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Oct 11, 2017

Big Secret – Save Thousands on College Tuition

We just put on a workshop titled College Cost Reduction and the room was packed with parents of high school and grammar school age children. The parents were really anxious to learn what we were teaching:

how to take control of the college financial aid process to reduce the amount of money you are expected to pay for tuition.

There is a cost crisis in higher education going on right now. To paint the picture, let’s go back 40 years.

In 1974, the median American family earned just under $13,000 a year. A new home could be had for $36,000, an average new car for $4,400. Attending a four-year private college cost around $2,000 a year. As for public school, it was a bargain at $510 a year.

To put these figures in current dollars, we’re talking about median family income of $62,000, a house for $174,000 and a sticker price of $21,300 for the car, $10,300 for the private university and $2,500 for the public one.

So much has changed since the 1970’s and one of the most dramatic of all is the current cost of a college education. Families are mortgaging homes and borrowing from retirement accounts just to send one child to college.

And many kids come out of college with massive debt that they will spend years and years trying to pay off.

Today, universities are a business. They make a ton of money through sports and other activities and have massive endowments. Applying for financial aid is also a business. And the application process requires an in-depth knowledge of how to work within the system for your own benefit.

Your mistakes filling out forms or how you report assets could cost you thousands and thousands of extra dollars. One little error on your financial aid forms will get your file sent to the bottom of the stack. And getting aid is a first come, first served process so your little error could sink your chances of getting help. You could also be hit hard if you don’t know exactly how to report a business or rental property. You have to take control and get informed.

Did you know that there is $168 billion dollars available for college tuition assistance? And you might be shocked to learn that just because you have some assets and a good income does not mean you can’t get help.

Let me ask another question. Do you know what your Expected Family Contribution (EFC) is? This is the amount of money your family has to kick in for college before you can get any help. If you are wondering how the EFC is calculated, well it’s a complicated process used by the government and universities.

But the good news is that YOU have a huge amount of control in being able to REDUCE your EFC. And when you reduce your EFC, then that means there is more money available for your family to offset the high cost of a college education.

If you would like to discover what your own Expected Family Contribution is, then click below to schedule a complimentary college cost reduction assessment.

I can explain our resources and get you lined up with our in-house expert Kraig Strom.

ALERT! Watch this short video. I talk with our college cost reduction expert Kraig Strom about a few of the really important factors you need to know.

Paul Hitchcock
Director of Business Development
BarthCalderon, LLP

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