Dr. Lisa Ransdell is an independent educational consultant and college counselor who helps students and their families stay on top of college planning. Lisa’s practice is grounded in 27 years of college teaching and 20 years in higher education administration. She constantly tours, reads, and does professional development in order to give clients the most up-to-date info.
I recently attended an excellent presentation on financial aid at Smoky Hill High School presented by college money guru Frank Palmasani. Frank’s background includes work as a high school counselor and college director of admissions. These days he privately works with families and spends time making free presentations around the country to help parents understand the ins and outs of college financial planning.
Palmasani is a dynamic presenter, and he manages to cover a lot in a relatively short amount of time. One great piece of info that I gleaned is that many colleges are about to launch Net Cost Estimators on their websites that will make costs and expected family contributions much more transparent than in the past. The technology was demonstrated with the version to be used by local Regis University, which was clear and simple, and should help many families understand better what they are getting into by way of college costs. Here is a look at the Regis estimator:
http://www.regis.edu/rc.asp?page=financial.calculator
Those who haven’t had the opportunity to hear Frank in person can check out his superb website and amass a ton of information and tips, including many from a series of detailed videos: http://www.managingcollegecost.com.