College Assistance Plus

College Assistance Plus was founded in early 2004. Since the beginning of our organization, we have invested much time and energy into understanding the college marketplace. We are experts in college searching, financing, and helping parents obtain the best financial package at the college of their choice.

2. What is the average amount of money we can save through working with College Assistance Plus?

That is a difficult question, since our history has shown savings from $500 per year up to $20,000 in one year. Every student is unique and will have a different amount of savings based on a number of different circumstances. To find out how much money we might be able to save you, contact a CAPlus representative near you.

3. Can I add colleges to the initial list that you give me and get information on them?

Absolutely. The client just needs to give us the basic information on school, curriculum, and if using student housing. We will process these through our database and email the updated result to the client.

4. Can't I get all this information through my high school guidance counselor?

Guidance counselors are great for pointing you in the right direction for schools and programs that you are interested in. However, after meeting with many of them, we have found that they do not have the same understanding of colleges as "big businesses" that we do. This information is vital in determining the best way to approach a college for financial aid. Often guidance counselors become familiar with specific schools and guide students in the direction of those schools, but at College Assistance Plus, we try to expand your horizons to get you the best deal possible. Choosing a college should not be an emotional decision, but a decision that takes into account all of the financial considerations. Remember that guidance counselors don't have to pay for college; you do!

5. Doesn't the college financial aid office give you the best deal?

No! Remember that colleges are big businesses and that their number one goal is to get the best students to attend their school and pay the most money.

6. What is Expected Family Contribution?

EFC is the amount of money that is derived by most schools from the FAFSA (the Federal methodology) that the government says you can afford to pay for one year of college. To put it simply, the government determines how much they think you can spare each year to put into college. Some colleges also use an institutional methodology, which is accompanied by their own specific questionnaire.

7. What can be done to lower family contribution?

First and foremost, you need to make sure that your income and assets are correctly noted (just like filing your income tax). Repositioning assets can help occasionally, but truthfully, the most effective approach is finding a college that will give you a strong financial package with the least amount of loans and highest amount of grants possible.

8. What can be done to lower the cost of higher education to our family?

First, the student needs to do the best he or she can in high school. Study for the SAT/ACT exams! Take advanced placement courses and try to earn a degree in four years or less (this is becoming increasingly difficult as the average number of years students spend in college is rising). Use our college search database to start searching through colleges before you visit any schools. Finally, signing up with College Assistance Plus will help you develop a personal strategy for saving you money.

9. What assets are in the financial aid formula?

Most assets are included in the formula that calculates EFC, including cash, checking, CDs, bonds, trusts, money markets, mutual funds, stocks, and additional real estate. Basically the only things that are not included are assets that are wrapped inside a retirement financial vehicle like 401Ks, annuities, and life insurance.

10. If I am self-employed, is my business considered an asset?

Your family business is only considered an asset if you have over 100 employees. If you have more than 100 employees, however, the current value of the business is included as an asset on your FAFSA.

11. If our student takes AP courses in high school, will it reduce the cost of college?

Possibly. Completing AP courses may give your student college credit (at high school prices), depending on which college he or she chooses to attend. There are many colleges that do not accept AP classes for college credit, so be sure to check with the colleges you are interested in to see if they will accept the credits.

12. Do SAT/ACT study guides really help?

They do! The study guide that we provide to our clients is interactive and has excellent proven results.

13. As a student, how do my personal assets and income affect the EFC formula?

The FAFSA multiplies all student assets by 20% and has a significant impact on your EFC. The CSS profile multiplies your assets by 25%, which is still a lot compared to the 5.65% that your parents' assets are multiplied by. The reason for this is that the government assumes that most of the student's assets should and will be used in paying for college, where the parent has more additional expenses that are dedicated to other things.)

14. Does attending summer sessions reduce the total cost of college?

Possibly. Some colleges offer reduced rates in the summer, and if you are home, you may be able to take courses at a local community college. Make sure that the college you are currently attending will accept the community college or other credits, however. If a couple of summer courses will keep you from having to spend an additional semester in college, it could be well worth your time.

15. A family member wants to give me money for education. Will this affect my family contribution?

YES. There are two things that you should consider. First, see if the family member would give the money later. You can borrow the additional money until you graduate and then receive the gift and pay back the loans. If you do some calculations and determine that you will not receive any financial aid anyway, receiving a gift or setting up a trust that helps the tax situation would be fine. If the family member really wanted to give the money as a gift, suggest that they give it to the parents, which will lower the EFC.

16. As a student, I make a few thousand dollars a year. What can I do, since it affects my income allowance?

Because college lasts for four or more years, you will be eligible for more aid in the upcoming years unless you continue to make and save money each year. Also consider documenting this to the college by telling them that this money will not be available after the first year or in subsequent years.

17. How many colleges should I apply to?

The number is not as important as the selection process that you use to narrow your choices. If you follow our suggestions to select which colleges you should apply to, you should have a concise list of good schools, no matter what the number is.

18. We plan on using our home to help pay for college. What should we do?

A home equity line of credit is much better than a second mortgage. You only have to pay interest on what your need is at the time and not on the whole amount, which you would need to do if you took a second mortgage. Try and stay away from this if you can; you have worked for years to pay off your home, and you shouldn't have to have that taken away from you by a college.

19. What is the Student Aid Report (SAR)?

The SAR is the Department of Education's response to your FAFSA and comes in two parts. Part one has important information and instructions that you must read and respond to (if necessary). Part two will have block by block descriptions of the questions you answered with blank boxes for corrections. If you use College Assistance Plus, you should not have to worry about doing it wrong and having your FAFSA rejected.

20. Who do I go see about getting school loans?

Once you decide on a school and are accepted, going through the college's financial aid office is one way to get school loans. Your College Assistance Plus representative will also give you updates on excellent student/parent-friendly financial institutions that will help you get student loans.

21. How do I develop strategies for obtaining the best financial aid package?

College Assistance Plus works with you in creating and implementing the most effective strategy for you.

22. How can College Assistance Plus help me select a college out of state?

We have a powerful database that will be able to help you select schools anywhere in the USA or Canada, based on all facets of your criteria.

23. Does College Assistance Plus submit applications to colleges for me?

It is the student's responsibility to submit his or her own applications to the colleges he or she is interested in attending. While there are sites and small business that will do this for you or help you with it, we believe that it is better for the student to write and submit his or her own essay.

24. How can I position my student to look attractive to a college?

College Assistance Plus will provide many different suggestions for positioning yourself in our monthly newsletters.

25. How do I understand what the best approaches are to financing college?

Part of our service is comprehensive information on government and private funding alternatives. We will help you understand the terminology and facts that you need in order to make an educated decision on college.

26. What do I do if I have special circumstances, like disability, recent unemployment, etc.?

We will address how to handle special circumstances as part of our service to you.

27. Do colleges really deduct any private scholarships that you've earned from your gift money?

Unfortunately, yes, they do. The role scholarships play in college financing is generally overemphasized.

28. Is College Assistance Plus considered a college prep company?

To some degree, yes. We refer to ourselves as "Educational Consultants" and believe that we are more than a college prep company, with all the opportunities that we create to help you save money. Most importantly, most college prep companies are only with you for the last year of high school, while we are with you all the way through college.

29. My student is great in school, but he/she struggles on SAT/ACT tests. Will this hurt me?

Yes and no. Obviously it is better for the student to perform strongly in both areas, but we will show you how to position a student like that to receive maximum aid.

30.My student is average in school, and he/she does very well on SAT/ACT type tests. Will this help me?

SAT and ACT scores have a big impact on college's decisions to accept students. We will show you how to position your student well.

31. Should I take my student to visit several colleges during his or her junior year of high school?

Before you do anything, sign up with College Assistance Plus and get some ideas of costs before spending time and money on visiting colleges that may cost too much for you. You definitely don't want your student to become emotionally connected to a college that you can't pay for. Stay away from that conflict and stress early by understanding the history of financial grants and gifts at the colleges you are interested in. Be fully educated and prepared on each college before you visit.

32. Does College Assistance Plus get involved in finding private scholarships?

We encourage clients to look for private scholarships, but we do not actively search for these ourselves.

33. What kind of money-back guarantee is there?

Although we have a list of promises that we will fulfill to each of our clients, we do not guarantee anything specifically because it is difficult to know if the client has followed our instructions implicitly. We are absolutely certain that over the 4-6 years that the client is engaged with us, he or she will be extremely happy with our sound financial advice on how to save money throughout the student's college years.