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Educational Consultants
1001 Ogden Ave.
Suite 203
Downers Grove, IL

630.853.4195

Financial Consultants
1717 North Naper Blvd
Suite 200
Naperville, IL

630.908.2916

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College Funding

Enough Is Enough With Misleading Award Letters!

Enough Is Enough With Misleading Award Letters!

Yes, I’m getting angry about this issue, and so should you! After more than 10 years helping families navigate their college award letters, I have to ask: why are over a third of colleges and universities still hiding the real cost of attendance? As college students all over the country scrutinize financial aid award letters from schools that have accepted them, trying to compare costs, it soon becomes clear that the information in these letters is anything but clear, and…

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The Cost Of A Wrong Fit College Education

The Cost of a Wrong Fit College Education

My College Planning Team's Chief College Funding Strategist, Jim Slowik, discusses the disadvantage of choosing a wrong fit college for your student. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-2uMCiht5A Need Help With the Figuring out How to Pay for College? My College Planning Team's Financial Team can assist you with understanding what you can expect to pay for your student's right fit college and strategize with you on the best ways to reduce your bottom line. Contact Jim Slowik for more information or click here to schedule…

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New Tax Bill Brings Good News

New Tax Bill Brings Good News

Most of the news coming out on how the new tax bill affects families and colleges has been fragmented and tainted with political bias. This an attempt to provide a bottom line and more objective look at how the final bill will affect college families and colleges. EFFECT ON COLLEGE FAMILIES On balance, the lobbying efforts from colleges, universities, graduate students, and families has resulted in a tax bill that is mostly good news for most college families. Keeps the…

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Freshman Year For Free!

Freshman Year for Free!

The name itself sounds appealing to anyone looking to cut the cost of college—the “Freshman Year for Free” program. Launched in August 2017 by Modern States Educational Alliance, the program provides more than 40 free online courses taught by top professors from top schools. Once students complete a course, they take an AP or CLEP exam giving them the opportunity to earn traditional academic credits at more than 2,900 major colleges and universities. We asked Steve Klinsky, founder and CEO of Modern States…

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Freshman Year Of College For Free?

Freshman Year of College for Free?

College for Free? As any family can attest, it takes a lot of time, effort, and attention to detail in order to successfully navigate the college admissions and student loan applications processes. So it’s easy to overlook valuable programs and resources that can really help families meet their overall college costs by actually making freshman year of college free! Learn and Earn While most  families know about Advanced Placement or AP courses and exams, there’s another often forgotten avenue to…

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Is This The Beginning Of The End For Scholarship Displacement?

Is This the Beginning of the End for Scholarship Displacement?

In an unprecedented move, Maryland has just ended a policy which has rattled scholarship recipients for years. It became the first state to banish scholarship displacement practices, and other states may soon follow. After a two-year battle against the practice, executives Jan Wagner and Michelle Waxman Johnson of the non-profit Central Scholarship welcomed the new law that took effect on July 1 and prevents public universities from lowering a student’s need-based financial aid package based on awarded scholarships. And while scholarship foundations…

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College Illinois 529 Plans On The Brink

College Illinois 529 Plans on The Brink

As Illinois colleges come closer to the breaking point from the state’s fiscal crisis, it has just been reported that the College Illinois pre-paid 529 plan is also going broke. Illinois Universities Bond Ratings Downgraded Again MCPT believes the recent downgrade on Illinois’ Bond rating will result in even less students applying for admission at in-state universities in 2018.  This will likely result in lower financial aid offers at other Midwest universities because of the lower demand for Illinois students.…

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How Will The Education Budget Affect College Families?

How Will the Education Budget Affect College Families?

From the screaming headlines over the past few days, it would seem that the president’s new budget on higher education will be devastating to American families who are already struggling to pay for college. So, it’s time to be objective and look at the facts.  The president’s budget, if implemented, is really not going to have that much impact on MCPT families. Here’s a brief overview: Pell Grant Funding Though the talk about reducing the Pell Grant surplus has been…

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Can Parent Plus Loan Forgiveness Rescue Some Families From A Lifetime Of Debt?

Can Parent Plus Loan Forgiveness Rescue Some Families from a Lifetime of Debt?

Unbeknownst to many who are struggling to pay for college, the current loopholes in the Parent Plus Loan rules allow some families to receive full forgiveness on a boat load of college debt.   It’s not a viable strategy for everyone, it’s not a recommendation by any means, and there is quite a bit of controversy surrounding it, but there is a way to banish the bills from your Parent Plus Loan for good. But should you? Parent Plus Loans…

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Uncertainty Looms Over the Student Loan Forgiveness Program

Federal student loan borrowers who had believed they qualified for loan forgiveness under a particular federal income-driven repayment (IDR) program are suddenly facing a financially shaky future. The spotlight’s on the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program due in part to a lawsuit filed by four participants: they fulfilled employment and loan repayment requirements and made employment decisions based on eventual student loan relief only to have those qualifications later reversed. What is the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF)? In…

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