College
Goal Sunday – Touchdown or penalty?
By Reecy Aresty
College Admissions/Financial Aid Expert and Author
Regarding
those countless locations in over 40 states where college financial
aid officers and state officials are the main speakers,
College Goal Sunday,
a new generation of the old Financial Aid Night,
could have disastrous consequences for those families who need financial
help the most.
Does anyone
believe these programs are actually held solely to serve the best
interests of families soon to apply for financial aid? Does anyone doubt
they have their own agenda based on the policy that they serve the people
best when at the same time they also
serve themselves? As they are the custodians of
the cash and the keepers of the financial aid checkbooks, it is safe to
assume that they put their own financial interests ahead of the
families they counsel.
While College Goal Sundays are held
after the Super Bowl, Financial Aid Nights are usually held in the fall at
thousands of high schools where guidance counselors and local Financial
Aid Officers are usually the only speakers. It is here
that parents learn about the dreaded FAFSA (Free Application for
Federal Student Aid), the CSS Financial Aid Profile (CSS), federal loans, and
grants for very low income families. However, as informative as these
programs may be, what is never a topic for discussion is how a family can
legally qualify for maximum financial aid. If it was,
the endowment funds of our colleges and universities would not be
in the billions and bursting at the seams!
With all
the hype preceding a College Goal Sunday,
families are led down a slippery slope leaving them with the false belief
that the colleges will assist them to obtain all the aid
necessary to send their sons and daughters to the college of their
choice. Sadly, this is rarely the case. When
the award letters arrive in the spring
revealing thousands of dollars in unmet need, families will face
the rude awakening of having to pay additional monies they thought they
could bank on; money that remained accruing interest in the bank account
of the college their student will be attending.
Most
applicants don't have a clue where to turn for the kind of help that will
make it possible for them to
reduce the soaring costs of college.
Consequently, they put all their eggs in the College Goal Sunday
basket. This is tantamount to turning the
foxes loose to prey on an untold number of unsuspecting chickens!
Families should not go into these meetings blindly believing that all
their prayers will be answered. They should absorb all the useful
information offered, but before filing the CSS
or
FAFSA, they would be wise to contact a college funding
professional for an expert opinion.
The one
inescapable irony here is that the vast majority of families obtain
professional assistance when completing state
and federal income tax forms, but when it comes time to
apply for financial aid, too few seek professional counseling and many
grossly overpay for college. This strikes me as particularly odd, as the
annual cost of a 4-year college today, far exceeds the average annual tax
bill.
Just
imagine an
Income Tax Goal Sunday
sponsored by the IRS. Would they be offering tax planning
strategies?
Of course not, and none of these College Goal Sunday quarterbacks
will be offering financial aid strategies either. While it is certain
they will assist families in how to properly file
the FAFSA, showing them how to qualify for maximum financial aid will
not be one of their College Sunday goals.
Programs of this
nature that are presented by financial aid professionals are
always far more beneficial as they not only explain how to
apply for financial aid, but also how to maximize financial aid dollars. They are the one sure way
to reduce tuition and related costs by thousands
of dollars.
College
families, as well as the college-bound, should be comforted by the fact
that even after the FAFSA has been submitted, it can still be
corrected. Revealing
information can be
legally deleted, thereby maximizing their financial aid packages for
every year their
students are in college.
You’re not likely to hear that useful information at a College Goal Sunday…
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 author of the critically-acclaimed, How To Pay For College
Without Going Broke, an invaluable, 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.
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