Financial Aid “Secrets” for stressed out parents of college-bound teens! Revised, updated… More lame jokes, more thrills, more exciting Really! than ever! How to Pay WOW! “wholesale” For College College cost-cutting tips and strategies for “Forgotten Middle Class” parents who think, Why bother, I’ll never qualify for ANYTHING! ANDREW LOCKWOOD i Disclaimer (to prove that I went to law school) I have made every effort to make this book the best book on this topic in the history of mankind, but there may be mistakes such as typographical mistakes or even in the content, such as inadvertent admissions or summaries of complicated rules that you wouldn’t want to read anyway. Please consider this book as a general guide and consult a qualified advisor if you have any questions about your specific situation. This book is not legal, financial or any other advice. And you should not rely on the examples of successful clients described herein. Just because they got great results, doesn’t mean that you will. Your results could be equal, worse or better. I, my advisors and anyone else who contributed to this book, are in no way liable or responsible to you or any person for any damage or liability caused directly or indirectly by information in this book. Please Share This Book This book is licensed under a Creative Commons License. You can share it with anyone. I hope you do – share this book with anyone you feel would benefit from this information. (Send them the link, www.FinancialAidBook.org) Andrew Lockwood Publisher, The Wholesale for College Success Bulletin Lockwood College Consulting 497 South Oyster Bay Road Plainview, New York 11803 Telephone: 516.882.5464 • Fax: 516.908.4418 e-mail: [email protected] web • www.AndyLockwood.com Printed in the U.S.A ii How to REALLY Pay “Wholesale” for College Andrew Lockwood, CollegeSuccessBulletin.com TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION……………………………….……...................................................................................1 CHAPTER 1 : How Does it All Work, Anyway?.......................................................................................3 CHAPTER 2: College Tuition is 2 Damn High – How can this be legal?.................................................9 CHAPTER 3: College Endowments – Not too shabby!..........................................................................11 CHAPTER 4: Don’t Ask The Financial Aid Office, Your Guidance Counselor or Your Accountant For Help - Unless you like banging your head against a brick wall…………………………………...……….12 CHAPTER 5: The Financial Aid “Game” and How to Win It – Two near identical families. One does wicked awesome! The other…not so much……………….…………………………………………………15 CHAPTER 6: EFC and The “Double-Secret” Formula……………..……………………………………….17 CHAPTER 7: The “Double-Secret” Formula In Action – How to determine how much - or little! - financial aid you’ll get………………………………………………………………….………………………...20 CHAPTER 8: Some “Stuff” Counts Against You More Than Others…Some Not at All! Deciphering the twisted, counter-intuitive Financial Aid regulations………………………..…………………………………23 CHAPTER 9: Exempt Assets: The Four Horsemen- “Loopholes” that could multiply your eligibility…27 CHAPTER 10: The Ultimate Small Business Loophole……………………………………………………...34 CHAPTER 11: 17 Costly FAFSA Mistakes To Avoid Like a Toothbrush In A Gas Station Bathroom.....38 CHAPTER 12: How High Sticker Price Colleges Can Cost Less Than “Cheaper” State Schools……...42 CHAPTER 13: How Long Does it Really Take to Graduate? The Six Year Plan…................................45 CHAPTER 14: Some Colleges Are Better “Givers” Than Others…………………………………………...48 CHAPTER 15: Forgotten Middle Class” Families Receive Juicy Grants and Scholarships ..……………49 CHAPTER 16: Colleges With Loose Purse Strings – Schools that meet 100% of Financial Need……..52 CHAPTER 17: Largest College Endowments 2005 vs. 2011………….……………………..……..…….54 CHAPTER 18: The Hidden Truth About Scholarships…………………………..…………………..…..…..57 CHAPTER 19: Avoid Scholarship Search Scams!..................................................................................58 CHAPTER 20: Those College Board Sneaky Sons of Bitches……………………………….………..……61 CHAPTER 21: Merit Money for The Affluent………………………………………………...…………..……63 CHAPTER 22: Do Grades Have Anything To Do With Financial Aid Awards?…………………………..65 CHAPTER 23: To Ask or Not to Ask - If you check the “Yes – I Want Financial Aid” box will it hurt your chances of admission?............................................................................................................................67 iii How to REALLY Pay “Wholesale” for College Andrew Lockwood, CollegeSuccessBulletin.com CHAPTER 24: The Pros (Not Cons) of Applying Early…………………….…………………………….....71 CHAPTER 25: Will Applying Early Hurt Your Chances of Financial Aid?................................................72 CHAPTER 26: “Black Hat” Negotiating Tactics - How to improve a crappy Financial Aid offer…without threatening to post compromising photos of the dean............................................................................75 CHAPTER 27: Divorced and Separated Families – When “Mr. Wrong” can turn into “Mr. Right”….….77 CHAPTER 28: How Is Money Awarded?...............................................................................................79 CHAPTER 29: Avoid Student Loan Traps…………….………………………………….……………….…81 CHAPTER 30: The PLUS Loan – A subprime loan from Uncle Sam…………………..………................84 CHAPTER 31: Private Student Loans – Not quite as sucky as you’d think (but still pretty ugly)..……...85 CHAPTER 32: How Much Money do Grads of Elite Colleges Make?....................................................88 CHAPTER 33: The Chapter About ROI ................................………………………………………………90 CHAPTER 34: Entrepreneurial Child?....................................................................................................91 CHAPTER 35: Generous Schools for B Students……...……….…………………………………………..92 CHAPTER 36: The 20 Most Expensive Colleges………..….…….………………………………………….94 CHAPTER 37: The 20 Most Expensive Dorms…………….………………………………………………...96 CHAPTER 38: Kiplinger’s Top 100 Best Value Public Schools.…………………………………………....98 CHAPTER 39 :Best Values in Private Colleges – Kiplinger’s….………………………………………..….99 CONCLUSION – Special Offer…………………………………………………………………………..…100 iv How to REALLY Pay “Wholesale” for College Andrew Lockwood, CollegeSuccessBulletin.com INTRODUCTION I wrote this book for the money. No, I did not receive a seven-figure advance…I’m not part of the Real Housewives of Plainview cast! Although my original version of How to Pay “Wholesale” for College sold a couple hundred more copies than anticipated1, I wasn’t writing it to make money off you. Nope, I did it so YOU could make money – from the rip-off, overpriced colleges. By avoiding needlessly paying “sticker” price. Only suckers pay retail! A lot has changed in the last two years since publication, although Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose (the more things change, the more they say the same):2 College costs continue to skyrocket; The economy still sucks; and College is harder to get into than ever. Congress and the present administration have taken baby steps to address the first and second issues, but who knows what will happen with the last one (or any of them, for that matter)? What you’ll get out of this book I’m going to lay out the actual, tested and proven tactics I use in my practice to help parents – particularly “Forgotten Middle Class” families — who think they can’t qualify for any financial aid – cut their college costs by 25%, 33%, 50% or more. They’re all here, I have no interest in holding anything back. 1 i.e., a couple hundred copies total. 2 One of the three things I learned from five years of French. (OK, fine, I looked it up online.) 1 How to REALLY Pay “Wholesale” for College Andrew Lockwood, CollegeSuccessBulletin.com Who is this book for? This book is for: Six and even seven-figure earning families Lawyers, Doctors, Dentists, Accountants, Financial Advisors and other professionals Business Owners Divorced or separated families Concerned guidance counselors, educators and administrators who want to help families under their charge. Anyone confused and stressed about how the hell THEY can possibly afford to send their kids to college. Warning I tried to make this book a little funny (not easy, considering the subject matter). My sense of humor has been described as “puerile,” “offensive,” and “idiotic…” and that’s just my mom! Please do not take my irreverent3 tone to mean that I’m making light of your situation. But if you can’t take a little goof once in a while, maybe you should stop reading now. Instead, please realize that I wrote this way to help you loosen up, chill out and free up your mind to the possibilities that you CAN obtain relief!4 OK, enough chit-chat – let’s go! 3 That’s a nicer word 4 And because I wanted to write something that I could stomach reading! 2 How to REALLY Pay “Wholesale” for College Andrew Lockwood, CollegeSuccessBulletin.com CHAPTER 1 How Does It All Work, Anyway? Here is a two-minute drill explanation on how the whole financial aid process works. Because this is a summary, I am leaving a handful of less-important details out. But I’ll cover the important missing stuff in the rest of this book. What is “Financial Aid?” Many parents think the term “Financial Aid” refers to loans, only. It doesn’t. “Financial Aid” is a catch-all term that includes loans, work-study, and free stuff – grants and scholarships.