About The College Planning Company

The College Planning Company was founded by Keith Mills. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from Claremont Graduate School (now University) and has taught Economics locally at CMC, La Verne, and Cal State Fullerton, and at East Carolina University, and York University in Toronto. He is experienced in student advising and in financial planning. He and his wife have two sons who attended Claremont schools, and some grandchildren who will soon be preparing for college themselves. For some years he has been involved in retirement planning, where he discovered that the cost of sending children to college often seriously depletes a family's retirement savings. As a result, Dr. Mills has re-focused his energies on strategies for easing college expenses, which is such an urgent priority for so many families today. With the recent decline in the value of savings and investments, the urgency has become even more evident.

The College Planning Company is affiliated with the National Association of College Funding Advisors, The College Planning Network, and The National Institute of Certified College Planners.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Why should I use a College Planner?
It used to be pretty simple to pay for college. Middle and upper income families could afford the tuition payments and there was financial aid for those in need. Most students – and their parents – just worried about getting admitted. But in the past 20 years, college costs have more than tripled, and they've been going up every year even faster than the rate of inflation. This means that paying for college has become a major worry, even for families with higher incomes, and getting financial aid has become a pretty complicated business. Most families have little or no idea of all the possibilities that are available to them. The College Planning Company can help you keep the cost down and find the best way to meet college expenses, in the same way that a good accountant can help you lower your tax bill.

2. Why can't my accountant help me?
Accountants and financial planners don't often consider college financial aid when setting up a family financial plan. Some plans which are designed to save money in taxes can cause you to miss out on the financial aid for college. Since the financial aid forms are often tied to income tax information many people assume that tax accountants are also financial aid experts. Most of them, however, are not trained in this very specialized field, and can make some costly mistakes.

3. What if I make too much to qualify for financial aid?
Don't automatically assume that you don't qualify. Some clients who thought they didn't qualify have received tax-free aid dollars, even with incomes as high as $200,000. And if you do not qualify for outright aid we can still help you cut costs through special loan programs and payment plans.

4. I've heard the aid forms are pretty simple. Why pay someone to do them for me?
Of course you can fill them out yourself. You can also do your own tax return. But it's HOW you fill out the form that will decide whether you qualify for aid, and for how much. Unless you understand how the information on the forms is treated by the college aid officers you can lose a lot of money with a simple mistake. An incomplete or incorrect form will be returned and have to be filed again, causing a delay. Funds are limited. A professional approach gives you a great advantage. Incidentally, we do not charge for filling out the aid forms. We perform that as a free service for clients who use our advisory service.

5. If I want to use your service, how do I sign up?
Just give us a call, or send us your name and address and we'll send you a questionnaire. When you fill it out and return it, we'll study it and arrange for a meeting. All your personal information will be kept strictly confidential, of course.

6. When should I contact you if I'm interested?
Traditionally, the financial-aid process starts with filling out the government and college aid forms. But the sooner you contact us, the sooner we can help you adjust your financial profile to give you the best possible chance at need-based assistance.

7. What if the student is already in college?
We will do whatever we can no matter how little time is involved. Most financial aid forms are filled out improperly, so our professional help can still improve your chances of getting aid, even after the student has started. The planning takes place over the entire four or more years the student is in school, and you need to fill out a new form each year. Even if we can't help much the first year, there are three more to go.

8. Do you sell investments?
Unlike many financial planners, we are not in the securities business. For those clients who wish it, we can provide some secure, voluntary savings plans to make sure they have money available to pay for college and still have funds left for their own retirement.

9. Do you guarantee that we will receive aid?
The college financial aid officer gets to say how much aid you will receive. However, families that use our services get bigger aid packages than those who go it alone. The return in financial aid is almost always far greater than the fees we charge.