My College Planning Team Social Distancing Guidelines

MCPT is committed to following or exceeding CDC protocols as we slowly begin to resume in-person meetings with our clients and prospective clients.  Beginning June 1, 2020, in-person meetings between our clients and financial advisors may be held in the conference rooms at our Naperville office — if both the client and financial advisor are comfortable meeting in person. Alternatively, phone appointments remain an option.  All meetings between clients and our client service managers or other professionals on our team will…

Read More

6 Costly Mistakes Parents Make when Saving for College

Saving for college is undoubtedly important, but there are right and wrong ways to do it.  Be wary of these six common and costly mistakes that families make: Saving for college in your child's name Paying for college with the help of a grandparent or non-custodial parent Using retirement funds to pay for college Not using the financial aid appeals process Not applying to enough colleges Not starting early enough 1. Saving for college in your child’s name The form…

Read More

Q&A with Jan Miller, Student Loan Consultant 

Jan Miller is a student loan expert and founder of Miller Student Loan Consulting, where he helps clients develop student loan repayment strategies that fit their financial goals.  Previously, Miller spent eight years working in 11 different departments at four student loan servicers — including Nelnet, one of the largest federal student loan servicers. “I saw every side of the industry,” Miller says.  Later in his career, when he was working as an investment advisor at Morgan Stanley, Miller started…

Read More

Watch Out for Front-Loaded Scholarships

Many sophomores, juniors and seniors begin the school year with a rude awakening: The financial aid packages they received as freshmen have shrunk. Scholarships and grants, which make aid packages so wonderfully enticing for first-year students and their families, often melt away starting the second year of school. Students are often given less aid overall or they're offered mostly loans. This concept is known as scholarship front-loading or bait-and-switch financial aid. About half of colleges front-load their grants, according to…

Read More

How to Decline a College Acceptance

After you’ve been recruited and wooed by a college, it can be incredibly difficult to say the “no thank you” to one of them. Here's our advice for how to decline a college acceptance: 1. Say "yes!" to your chosen school First, inform your chosen school that you'll be attending. Submit your deposit before the deadline. Then, write your admissions representative a note  — email is fine — to thank them for their help and give them the good news. …

Read More
Student Work

The Benefits of Student Work in College

One of the most productive things your student can do with all the new found free time that college affords is to find gainful employment. For some students, it can be a great way to keep their lives structured while making some extra money. For others, student work is a necessity to stay in school at all. Student Income and EFC If you have any experience with financial aid, then Expected Family Contribution (EFC) is a term you are well acquainted…

Read More

Beware of Student Loan Scams!

Debt, despite how essential it is for many American families trying to afford college, can be in and of itself the cause for quite a bit of stress. When you factor in the further difficulty students are having finding employment after graduation, and loan management companies that can be less than forthcoming with information that could ease your repayment burdens, the tension only grows. Wouldn't it be great if there was a trick or a quick fix to help get…

Read More
Award Letters

Analyze Your Award Letter Before You Accept It!

Some colleges and universities are already sending out financial aid award letters for 2018/2019. That’s great news! After all, you’ve worked hard, and it’s time you reap the rewards of that hard work. But before you sign and return that award letter, it’s essential to look at it with a critical eye.   As we wrote in a previous blog, analyzing your award letters can be a complicated process, but it’s well worth your time. Is your offer clear and easy to…

Read More

Income Sharing Agreements vs. Student Loans

The ever growing costs of college are often characterized as “an investment in one's future.” In a cruel twist of fate, the price of that investment remains on the rise, while its security begins to wane. What if we treated students as investments instead of debtors? Imagine that the amount you owe is entirely contingent on what you make. This is a reality at Purdue University and could become a well-needed alternative for students all over the country. College is very expensive, so…

Read More
Student Loans

How Uncle Sam Handles Defaulted Student Loans

Student loans are big business. Collecting defaulted student loan money is becoming an even bigger business. An Overview The federal government works with student loan servicing companies to collect on outstanding student loans. It’s these companies that deal with students once the student loan papers are signed and payments finally come due. When borrowers default, the U.S. Department of Education’s debt collectors come knocking. The federal government has given these debt collectors immense power, unlike anything an ordinary debt collector can…

Read More