I Hear Getting Money for College is Difficult and Frustrating

Colleges are a business. The financial aid office is not there to find reasons to give your student free money. They are looking for ways to comply with their employer’s financial policies. That’s why the rules and regulations surrounding financial aid are over 10,000 pages long!

It’s not just the FAFSA and the 10,000 pages; each state with a grant program has its rules and policies, just like each college (there are over 4,000) has its own. That is what makes it complicated.

98% of families said financial aid would be necessary to pay for college, and 82% said it was “extremely” or “very” necessary.  “Financial aid is more of a necessity than ever before,” said Robert Franek, The Princeton Review’s editor-in-chief.

Believe it or not, the biggest barrier to getting as much gift aid as possible is the parents themselves. I’m not blaming them. It’s just the way life is with its complications. Unless something has to be done today, it doesn’t get done. It’s human to put off doing something unfamiliar and a bit scary. Many parents come to me for assistance after the admission process has already begun. Obviously, this is not ideal but some help is better than none.

One thing about the financial aid process that costs parents their retirement money is not the complexity of the forms (some are complicated), but rather the lack of a strategy for answering questions in a way that saves them money. Sometimes a great deal of money.

There is help. Financial Aid NOW™ takes the family from finding colleges that will offer their student the most lucrative award packages to properly preparing and filing the financial aid forms to negotiating the best price.