There are many private college admissions counselors and private financial aid counselors who do a wonderful job for the students they work with. However, families need to understand that even so called financial aid counselors don't always know what they are talking about.
Ivywise is a college consulting group known for their high cost and the infamy of having "packaged" the student who was admitted to Harvard and later discovered to have plagiarized a novel she was writing. The Ivywise newsletter has an article written by their financial aid counselor entitled "Secrets from a Financial Aid Officer: Top mistakes students and families make now". In the article the author states that parents can get a PLUS loan with a current interest rate of 6.1%. However, the current rate for PLUS loans is actually 8.5% and has been at this rate for all loans taken out after July 1, 2006. Prior to that time the interest rate on PLUS loans was 8.02%.
We all make mistakes but anyone familiar with PLUS loans would not suggest that they are currently at such low rates. If families are spending upwards of $40,000 for the services of this group one would expect that their counselors would be familiar with the area in which they counsel students.
Families do not need to spend $40,000 or more to get competent college admissions advice. Spending more does not always get you better knowledge or service.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Financial Aid Counselors who don't know financial aid
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1 comment:
I don't know if that condemnation is entirely fair.
I also noticed the mistake in the Ivywise article you're talking about. In fairness, the 6.1% interest rate on PLUS loans that Rod Bugarin mentioned was based on old information about the 2005-2006 aid year. Though you are correct that it has been fixed at 8.5% since 2006, it seems an easy mistake to make. A lot of websites are reporting incorrect PLUS interest rates simply because they are not up-to-date, and Rod may have been relying on one of these resources during his research.
I do agree, though, that a self-proclaimed financial aid expert should know better and that we should be wary of counselors with out-of-date information (especially when it's almost 2 years old). An industry expert who earns money for his services should know better.
I e-mailed Rod when I noticed the mistake, and he let me know that he would change it on Monday and also publish a redaction in next month's issue. He was willing to admit the mistake and to take steps to fix it, so I think we can forgive him on this one.
-Brian, AcceptedToCollege.com
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