any retirement vehicle – are exempt from the formulas and are not reported by the parents as assets on the funding application forms. Your part is actually simple, straightforward, easy to explain, and easy to implement once the family knows the process.
Your role in late-stage college planning, simply put, is to assist families in sheltering assets from the funding eligibility (discounting) formulas. Few families are aware that particular assets they’ve accumulated actually disqualify them from receiving funding (discounted pricing).
Going the Extra Mile
We pride ourselves on the fact that our collaborative group of counselors is professional, understanding, and highly supportive. This is obviously very important to families, as we realize that we are the ‘go-to’ for all college planning-related questions and guidance. Our team always goes the extra mile to ensure that all the I’s are dotted and the T’s are crossed.
Organized & Knowledgeable
We understand that when a client or advisor contacts our office, they certainly don’t want to be kept waiting. We also know that it wouldn’t be efficient for the client, the advisor, or our office to ask and answer the same question repeatedly. The solution: experience and organization. Our inner systems and processes are all proprietary (not out-of-the-box) and have all been written from the ground up to provide high-quality support and guidance in an organized, professional manner.
Core Building Blocks
Established strategies, essential know-how, and step-by-step guidance delivered in real-time are at the heart of the ECP Program. Families have unlimited access to vital core building blocks through personalized web-based resources that were created and designed to guide students and parents through the entire college planning process.
ECP is loaded with dynamic behind-the-scenes procedures, insider secrets, must-know techniques, and a month-by-month timeline, all in one easy-to-use, convenient format.
Advanced Consultation
ECP is structured to handle each student/family on a personalized, case-by-case basis. For some families, this may include more in-depth consultation. ECP can be custom-tailored to help each family level the playing field by concentrating their efforts on what matters most, making the best use of their time, and positioning themselves to succeed.
Families who receive instruction and develop knowledge on all aspects of the college planning process are often most successful. With our ECP program, each family is provided the additional peace of mind in knowing that they are receiving answers from their perspective that are based on nearly three decades of hands-on experience.