This past week, the owner of the firm College Funding Specialists in Austin, TX, presented at the Round Rock Public Library. At that session he promised a free session at his office to discuss our finances - and it (as expected) turned out to be a sales pitch for his services.
My question for the guru’s on here is - has anyone on here used an agency to help with filling out the FAFSA and CSS profile? Were they of any help - do you think you would have fared (or come out) better had you done all the spadework on your own? Would you sign a ‘Power of Attorney’ form and pay a $1395 upfront fee as well as a $39.95 monthly fee for the duration of your college education (4 years)
The FAFSA stands for “Free Application for Federal Student Aid”…emphasis on the “free.” There are plenty of legitimate free resources should one need assistance or clarification on the questions asked.
The instructions for the FAFSA and Profile are very good. Unless you have something extremely exotic there should be no trouble doing them yourself. And if you do have questions you can turn to CC for help. No, I wouldn’t pay someone else to fill them out.
Is there anyone out there in the real world who qualifies for financial aid who can afford this kind of dough to fill out the forms?
I understand that a neurosurgeon married to a hedge fund manager might be time strapped and it might be worth it to pay someone to fill out the forms. But someone whose income qualifies them for aid can afford these prices?
I know someone who used that exact company. She didn’t pay that whole amount; she asked him if he’d just do a piece of the package for several hundred dollars, and he did. She felt like the money was worth it for peace of mind because of her particular situation. She was going through a divorce, and they were going to sell their house and each buy a new place and it was her first kid in college. She knows she could have done it herself but had so much other stuff going on that she liked the security blanket. If there’s nothing tricky about your financial situation I wouldn’t spend the money. I sure don’t know what the $40/month gets you.
FYI, I went to his group presentation just to check it out and won a Starbucks gift card because I knew the answer to a question. Thanks, cc!
Agree with mom2collegekids. I went to a similar one here in the NE and this company also helps pick colleges so that they can compete for your son or daughter. I could use the $3k for their service to help pat tuition! Never got a firm answer on how different my EFC would be if they filled out the forms. Like others said it is not rocket science. Never could understand how someone else could fill out the form and get a better result especially since it is all based on your current finances (unless you are trying to cheat the system)
That is a huge ripoff. It is not worth more that a fraction of that. No you would not get any different aid, the numbers will be the same no matter who fills it out. What were you thinking would be different? If there is any actual thing you could do differently it us not about how you fill the forms. The numbers come right from your tax return for the most part.
Honestly, the a profile and FAFSA forms are NOT hard to complete…and they don’t take that much time to complete. There is absolutely no way I would pay someone else to do either of these forms.
Just get your taxes done ASAP after Feb 1. Once you have completed taxes, it’s a matter of filling in the blanks on the form…easy peasy. The only other thing you will need is account balances for all accounts, which you should be able to get online the day you decide to complete these forms.
No and here is a suggestion. Get this years tax return, sit down and fill out the FAFSA and CSS this weekend. Consider it a dry run or a practice. This way you know exactly what is needed for each form and will be better organized for when you complete it for real in a couple of months.
You’ve already found CC, which has a ton of knowledgeable members. Most of us have filled out FAFSA, CSS etc many times, a couple are even FA professionals.
Do you know roughly where you stand? Are you eligible for federal Pell Grant, for instance? Or are you a high EFC family looking for aid from colleges? In either case you shoul look for colleges that give good aid for your profile.
@OHMomof2 …hanks again. Fortunately, we’ve started this process in my sons junior year. Also thankfully, for the 2017-2018 school year, it appears that FAFSA rules have changed to enable the 2015 tax returns to be used to file the FAFSA starting Oct 1, 2016
