The HEFAR Group
CASH FOR COLLEGE
NEWSLETTER
Issue: August 2014
AZ: 602-396-7840; CA: 619-436-5350
“What You Need To Do This Year
To Reduce Your College Expenses!”
Dear Parent,
This summer might be fun but before you know it, Fall will be here and it will be the first
day of the new school year once again. If this year is going to be your child’s last in high school, then
it’s going to be a very stressful time for all of you.
For your child, it’s going to be a time of hard studying to get into the best schools.
For you, it’s likely to be a time of hard worrying about the expenses of sending your child to
college. You really don’t want to find that your child has put in all the work necessary to get into a
top school only for you to break the news that you can’t afford to send him or her there.
Do your homework this year and you won’t be in that position. Understand how the
college funding process works and do the right things at the right time, and you’ll be able to
meet your child’s college expenses wherever he or she wants to go.
To help you, we’ve put together a special College Funding Calendar. It will show you what
you need to do and what you can expect throughout the year. We’ll also send you a reminder each
month but keep this calendar. It will let you plan ahead so that you don’t miss any of the important
deadlines coming up.
SEPTEMBER
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Right now, it probably feels early to talk about preparing for college... there’s a whole year to
get through first. But this year is going to disappear before you know it and you need to be ready
each month if you don’t want to be left behind. In September, that means picking up the brochures
and application forms for potential schools.
You’ll want to target at least six schools, including two “safety schools” that you know will
accept your child and at a rate you can afford, and one “reach” school in case your child exceeds
your expectations. Filing applications does cost money but this isn’t the time for penny-pinching.
The more schools that accept your child, the greater your options will be in the future — both for
the schools your child can attend and for the expenses you need to pay.
Those expenses (your Expected Family Contribution, or EFC) aren’t the same for everyone
though; they’re determined by your finances. You’ll want to make sure that your finances are
arranged in such a way that your EFC is as low as possible.
How to do that requires specialized knowledge. It’s a bit like preparing your tax returns...
there are plenty of good strategies that can lower your expenses dramatically when you do them
right. And just as you wouldn’t fill in your IRS forms without first talking to your accountant, you
shouldn’t submit your college funding forms without first talking to a certified college planning
specialist. If you would like a FREE consultation with a college funding advisor, with no obligation
at all, just give our office a ring at AZ: 602-396-7840 or CA: 619-436-5350 today.
OCTOBER
September is the month of research. October is when the action begins. Fill in the
application forms, check them for mistakes and send them off as early as possible.
Then it’s down to your child... it’s time to take the SAT (or PSAT if he or she is a junior).
These exams are important for two reasons. Obviously, the better your child’s results, the
better the school that he or she will be able to attend. But schools don’t just offer places to the
brightest students, they also offer them better funding packages. It’s in your child’s future interests
to study hard for the SATs... and it’s in your financial interest too.
In addition to making sure that your child is studying, you can also begin looking for private
scholarships this month. Just don’t expect to find a fund that will pay for all your college fees — the
awards are usually small and rare. If you do want to look for some help here though, deadlines tend
to be early, so this is the time to do the work. One great scholarship search website is
www.fastweb.com.
NOVEMBER
This month, you’re going to start to feel the pressure of your first deadline. It won’t come
until the end of next month but you have to get ready. Your Free Application for Federal Student
Aid (FAFSA) has to be in at the earliest possible opportunity. That’s because student aid is given out
first-come, first-served. The later you file, the lower the chances that you’ll receive an award.
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FAFSA forms can be reviewed at www.fafsa.gov and the CSS Financial Aid Profile
Registration Form, which is usually requested by private schools, can be applied for on-line at
www.collegeboard.org. That should be done this month. (For private schools, the deadline can be as
early as this month, so you really don’t have a moment to lose.) It’s also a good idea to ask the
schools directly whether they need any further information. Some might have their own application
forms, and you’ll need to know when those deadlines fall.
DECEMBER
There are two giant deadlines coming very close now for the parents of seniors. The first
marks the end of your Base Financial Year. All your financial planning to reduce your EFC must be
completed by the end of this month! If your assets and finances are not arranged in the best way
possible when this calendar year comes to a close, you could end up with an EFC thousands of
dollars higher than you want... or can pay. You might be able to lower the figure next year when you
file again, but you’ll still find this year very painful indeed.
We will be presenting throughout the Fall at many high school financial aid nights. We’re
probably presenting in your area to explain to parents like you what you can do to reduce your
college fees. To find out presentation dates and locations and to keep your college expenses
affordable, call our office today at AZ: 602-396-7840 or CA: 619-436-5350.
The second deadline is for collecting all the information used to fill out the FAFSA. You
want to be ready to send that off at the earliest possible opportunity (January 1st), even if you’re still
missing a few pieces of information. You’ll have a chance to update it later, but first it’s vital to grab
your place in the line.
JANUARY
And here’s that “priority filing date” for the FAFSA. You can send in the form any time
from January 1st onwards. But you must send it as soon as possible.
Ignoring deadlines and filing dates is one of the most common reasons that parents miss
financial aid and end up paying unnecessarily large amounts for college. It’s very easy to do: it’s only
the beginning of the year and college doesn’t begin until the Fall... But it’s a huge and very expensive
mistake. You need to be ready to file as soon as this calendar year ends.
On the other hand, if your child is only going to be entering his or her junior year this Fall,
then you have just entered your base financial year that is used to calculate your need. You do still
have some time. But you should be getting ready for the coming crunch by listing your options,
sending off for brochures and starting to narrow your focus. Start now and it will make everything
much easier in the future.
FEBRUARY
You should have submitted your FAFSA by now, so this month you should get the results.
They usually arrive within a week or two after you’ve submitted the forms if you filed early.
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You’ll be sent a Student Aid Report (SAR) which includes an estimate of your EFC. The
first thing you should do is check it carefully, make sure that the numbers are all accurate and correct
any changes to your income and tax details. Part II of the report is for submitting changes.
If you’re applying for private scholarships, you might find that you have deadlines coming
up next month. You’ll need to submit those forms now.
MARCH
At last, an easy month to relax and take a deep breath. It’s going to get busy again soon! If
you’ve sent in corrections to the SAR, you’ll be sent a new report after a few weeks. Again, check it
carefully, then send a copy to each of the schools your child is applying to. (Even though each
school should be notified of the changes, this ensures that they have received them.)
APRIL
And now the results! All that studying, preparing, thinking and planning is over and the
results will be in the letters you get from the schools this month. Those letters will contain two
pieces of information: an offer or refusal of a place; and the amount the school will provide to cover
the tuition fees.
It’s likely that when you first see the amount that you have to pay, you’ll get a shock. Relax
and accept every offer your child receives... even the most expensive ones. You’re still not
committed to anything and there’s still time to negotiate.
MAY
It’s likely that much of this month will be given over to that negotiation. If you can persuade
the schools that your child will bring something special — and is thinking of going elsewhere —
there’s a chance that you can lower the fees.
Begin by writing a letter to each school whose financial offer was less than generous. Point
out that other schools have done better and emphasize your child’s special academic or sporting
skills. Don’t ask for more money though or threaten to take your child somewhere else. Just say that
you think the financial offer is too low and ask them to take another look. You might even want to
try calling the Financial Aid officer directly.
Regardless of how the negotiations turn out, your child will have to decide which school to
attend and possibly apply for housing.
If your child is about to become a junior, this will also be the time to start visiting schools.
JUNE/JULY/AUGUST
By now, high school is out for good and your child will be getting ready for a new life as a
college student. He or she will have studied hard to get into a good school and you’ll have worked
hard too at making your payments low. But you’re still going to be looking at a big bill... and it’s still
likely to be an amount that you’ll find very difficult to afford.
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There are many ways of making those payments without changing your lifestyle or raiding
your pensions. We can help you identify a college funding solution. No one solution works for
everyone, but we can help find one that gives you the cash you need to help make college affordable.
If you want to learn more about a developing a method for you, please call our office at 602-3967840 or 619-436-5350 for a FREE consultation with a college planner or to reserve a seat at one of
our upcoming workshops.
Paying for college is difficult but it’s not impossible and it doesn’t have to be uncomfortable.
When you plan right and use good financial planning and advice, the only factor affecting your
child’s choice of college will be his or her grades.
That’s it for this month. Until next month…
Best wishes,
The HEFAR Group
The HEFAR Group is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit company that helps families and individuals plan financially
for the skyrocketing cost of college. HEFAR helps to both lower out-of-pocket costs and increase
eligibility for financial aid by helping families qualify for more in grants, scholarships, endowments and
other aid that is available. The HEFAR Group is a FREE service dedicated to helping make a college
education more affordable and manageable and to keeping families from making costly mistakes when
navigating through the complex financial aid process. Learn more at www.hefar.org or simply call or email
to schedule a free appointment with one of our college planning experts. AZ: 602-396-7840, CA: 619-4365350, [email protected]
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