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.
