What
started out as
informative Financial Aid Nights every fall and evolved into College Goal
Sunday in January has now transformed itself into the largest
student loan scandal in history!
Evolution
In the fall,
when seniors begin applying to colleges, thousands of guidance departments
present informative evenings where parents are introduced, often for the
first time, to the financial aid process. While most
find the system complicated, confusing and intimidating, for far too many
this is the only lifeline available in their struggle to afford the
escalating costs of a 4-year college education.
Guidance counselors often
invite speakers from local colleges including financial aid officers
(FAO’s), trusting they will put the best interests of the students over
the financial interests of their schools. Unfortunately, however
informative these programs may be, what is noticeably absent on the menu
is how a family can legally qualify for maximum financial aid and
in any other way reduce the cost of college.
Held far in advance of
the filing deadlines, it is at such assemblies that parents are lead, or
actually mislead, to believe they will receive all the financial
assistance needed to send their sons and daughters to the college of their
choice. So begins the journey of every college-bound family, innocent and
naïve as to the perils that await them.
The plot thickens at
College Goal Sunday, a program usually held one week after the Super Bowl
at countless locations in over 40 states. Here, FAO’s are teamed with
state officials as the main participants to help families file the dreaded
FAFSA – but little else. As few financial aid applicants have a clue where to turn for help, they end up putting all of their trust and faith
in these very accessible and obliging agents of the system.
While it is certain their
assistance will help guide families through the financial aid filing
procedure, showing them how to apply precise and effective legal
strategies to ensure their qualification for maximum financial
aid will certainly not be one of their goals now or any time
soon. Imagine
if you will, an Income Tax
Goal Sunday sponsored by the IRS. What do you suppose the chances are
they would offer tax planning strategies to reduce
your annual tax bill? Absolutely none!
The stage is now set for the annual fleecing
of America’s lower and middle income families in what is tantamount to the
foxes coming out of their dens to prey on an untold number of unsuspecting
chickens!
Considering that the
not-so-well hidden agenda of America’s colleges and universities is to
enrich their billion dollar endowment funds at the expense of their
applicants, is it any wonder that we are currently witnessing a student
loan scandal involving many of our most prestigious pillars of higher
education?
It is not yet known how
widespread the corruption is or how long it has prevailed, but at the
University of Pennsylvania, New York University, Columbia and Johns
Hopkins, to name a few, families placing desperate calls for help to
financial aid offices have, without their knowledge, been rerouted to loan
companies under the smokescreen that they will “help” secure the necessary
funds to pay for college – but at a price far exceeding what any family
should pay.
Unwary borrowers are
being pushed down a slippery slope paved with some of the
nation’s most devious loan sharks who have been kicking back
referral fees to college financial aid officials for years! But pity not
these poor, under-funded institutions of higher learning whose
combined endowment funds currently exceed 25 Billion dollars; rather condemn
them for stooping this low!
Solution
The good news is there is
a light at the end of the tunnel. The simple solution to being victimized
is to make a nominal investment for professional counseling from a college
funding expert. Such specialists are comprised of academics,
authors and other financial advisors who, after years of dealing with the
system, have developed the expertise to beat the colleges and the federal
government at their own game!
While this option has
been available to families for many years, ironically, most never
consider it. Yet, every year, those very same families think nothing of
hiring a tax consultant. This makes absolutely no sense whatsoever when
you consider the cost of just one year of college far exceeds the average
family’s tax liability!
Prescription
for success
Step One: Beginning in the 9th grade, parents should work closely with
guidance counselors on the inside while working even closer on the outside
with a college funding professional. This combined effort will ensure the
student obtains that all-important edge absolutely essential in today’s
intensely competitive admissions process.
Step Two: By implementing specific income planning
and asset repositioning
strategies, any family can legally qualify for maximum
financial aid. With the expert counseling of a college funding
professional, students will be able to appeal unappealing
financial aid offers and negotiate for the best possible
financial aid package.
In no other way will the
happy ending of cap, gown and sheepskin be realized at a cost
significantly below what most families ever imagined. Once again, it is
simply a matter of making a decision to take the road less traveled; a
decision made even clearer by the despicable behavior of many of our
colleges and universities…
About The Author:
Reecy Aresty has been a financial advisor since 1977, and
is founder and president of College Assistance, Inc., located in Boca
Raton, Florida. He is the best-selling author of How To Pay For College
Without Going Broke, an invaluable, critically-acclaimed parent/student
manual. Arguably the most revealing book ever
written on college admissions and financial aid, it is the only book of its
kind also available in Spanish.
Reecy
has been interviewed by financial experts on radio and television, and by
many of the nation's most respected publications including Money
Magazine, US News & World Report, Bloomberg News, Scripps Howard, The
Washington Post, financial icon Terry Savage for the Chicago
Sun-Times, Consumers Digest, The Education Times and AOL. An Internet
search for Reecy Aresty will result in thousands of links to sites
all over the world that feature his articles, advice and methods.
Recently, he created the College Information Network™,
which includes The High School Blog, The College Blog, PayLess For
College and The Way To College.
For
almost three decades, Reecy has helped thousands of families send their
kids to the college of their choice for less than they ever dreamed
possible.
The critics agree, the way to college is Reecy Aresty's How To Pay For
College Without Going Broke. It reveals the trade secrets and insider
information our colleges, universities and the federal government don't want you to know. For
further information on the best college funding book on the market today,
please use the links provided. For more information on admissions and
financial aid - Ask Reecy!
“After our daughter was accepted to UMASS Boston, we found ourselves
buried in a maze of financial aid paperwork. We were lost as to what to do
or even how to fill out the required forms!…I would very strongly urge any
parent serious about sending their children to college who want to receive
maximum financial aid, not to go it alone and uniformed as we tried to do
at first. The high schools just can’t handle
their present student load, and cannot provide individualized financial
advice. They are far too busy and not trained in the kind of help we
received from Reecy.” –
Mark Rabinowitz, Weston, Fla
“I’m thrilled to say that my son has just
been awarded a full tuition scholarship to the college of his choice –
worth $60,000! Thanks for everything you’ve done for us
and everything you continue to do. I’m already highly recommending your
services and your extremely useful book to my friends.”
– Aurora
Winter, Author & Speaker, Newport Beach, CA
