College Assistance Plus brings financial aid to negotiating table

New York-based consulting firm College Assistance Plus is designed to help parents navigate the funding maze – and to encourage competition between schools for new enrollees – and a southwest Missouri franchise is spreading the message to area families.

“(College debt) is the thousand-pound gorilla in the United States household that people are reluctant to address,” said Paul Celuch, a former IBM and MCI executive who helped to create the CAPlus program. “You know it’s coming, but you don’t realize, A, how much it’s going to cost and, B, how quickly it’s sneaking up on you.”

Choosing the best deal

The company helps families through the financial aid and scholarship application process by comparing schools based on price, considering student and parent preferences and negotiating with colleges for the best financial aid package.

“We like to create competition over the student,” Celuch said. “Say somebody wanted to go to Drury (University). We would find competitor schools to Drury … then have you apply to a competitor school – maybe several – and use those financial aid offers … to go back and appeal to Drury for a better financial aid package.”

Chuck and Belinda Mercer launched their Ozark-based CAPlus franchise in April 2006. Though they already were considering buying a business, they chose CAPlus when Belinda was researching colleges for their oldest son.

“We’d looked at several other education-related businesses and we thought we’d just check it out,” Belinda Mercer said. “We flew out to New York to meet (the founders) and we just loved what they were doing.”

For a fee of $1,595 per student, CAPlus will work on the student’s behalf until college graduation.

“It’s the same price no matter what, so the earlier we work for you the more bang for your buck,” Mercer said, noting that CAPlus can begin working with students as early as seventh grade, but most of the local franchise’s 11 current clients are high school sophomores or older.

Chuck Mercer encourages people to think of college education as a business decision.

“If you’re going to buy a $200,000 home, you hire a professional – a real estate agent. You look at a lot of different homes before you decide; you don’t just write a check for the asking price, you negotiate the best price you can get,” he said, noting that college selection should be handled the same way.

Mercer said it’s important to note that CAPlus isn’t in the business of giving financial advice when it comes to paying for higher education.

“We try to find free money for our college students that does not have to be paid back,” he said.

Database access

One of the key parts of the CAPlus program is its proprietary college database, which contains records of 2,900 different colleges and universities throughout the nation.

“We use that proprietary database to market the student to schools that we think really want them, and then we do the appeal process based on what schools show attractive offers to the family,” Celuch said.

Students’ desires also are taken into account. Belinda Mercer said students and their parents provide feedback about the desired campus setting, how far they want to be from their hometowns, price ranges and the level of difficulty of entrance requirements to cull out which schools best suit them.

Spreading the word

The Mercers give seminars at high schools, PTA meetings, churches and private in-home gatherings.

“The main thing that we love to do is give seminars and teach about just, basic things – about college selection,” Chuck Mercer said.

Belinda Mercer noted that those meetings, which cover school-selection strategies, financial aid and other topics, aren’t used just as a sales pitch for CAPlus, though attendees frequently ask about it.

Employers also can access the seminars as a free benefit for their employees, Chuck Mercer said.

“(CAPlus) is really a ministry for us,” Chuck Mercer said. “But it’s quickly turning into a profit-making business.”

All levels of income

Co-founder Celuch said CAPlus can help families with all income levels.

“The prevailing wisdom is, if you make more than $70,000 or $80,000 a year you’re not going to get any help going to college, and that’s absolutely false,” he said. “We have several millionaire clients who we got $20,000 and $30,000 and $40,000 scholarships for their sons or daughters.”

Ozark high school senior Lily Swafford is among the Mercers’ current clients. She said working with them through CAPlus has been a positive experience, particularly because many of her questions aren’t answered on college Web sites.

“It’s really nice just being able to call someone who knows exactly where to go to find that answer,” she said, noting that she also appreciates the help she’s gotten with filling out applications, which often include essays.

“(Belinda) doesn’t write it for you of course – but she helps you revise it and make it better.”

CAPlus began franchising in November 2006, and not including the headquarters in New York, there are 18 franchises in 10 states: Missouri, Colorado, Delaware, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Information about CAPlus is available at www.collegeassistanceplus.com.

College Students and Debt

College students are graduating with an average of $24,800 in loans.

The average college student has approximately $3,000 in outstanding credit card debt.

Scholarships make up only 3 percent of college funding.

At least 42 percent of Free Application for Federal Student Aid forms contain mistakes.

The average college student changes majors three to four times during his or her undergraduate career, and changing majors or transferring colleges costs an estimated $8,000 each time.

About 60 percent of students who begin college never graduate.

Source: College Assistance Plus