107 Mountain Brook Drive, STE 108Canton, GA 30115

678-901-4167greg@griffith-werner.com

Griffith & Werner, Inc.

Your Presenter: Greg Phelps

THE ART OF COLLEGE COST PLANNING

•LEARNING FROM THE SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS•NOW YOU GET TO HEAR MY AWESOME STORY

GREG PHELPS

It's Expensive No Matter Where Your Children Go!

• It’s Not Just Tuition - Books,

Room and Board, LivingExpenses, etc.

• 4 Years Can Easily Cost$60,000 to $200,000...or

More!• Multiply by the Number of

Kids!

• Keeps Going Up Every Year!

• Average Cost of a Private College/University is

Approximately $35,000 per Year.

• Average Cost of a Public College/University is

Approximately $15,000 per Year.• Costs Have Historically

Risen at Three Times the Rate of Inflation.

Actual College Costs Including Tuition, Fees and Room and Board only, for the2014-2015 school yr.

The University of Georgia $21,880.00Georgia Tech $21,828

Kennesaw State $17,381Reinhardt College $27,196Emory University $57,768

Berry College $41,190

SCHOOL COST

College Choice: UGA Years to Attend 2014-2015 1st Year College Costs: $21,880 (Tuition Room & Board, Fees)

Wardrobe, Transportation, Books,Insurance, Medical, Personal, Etc. $ 5,000.00

1st Year Total $26,880

Total Cost of 4 year Education $107,520.00 (add 7% annual cost increases)

State Schools increased an average of 6.8% for 2007-2008 and Private Schools 6.3%.Up 35% in the past 5 years, according to USA TODAY 10/24/2006

Education Expense Estimate

Getting Ready for College

Step 1. Doing the Research (Sophomore-Junior Yr.)

GodOthers

Resource Materials

Step 2. Narrowing the Choices (1st Semester Jr. Yr.)

College Comparison Websites

Step 3. Visiting the Campus (As soon as possible)

Step 4. Applying for College(Think Thanksgiving Jr. Yr.)

****BE AWARE OF Deadlines*** Application Parts*Transcript*SAT and ACT Scores *Essay *Student Profile*Recommendations*Application Fee

1) What are the Main Differences Between Them?

2) How Important is it to do Well on a Board Exam?

3) What Scores are Likely Required to Gain Admission to a Top Tier Program?

OR

Board Exams: SAT vs. ACT:

Types of Admissions

Deferred AdmissionEarly AdmissionEarly Decision

Regular AdmissionRolling Admission

Step 5 – Financial Aid

Students should assume the responsibility

for their financial aid search.

Two General Kinds of Financial Aid

1. Merit-Based Aid

2. Need-Based Aid

The Fiction 1. My Income is too High.

2. My Child did not Win a National Merit Scholarship. 3. If My Child does not Qualify for Need Based Aid, There’s No Hope. 4. I Own a Nice Home. 5. School People can Help. 6. It’s a Simple, Easy and Fair Process.

The Fact Vs. The Fiction:Who Is Eligible For Financial Aid?

The Facts1. Middle & Upper Middle Income Class

Kids can Qualify.2. Need Based Aid Based on Income,

Assets, Number of Kids , etc.3. There are Millions of Dollars of Aid

for Kids with Academic, Artistic & Athletic Talent.

4. FAFSA form doesn’t ask for Home Equity, but the Profile form does.5. Colleges are Businesses & are

Concerned about their own Enrollment & Finances

6. Many Believe it’s not Simple, Easy or Fair.

COA – EFC = Financial Need COA Stands for Cost of Attendance.(Includes Tuition, Books, Room/Board, Incidentals & “Ask-identals”)

EFC Stands for Expected Family Contribution (Based on Parents’ and Student's Income, Assets, Ages, Number of People in School.).

Financial Need is how much Aid your Family is Eligible to Receive.

How Do They Determine If I'm Eligible?

MY GOAL: TO SHOW YOU HOW TO OBTAIN THE MAXIMUM AID

PACKAGE ALLOWABLE

How To Get More Need-Based Aid For College!

It is a Two Step Process. 1) Lower Your EFC

We Can Show You How To Re-Arrange Your Affairs To Get More Money By Learning The

Legally Established Rules!2) Find the Schools Which Will Provide You

with the Most FREE Money.

Step 1: Example Of A Family That Took Control! (hypothetical)

Family Before:Adj. Gross Income: $75,000

Non-Assessed Investments*: $0

Assessed Investments: $120,000

Number in Family: 4Number in School: 1

EFC = $20,467

Family After:Adj. Gross Income: $75,000

Non-AssessedInvestments*: $70,400

Assessed Investments: $49,600Number in Family: 4Number in School: 1

EFC = $10,646

•Family Qualifies for up to $9,821 more in Financial Aid per Year, or almost $40,000 over a 4 Year Span because They took the

Time to Understand the Process, Learned what They had to do ...and TOOK ACTION!

*Non-Assessed Investments are not counted in the DOE formula for EFC calculation. See FAFSA

Emory:Cost - $57,768EFC - $5,000Need - $52,768

Emory:Meets 100% of need.

Reinhardt:Cost - $27,196EFC - $5,000Need - $22,196

Reinhardt:Meets only 58% of need = $12,873

($9,323 short!)

What You Actually Pay at Each School: (hypothetical)

Emory:Total Cost - $57,768

School Provides $52,768Cost to Parents = $5,000

Reinhardt:Total Cost - $27,196

School Provides $12,873EFC - $5,000 + Unmet Need $9,323 =

Cost to Parents = $14,323

Step 2: It’s All Packaging!

Types Of Aid•GRANTS•SCHOLARSHIPS•LOANS•WORK/STUDY

Sources Of Aid•ENDOWMENT FUNDS•GOVERNMENT •OUTSIDE SOURCES

SEE HOW PRESIDENT OBAMA’S STIMULUS PLAN FOR EDUCATION CAN HELP YOU!

How Much Aid Is Available?

College Board 2008-2009

Federal Grant Programs other than Pell ($3.5)

3%

Pell Grants ($14.4)

13%

Federal Work-Study ($1.0)1%

Federal Loans ($43.8)

41%

Edu-cation Tax

Cred-its

and De-duc-tions ($6.0)

6%

State Grants ($7.8)

7%

Institu-tional

Grants ($22.8)

21%

Private and Employer Grants ($7.5)

7%

Undergraduate Student Aid by Source (in Billions), 2007-2008

State Financial AidGEORGIA SCHOLARSHIPS

HOPE ScholarshipRobert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship

Charles McDaniel Teacher ScholarshipGeorgia's HERO Scholarship Program

REACH ScholarshipZell Miller Scholarship

 GRANTSGeorgia's HOPE Grant Program

Georgia Tuition Equalization Grant ProgramAccel Program

Law Enforcement Personnel Dependents GrantPublic Safety Memorial Grant

North Georgia College & State University ROTC GrantGeorgia HOPE GED Grant

Georgia's LEAP

1. The FAFSA Form MUST be Filed to Receive Any Federal Aid, Even to Get Low Interest Gov’t Loans. 2. The CSS (College Scholarship Services) Profile Form is Required by most Prestigious Programs. 3. School’s May Have Their Own Institutional Forms. 4. More Forms Required for Certain Families:• Business/Farm Supplement.• Divorced/Separated Agreement.

How Do You Apply For Aid?

Applying for Federal Student Aid

1. Collect your financial information.

2. Complete the FAFSA online atwww.fafsa.ed.gov

3. Review your Student Aid Report (SAR) --

“Financial Aid Package” including your Expected Family Contribution (EFC).

4. Submissions -- beginning January 1, 2015.

FAFSA Filing Service:

“Created in 1992 to simplify applying for financial aid, it has become so intimidating

– with more than 100 questions – that critics say

it scares off the very families most in need,

preventing some teenagers from going to college.”

NYTimes 2/22/2009

Other Sources of Financial AidSpecific Colleges or Universities – Deadlines

vary!

Free Internet Searcheswww.fastweb.com and

www.collegeboard.com

Businesses and Companies

Organizations & Associations

Go to College Fairs & Guidance Resources and ask a lot of questions!

Proper BudgetingIRA

Coverdale IRA529 plans

Pre-paid CollegeLife Insurance

Staying at home indefinitely

Other Things to Consider

70% of CLEP test-takers said their CLEP credits made a difference in

their ability to finance tuition and other fees.

What is Clep?

Dual Enrollment/Dual Credit courses are primarily available for any eligible 11th or

12th grade (in some limited cases 9th-10th) high school students. They may

enroll full-time or part-time in approved credit-bearing college-level courses by the State Board of Education. Courses may be taken before, dur ing or after regular school hours, on the college

campus, on-line or at the high school during the regular school calendar year.

What is Dual Credit?

• Gives Your Student an Edge to Ensure He/She Graduates College in 4 Years or Less.

• Assists Your Student in Choosing a Major or Field of Study.• Professional Resume Builder to Help Your Student get the Best Job

after College.• Job Search and Salary Calculator

College and Career Planning Assessment Tool