Education For College Planning Professionals

While it's true that college planning professionals have been around since the 1980's, no standards exist as to what education or criteria are deemed necessary to qualify as one. Almost anyone can hang out the proverbial shingle and say they are a 'college planner'. Consider the following information when looking to hire a college planning expert.

To state the obvious, the planner should be a college graduate. How else will they know and understand what your student is about to go through? Have they put their own student through this process as well? This type of experience is invaluable so the planner can empathize. Your planner should be able to demonstrate his/her ability to help you relative to funding strategies.

What this means to you is that the planner should have the necessary education, licenses, and credentials to address and solve financial issues related to funding strategies. You should require the planner to have one or more of the following designations: Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC), Certified Financial Planner (CFP), Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU), or CPA. All of these designations demonstrate education and hands on experience in the financial world.

The experience factor needs to be evaluated on a couple of levels. In all likelihood, your planner will have available to him/her other experts to help in different parts of the process. For example, the planner you hire may be especially strong on the funding strategies but employ other experts to work with him/her for career planning, college search, and college selection. The minimum experience level for career planning, college search, and college selection should be ten years. Your student's future depends on getting this part of the process right. Today almost 50% of students who begin college do not finish. In contrast, about 85% of PCFS students graduate.

While not a large requirement, you may want to know if the planner has a website and if so, does it give you a good impression as to how the planner conducts the process?

Is the planner prepared to give you testimonials? Nothing says satisfaction like a happy client. He or she should also have a clean record with the regulatory agencies. You can check with the SEC and the CFP board to find out if past problems exist. If so, you may want to address these during the initial interview.

Go with your gut instinct when you first visit with your planner. Is this someone you want to entrust your student's future with? After all, the lifetime earning ability is approximately $1,000,000 more for a person with a bachelor's degree than for one who does not have one. You are looking for a person who will work in your best interest.

Higher Education In California

I had not planned on going on to get a graduate degree. Living in California higher education was not on the top of my list of priorities. You see, there are so many opportunities in California even if you don't have a higher education. There is Hollywood, there is the environmental non profit community, there are opportunities for starting your own tourism business, high-tech business, or restaurant. California really is the land of opportunity, So I had no intention of spending all of my time cooped up in school.

It isn't that higher education California isn't good – it is. California schools are among the best in the nation. Both California public universities and private schools are amazing. The UC system is so good that there is almost no point in going to a private university in California, and if you are a resident there, you can get significant deductions from your tuition. Even still, I didn't think that higher education in California was for me. I was sure that I would get that big break if I waited for it. I worked hard in my office, day in and day out, knowing that I was enjoying living in the real world more than I would enjoy chasing after a higher education California degree.

Now, I realize how silly I was being. I had not thought about all of the higher education employment opportunities that there were, but there were many of them. With higher education California, I would be able to make more money, have an easier life, and have more options available to me. Maybe California was the land of opportunity, but many of the opportunities were in academia. I decided to pursue higher education California By going back to get my Masters of arts. I wanted to be a writer, and I new higher education California would help me with that goal.

Looking back, I wonder why it took me so long to take advantage of the higher education California had to offer me. I guess I wasn't thinking clearly at the time. I was so busy enjoying myself that I never thought about where the real opportunities lay. With higher education California, I will be able to get a job at one of the University of California schools one day. I will be able to live my dreams, living easily and spending all my time writing and teaching. I can't think of a sweeter life!