The College Planning
Network’s Testimonial Collection
We cannot adequately express our gratitude to the staff at The
College Planning Network for their help in securing college funding for our three children. They reduced our EFC by over $10,000 by completing the FAFSA correctly! In addition, they were able
to simplify the complicated financial aid jargon and offer ways to pay for
college while still maintaining our lifestyle. They are always
available to address any questions or concerns and have
assured us we will survive having three kids in
college at the same time. Thank you three times over!!
~ Arlen and Bonnie G.
CPN has helped me
(a single mother of 4 children) restructure my situation to maximize the
benefits of the FAFSA process. They encouraged us to look at private
universities and not just state schools because there is more money available
for financial aid in a private school. Between academic scholarships,
university grants, and low-cost student loans, my twin daughters are attending
a private university which costs $35,000/year per student at a cost to me of
$6,000 for each daughter. CPN not only helped me restructure my
financials, they helped me to understand the whole FAFSA process. I
highly recommend CPN for anyone who has a child entering college to help access
their financial situation.
~ Laurel B.
As many parents
with children getting closer to going to college, we were setting away money
for their education, but as we found out, not nearly enough for the astronomical
prices that we have now been exposed to. Faced with the fact that our
Family Contribution could be as high as $25k per year for 8 years for our two
children, we needed to find effective ways to do this without sending us into
debt that we couldn’t get out of. We also do not want to strap our
children to what could amount to be a lifetime of debt.
We attended a
brief, one hour Workshop introduction to The College Planning Network. As
the Workshop ended, I found myself saying “this sounds too good to be
true. What’s the catch?” There was no “catch”, just a detailed
total plan of lowering our Expected Family Contribution, providing us some tax
advantages and staying within the agreed upon budget that we had
established. The additional ‘perks’ of filling out financial aid forms,
working with our children on narrowing down the selection of colleges and essay
writing was just icing on the cake!
~ Bob and Gina A.
When we attended
The College Planning Network’s Workshop, we knew it was different than other
seminars we had attended before that simply told us how to fill out the dreaded
FAFSA and when to do it. The presenter was knowledgeable and
gave many "free" tips and techniques in the Tele-Workshop.
After an hour of an informative session, we chose to hire The College
Planning Network to help us through the College Funding process. CPN
gave us tips and techniques of lowering our EFC that we would normally not have
known about. By lowering our EFC we have saved our family thousands of
dollars in college funding.
~ Toni G.
I thought I
understood the college funding process based upon my experience with my first
child in college. When my second child was ready for college I decided
there was no harm in seeking some additional professional support and contacted
The College Planning Network. I thought maybe they could provide some
suggestions for dealing with two college students. In reviewing my
situation with the CPN professionals, we were able to make adjustments in my
financial situation to improve - which meant reduce - the magical Expected
Family Contribution (EFC) number for both children. We got subsidized
versus unsubsidized loans which will save a lot of interest over the
long-term. Additionally, we were also able to improve my overall family
financial situation by paying off debt and readjusting our strategies for
retirement. Thank you.
~ Bob M.
I am not a trusting
person. When my husband and I first decided to attend CPN’s Free
Workshop, I was skeptical, but he wanted to listen. We decided to go the
next step and sign up for The College Planning Network’s services seeing that
they offered a guarantee if we were unhappy with their work. I was
pleasantly surprised when we started working with them. They were very
knowledgeable and gave us options we thought we would never have. Having
CPN fill out our FAFSA forms was a big relief for us. We thought we would
not be eligible for financial aid, but they helped us with options to carry us
through 6 years of college when we will have another student to put
through. Our daughter, Brittany, was able to go to the small, private
college of her choice for the same cost as a state school. They helped
her receive aid and additional scholarship money. She is very happy, doing
well and we are planning on sending our second daughter to college in the fall
of 2008.
~Mark & Lisa B.
Good friends
recommended The College Planning Network to my wife and me. They conveyed
a sense of relief at having experienced professionals handle the college funding
process from start to finish. It can be overwhelming. My wife and
I, too, have been very happy with the decision to utilize their services.
We found ourselves comfortable discussing our financials and very pleased with
their counseling and recommendations. We all have our expertise. It
was nice to know that when the time came to need someone else’s expertise, The
College Planning Network was there to assist. Simply put, they took the
worry out of the process and saved us time and money we wouldn’t have otherwise
known to be possible.
~ Jim & Katherine O.
We have just begun
working with CPN. Already we have received help that we would not have
known about. We received information on how to reduce our estimated
family contribution. We also have access to the DISCOVER program, which
is a great resource for our daughter in researching colleges and writing a
resume. CPN suggested different options for studying for the SAT and
ACT. Most of all, CPN has reduced the amount of stress associated with
the entire college process.
~ Jim & Michelle K.
We have
had a very positive experience with CPN, particularly by comparison
with our previous attempt to select/fund college by ourselves. Our
son selected his college and obtained his aid through his parents'
advice. The school turned out to be an inappropriate choice and a very
expensive mistake. Our daughter, two years younger, has benefited
from the advice and council of our advisors at CPN and, as a consequence, she
has several good choices and a nice package of grants and scholarship
money to consider. We would highly recommend the CPN group for anyone who
wants to target the best options for their child's college experience.
~ Steve and Gail S.
I think my wife and I are
like most parents who have kids in High School. All you hear is about the
high cost of college. As parents, we worried about how we could afford to
send our son to college without taking everything we had in savings and if that
would even be enough.
We
first heard of The College Planning Network through a flyer we got in the
mail. After attending their Tele-Workshop, we found out that there are
options available for sending your child to college. This was our first
time through the college maze. There were financial forms, college
applications, what college fits your kids’ needs and the list goes on.
We
contacted The College Planning Network where we found everybody that we came in
contact with very friendly and very knowledgeable. I even asked for
personal recommendations and everybody that I contacted could not say enough
about The College Planning Network.
Here
I am a year later and our son has been accepted to the college that was first
on his list of colleges. The College Planning Network supplied us with a time
line for what we needed to have done. Working with my son on college
applications was hard enough. I am thankful that I did not have to worry
about filling out all the financial forms.
The
College Planning Network took the pain out of the confusing financial aid
forms, along with helping take the stress out of the college search.
~
Wade M.
We
are a middle class/double income family and we did have some money saved for
our three daughters’ college. Like many of you, we anticipated there
wasn't much we could do but pay the bills and take out loans when our savings
ran out. But after listening to the advice from the college specialists
at The College Planning Network, we saw that we did have choices and things we
could do to get our EFC down and also pick from some better schools.
CPN gave us simple reorganizing techniques for our estate that brought our
numbers down. They also enabled our daughter to go to Case Western, which
was a school we were not even considering due to the high tuition. Our
family also had the problem of ex-spouses incomes and their impact on our
FASFA. CPN gave us good advice regarding money sources other than our own
incomes and savings. They could answer questions that others
couldn't. Lastly, having their service fill out our forms and help with
reply letters to colleges was a real time saver. We always had someone to
ask if we didn't quite understand what to put on the form! All services
are done professionally and in a timely manner. We would definitely
recommend listening to what they could do for you and your child. After a
few conversations with them we were amazed at what we didn't know.
~
Lea and James D.
We
came to CPN in early 2006 to help us develop a financial plan to cover the cost
of two college educations. We had one child in college as a sophomore and
a second child ready to start as a college freshman in the fall of 2006.
We knew our current plan of just taking out government loans to pay for their
education was not going to work without significantly impacting our current
household budget. CPN helped us fill out the FAFSA forms and provided
some financial advice to optimize the use of government loans and school
assistance to minimize the financial impact to our household budget. CPN
helped us put together a plan that provides an education for our children and
peace of mind for us.
~
John & Denise P.
With two students
in high school, the thought of having them enter college back to back was
keeping me up at night. After attending a Free Workshop and talking with
The College Planning Network, I was able to relax, listen to their advice, and
face the next several years with the knowledge that I have made some
preliminary choices regarding our financial situation to at least maximize
our chances at lowering our EFC. Also, having professionals work with my
son, energize him, and help navigate him towards the college admission
process has been very valuable. Parents get tired of being the heavy and
appear to be "lecturing". Having an outsider take an interest
has instilled a sense of excitement, if not urgency.
I would recommend
this service to any non-independently wealthy parents of future college
students.
~ Joyce G.
As a family with 2
children, the cost of high school has been a significant burden upon the
financial picture and being able to ‘make-ends-meet’.
When our older
daughter was ready for college, we were advised to consider the services of The
College Planning Network, and I am so glad that we took the time to investigate
what CPN has to offer.
We started using
CPN three years ago and continue to utilize their services as our older
daughter now will enter her junior year in college and our younger daughter
enters her senior year of high school.
From the beginning of
the college search, through the college selection, the procedures required to
apply for admission, all the required college forms, and the methods of
applying for scholarships, grants, and loans, CPN has been a major advisor upon
all of our decisions.
The approach CPN
utilizes is a personal and a very thorough review, taking into consideration
all of the aspects of the search process, including the desires of the
pre-college student, the long term cost of the education, the impact of the
financial cost upon the family, and most importantly - an emphasis upon how
these goals can be accomplished while maintaining the financial viability of
the family.
The funding of
college education is an overwhelming task. CPN assists by providing a
complete review of the process. With the services of CPN, we will meet
the goals of having both of our children attend quality schools and the
financial burden will be minimized and viable for all concerned.
~ Mark & Mary A.
Sitting in on CPN’s
Free Workshop made me realize that the college search and the financial
preparations were much more daunting than I realized. CPN was a
tremendous help and they even appeared to have fun helping us! We created
timelines for the college search, and The College Planning Network completed
and submitted my FAFSA forms early. They really helped to simplify the
process and calm our nerves. We were even able to reduce our monthly
bills! Initially, the cost of sending three kids to college appeared
overwhelming. I am now confident that we can do it!
~ Jack & Lauri L.
We have been very
pleased with our initial experiences using CPN. Their staff has always
been available to talk with us, remind us of deadlines, and return multiple
phone calls when questions came up. Because we are new to this “college
jungle”, the stress level has been greatly reduced to know we can always call
with any questions and they will get back with us in a timely manner.
Thanks again!
~ Pam & Eric C.
Our experience with
The College Planning Network has helped our family at multiple levels of the
college planning process. CPN has helped us make the best college choice
for our daughter. Our assets have been retained for our
retirement. More grant and scholarship monies were received from her
college. The biggest benefit is that they counseled us through the FASFA
process, helping us receive the lowest EFC for the past three years. We
feel more confident starting the process again with our Junior and know we can
get factual answers to new questions.
~ Kevin and Mary Lou T.
CPN took care of
all of the FAFSA forms for us and submitted them well in advance of school
deadlines to insure maximum funds would be available to our daughter. It
was a great experience and well worth it!
~ Katherine & Donald C.
My parents recently
signed up for your services after attending a Free Workshop. They were
hesitant at first, but when they received the advice on how to decrease their
EFC on the FAFSA, they were very happy. Without the advice, they said that
our EFC would have been much higher. They wished they would have known
about The College Planning Network more than a year ago to make the changes
that needed to be made a lot sooner. I have received my award letter from
at least one college so far and our out-of-pocket costs through the college is
actually lower than what the EFC was on the FAFSA! Thanks for saving my
parents money!
~ Courtney G.
Our financial
situation was very complicated due to our involvement with several small
businesses and start-ups in progress. We had pre-planned and saved for
our children’s college educations, but decided to attend one of CPN’s Free
Workshops “just in case”. We were shocked when we found out that, due to
the formulas used for financial aid eligibility, we could basically be
penalized for the college savings. CPN worked with our daughter to
help her with her college search, and was able to wade through and re-allocate
our financials, and substantially improve financial aid eligibility in a fair,
legal, and equitable manner. We are confident that our pre-planned
education assets will now not be depleted prematurely. We are so glad for
CPN’s help, and for the excellent follow up when additional information and
yearly FAFSA is required.
~ Ed & Vilija K.