Patty Smith, single parent of 12th grader, Gina, felt intimidated by the financial aid process. After Gina was accepted at 3 colleges, Patty had to decipher the award offers and figure out the best one.

Patty joined TuitionCoach and used worksheets for the 2 most common financial aid forms. She got tips to improve her financial aid outcome. Later, Patty used the Financial Aid Offers module for an expert assessment of each offer. She turned to the custom negotiation tips in the module to get a better offer from Gina's first-choice college.

Maria and Luis Rivera had conscientiously saved for retirement, not wanting to later burden their kids (10th grader Carlos, 7th grader Samantha, 5th grader Sylvia). They learned their expected family contribution (EFC) for college would be $22,000 per year. How could they pay that without cashing in their retirement savings plan?

The Riveras used the Analyze Funding Options tool to discover strategies to protect their retirement assets. They learned about options that helped to keep their money in the family's bank account and protect their long-term financial health.

Roseanne Collins, a divorced mom with two sons (Nicholas-11th grade and Tim-9th grade), assumed that state and community colleges were all that she could afford.

Using the College Cost Calculator, Roseanne entered her family's financial information and immediately learned that most colleges, public or private, would probably cost her about $14,000 per year. Roseanne then tried out the money-saving strategies in Minimize College Costs. She learned how to improve her financial aid eligibility and reduce her cost of college to $9,000 per year. Even better, Roseanne discovered that once both Nicholas and Tim were in college, she would still continue to pay a total of only about $9,000 per year, for both of them combined!

Jim and Susan Feldstein were doing fine. Their daughter, Lucy, was enrolled in an Ivy League college. As TuitionCoach members, the Feldsteins made college affordable with a decent financial aid award and an out-of-pocket funding game plan. Out of the blue, Jim's job was "downsized." He faced a 50% drop in his income that put paying for college out of reach.

Following the advice in TuitionCoach, Jim worked with the financial aid office at Lucy's college to craft a new aid award based upon his projected financial prospects. Lucy never missed a class and is scheduled to become a graduate in two years.