News

The BIG BUSINESS OF COLLEGE is a debt-fueled industry, that's scary. Students will borrow $70 billion from the Federal Government with its Stafford Loan. That's the student-loan which caps out at $27,000 over four years and it's the only loan the student can sign for themselves. Parents are estimated to take out on average three times that amount, bringing the projected loan total for this years high school graduating class to $280 billion. That means over 50% of college costs ($500 billion industry) will be paid through loans. That's debt-fueled and that's astounding. What do you need to do? You need to understand the implications of the business transaction you are about to encounter.

We have the implications here in our new book, available only in digital form for the next week or so-

     Dissecting the Big Business of College

This book exposes the college interests. It exposes the parent's weak tendencies. It teaches parents the college perspective. And it gives parents my Top 10 Strategies that's proven for saving thousands on college costs. Upon learning, implementing, and executing, parents will advance their position of strength in dealing with colleges.

To continue on with our ten strategies for saving thousands on college costs, we have- 

Strategy # 2- Be knowledgeable of the authority, influences, policy, and numbers

This game belongs to the college. They set the rules by which you play. You don’t have to like the rules, but you should know the rules if you want to have any chance of winning the game.

For starters, know who controls the dollars, that would be the authority. For merit scholarships, the authority is the Admission Office. For athletic scholarships, the authority is the Athletic Office. For financial aid, the authority is the Financial Aid office. It’s your job to understand how each college works in regard to its financial awards. It begins in the office of authority.

You must get to know what influences the awards. For merit awards, the influences are twofold, one being the student’s credentials which are awarded upfront upon acceptance; and two being the strategy of the admission office to use merit scholarships as a tool for incentivizing students to enroll which are awarded on the backend of the process upon appeal. The goal is to maximize the upfront scholarship while creating leverage for backend negotiations.

Through your early college visits, you will have the opportunity to learn the policy for which drives financial awards. Every college has a policy for scholarships and it’s your job to know it by asking the right questions.

Through your personal homework and research on the college, you have the opportunity to learn the numbers that result from the policy. The numbers reflect in the results of the college policies. It's college-logical to me.

The BIG BUSINESS OF COLLEGE is a $500 billion industry, that's big. It's a buzz-saw in which you're headed. What do you need to do? Avoid it! How do you do that?

You need to become aware of it's force on you and your family. You need to be cognizant that you are the buyer in this purchasing arrangement. That makes you the customer and them the service provider. But not for a minute will they allow you to feel like a customer. That would only serve to weaken their position and they won't let that happen. So it's up to you to learn all about it. Everything you need to know about how colleges do business is now available, only in digital form for the next week or so-

     Dissecting the Big Business of College

This book exposes the college interests. It exposes the parent's weak tendencies. It teaches parents the college perspective. And it gives parents my Top 10 Strategies that's proven for saving thousands on college costs. Upon learning, implementing, and executing, parents will advance their position of strength in dealing with colleges.

Here we begin with the rollout of our ten strategies for saving thousands on college costs. Strategy # 1- Connect with colleges early for saving on college costs later

The college admission and scholarship decisions are all made by human beings, not by computers or robots. Bigger scholarships are received by applicants who are well known to the decision-makers, that being the counselors in the admissions office. To maximize your scholarship, you need to become well known to the admission counselor who will decide upon your award. This requires the student-applicant to contact and connect with colleges early, as early as in 10th grade.

Contacting means to broadcast your interest in their college by sending them an introductory email, complete with a student-profile sheet attached and a brief video embedded. This gets the student in the college system for tracking and begins the process of becoming a known applicant, leaving “Stealth Status” to others.

“Stealth Applicants” are those applicants who remain unknown to the counselors in the admission office; accordingly, they receive both lower acceptance rates and lesser scholarship amounts.

Connecting means to meet them in person. Meeting the people who will decide upon your admission and scholarship fate serves to personalize your application and admission process. Admission counselors will make their most favorable decisions on the students who they know best. Keep in mind that the authority over merit scholarships rests in the hands of admission counselors.

Our parents save thousands on college costs. And you can too. All you have to do is ask.

# 1- "Colleges are masters at molding their interests into the behaviors of society."

Our # 1 Top Quote related to College

The BIG BUSINESS OF COLLEGE is always at work. It's a massive machine that's fully aware of the parent's vulnerability and they've mastered the process to seize on their advantage!  

Where else in America do people apply to be a customer, anxiously await to be approved, be willing to pay the full asking price of the seller, automatically accept the sellers future price increases, then be left worrying about how to pay.

Only in the world of college does that happen and it will  cost unsuspecting parents tens of thousands of dollars. It will unnecessarily cost you too unless you know how to combat it otherwise.

The force behind the business of college will always prevail. Why? Because they are masters at getting parents to do what they want you to do. Make no mistake about it, they are not there to support your best interests. Rather, you have to be a savvy parent, aware of their intentions, and able to manage the process according to the rules of their game. Don't be oblivious, know that it's their game. They set the rules and they don't ask for your approval when doing so.

But let's be honest here. No one is forcing you to accept their terms and pay their bills. That's purely on you. If you are desperate to send your child to a particular college, then be prepared to fall prey to their tactics. No disrespect to the colleges intended here. They are just conducting business. We are not going to change that, rather, we have to be much smarter consumers in our approach. We can help you with that. You don't have to be left out in the dark.

Our parents save thousands on college costs and you can too. Just ask how we do it. 

"Either you know the perspective of the college and its coaches,
or you will overpay and underplay."

That's just the cold hard truth. The harsh reality is that neither the high school nor parent perspective can win the college game. Rather, it can only be won by knowing the college perspective. For students, that means knowing the perspective of the admissions office. For athletes, that means knowing the perspective of the coaches. For parents, that means knowing the perspective of the college and its business model along with knowing the analytics that run the business and determine your financial fate.

In the admissions office, you must know what the college looks for in its students and their determining factors for acceptance. You must be familiar with acceptance rates, conversion rates, along with their standards for acceptance. And you must know why it works the way it does (few people do).

In the athletic office, you must know the coach's philosophy, protocol, and timeline for making decisions. You must know how to find out their specific situation and needs for the team. You must know how they operate the business of their program as it pertains to cost management, scholarships, influence with admissions, and recruiting practices (few people do).

When it comes to college costs, parents will continue to overpay in large amounts until they learn otherwise. To what degree they overpay will always be based on what they know or don't know. Most parents will not have an admissions or scholarship strategy. Most parents will not negotiate or appeal for increased awards. And most students will unnecessarily extend their terms in college by a year or even longer. All of that comes at a big cost to the family, much of which is avoidable.  

What would it mean to you if your child received preferred acceptances, played college sports, and saved on college costs?

Our students receive higher scholarships. Our athletes play college sports. Our parents save thousands on college costs, and you can too. All you have to do is ask.