
College Planning Made Easy: An FPA Certificate Program
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Register
- Non-member - $299
- Member - $199
The four-year sticker price of college now exceeds $300,000 at some of our most prestigious institutions. As a result, we now have over 44 million student loan borrowers in America and our outstanding education debt now exceeds $1.7 trillion. With these concerns in mind, college bound families are actively seeking out advisors to help them with funding the costs of higher education while staying on track for retirement. However, training on financial aid and late-stage college planning has long been overlooked by most advisor education programs.
The FPA is proud to partner with College Aid Pro™ to bring you this late stage college planning certificate course to help advisors better understand how to assist their clients with the important decisions around higher education costs and demystifying financial aid. A deep dive into both the technical aspects of navigating the college funding maze, as well as practical conversations and exercises to help advisors connect with their clients and unpack the behavioral and emotional aspects wrapped up in this momentous investment in their children and higher education.
- Not just education, but real solutions to help families.
- A proven system to deliver expert college funding advice.
- Resources to guide families through the college funding maze.
- Practice management workflows to show you exactly what to do.
- Project a family’s financial aid and out of pocket cost at individual institutions
- Create a college funding plan and ensure students graduate with manageable debt without robbing retirement
- Understand the key differences in the federal and institutional formulas used to determine a family’s expected family contribution (EFC) need based financial aid eligibility
- Income and asset strategies to maximize financial aid offers
- How to analyze, compare, and appeal financial aid award letters
- Cash flow and tax planning strategies for college
- Understand the pending changes and planning opportunities as a result of the FAFSA Simplification Act
Competency Level: Intermediate
FPA Competency: Critical Thinking, Client Communication and Care
CFP Board Topic: Education Planning, Career Development
CFP Board CE Credit Hours: 4.5

Joe Messinger, CFP®, ChFC, CLU
Partner & Director of College Planning
Capstone Wealth Partners, LTD
Joe Messinger, CFP®, ChFC, CLU, CCFC is on a mission to end the student loan crisis one family at a time. He created the innovative College Pre-Approval™ system and has trained thousands of advisors across the country on how to seamlessly guide families through the college-funding maze with confidence and ease. Messinger is a Co-Founder of College Aid Pro™, the award-winning FinTech solution that takes the hassle out of late-stage college planning. A proud graduate of Penn State University, he is also Partner and Director of College Planning at Capstone Wealth Partners, a fee-only RIA.

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