Local College Planning Firm to Offer Free Financial Aid Review
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College Planning of CT, which is located in West Hartford Center, works with families to navigate the financial aid maze and see if the ‘Expected Family Contribution’ can be reduced.
Submitted
Local firm offers help and relief for families in need of financial aid for college. College Planning of CT, located at 1007 Farmington Ave. in West Hartford Center, is offering parents of college-bound students a free 30-minute financial aid review.
Prior to the “financial aid filing season” which kicks off Jan. 1, when the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) can be submitted, families are encouraged to take advantage of this free offer, to see if they can reduce their Expected Family Contribution (EFC). The EFC is the basis for all financial aid awards, and the minimum a family will be told they have to pay for college on an annual basis. A lower EFC can result in saving thousands per year off the cost of college.
Like working with an accountant to pay less in taxes, College Planning of CT is the financial aid specialty firm who can help families lower their EFCs. But time is limited. If a family wishes to lower their EFC, and be eligible for need based financial aid (in the form of need based scholarships and grants, not loans), they should act immediately.
College Planning of CT is headed by West Hartford resident Jeff Noll, Hall High class of 1987. The office can be reached at (860)232-0442 or via email, [email protected].
I would have a number of concerns about firms of this sort. I’m sure the people who run it are great guys, but the reality of financial aid planning is that it rarely results in an improvement in the actual financial aid received. It’s a common misnomer that a family who has assets will need to “hide” those assets in an effort to reduce the expected family contribution in order to receive an improvement in financial aid. However, in most cases it’s not the assets that are a problem, it’s the INCOME. For the vast majority of West Hartford residents, their income will take them out of the game of financial aid planning before their assets will. The most common strategy to reduce EFC is to move assets into annuities – which then cause taxes and penalties to get the money back out again when the family realizes that they are still on the hook to pay $25k yr towards college because of the income they have. In addition, this only applies to the FAFSA. The CSS/PROFILE form looks at everything – annuities, IRA’s, 401k’s, home equity, and more – which therefore again negates any attempt to reduce the EFC. In the end, I would suggest that families approach this sort of planning with a high degree of caution. It almost never works, almost never causes an increase in financial aid, and can be costly in terms of fee’s from the firm. If this company really wanted to work with the families that might actually benefit from their services, they should locate in New Britain or Hartford. But of course those families would not be able to afford their fee’s.