Most Unaware That College Financial Aid Packages Are Negotiable, Survey Reveals

New Survey Finds Students and Those With High School-Aged Children
Living At Home With Them Are “In the Dark” When It Comes To Determining And
Negotiating College Financial Aid Eligibility

SAN MATEO, CA April 19, 2007 – In the face of increasing public scrutiny of college financial aid practices, a recent survey revealed that parents may be at a disadvantage when it comes to reaping the benefits of college financial aid.

As nervous college-bound kids eagerly await the arrival of their college acceptance letters this month, and anxious parents check their bank accounts, the survey, commissioned by TuitionCoach and conducted by Harris Interactive®, showed that 50% of students and 50% of U.S. adults with high-school aged children living at home with them are unaware that they have the ability to negotiate college financial aid packages. The survey, with 2,873 respondents nationwide¹, also showed that 55% of the same group believes that not much can be done to change one's college financial aid eligibility.

“Considering the complex and often intimidating financial aid process, these numbers are not surprising to us in the least. We have known that parents of college-bound students are generally uninformed of the ‘rights’ they have when it comes to college financial aid, precisely the reason we launched TuitionCoach.com, to help people get the most out of their financial aid,” said Dr. Wrubel, college funding advisor and co-founder of The College Company. “We've also seen that students often do not apply to their first choice school because they deem it too expensive, unaware that a properly prepared and negotiated financial aid package can reduce the tuition burden and eliminate most financial worries associated with choosing the ‘right’ school.”

For instance, 41% of those households earning less than $35K polled indicated that having a college savings account in a child's name is an advantage when applying for financial aid, but according to Wrubel, a savings account in a child's name can reduce a family's financial aid eligibility by as much as 20-25%.

“Reallocating assets under the parent's name causes those assets to be penalized by only 5.6%, and if placed in a retirement account, the assets disappear from the financial aid formula altogether. This accomplishes an increase in financial aid eligibility as well as protection of parents' retirement and long-term financial health,” continued Wrubel. “Parents need to know that it's never too early to start planning for their child's college financial aid. The decisions made early on in the planning process can have long-term effects on tuition costs and financial aid eligibility.”

The poll also revealed that 56% of students believe there is little they can do to improve their financial aid eligibility.

“This is a common misconception. Even students currently in college should be assessing and reassessing their financial aid package on an annual basis to determine if they are getting the best deal for their education,” added Wrubel. “In order to do that, a student or family must first be able to understand the primary elements in a financial aid award; their calculated eligibility for aid and the quality of the aid offered. Without a reasonable working knowledge of these components, a fair assessment and effective renegotiation of financial aid awards becomes far more problematic.”

Survey Methodology
This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive via its QuickQuerySM online omnibus service on behalf of TuitionCoach between March 26 to 28, 2007 among 2,873 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for region, age within gender, education, household income and race/ethnicity were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online.

With a pure probability sample of 2,873 one could say with a ninety-five percent probability that the overall results would have a sampling error of +/- 3 percentage points. Sampling error for data based on sub-samples would be higher and may vary. However, that does not take other sources of error into account. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

About TuitionCoach
TuitionCoach (http://www.tuitioncoach.com) is a personalized internet-based program created by The College Company that guides families step-by-step through the college financial aid process, offering: expert tips for completing financial aid applications; guidance to maximize financial aid eligibility; suggestions to avoid common mistakes on financial aid forms; a personalized assessment of a student's financial aid award; and suggestions for negotiating a better award, as necessary. TuitionCoach's tools are based on experience derived from Dr. Paul Wrubel, a college funding advisor who has spent 35 years in public education at the secondary school level arming families with the knowledge and guidance to dramatically upgrade their college choices.

About Harris Interactive®
Harris Interactive is the 12th largest and fastest-growing market research firm in the world. The company provides innovative research, insights and strategic advice to help its clients make more confident decisions, which lead to measurable and enduring improvements in performance. Harris Interactive is widely known for The Harris Poll, one of the longest running, independent opinion polls and for pioneering online market research methods. The company has built what it believes to be the world's largest panel of survey respondents, the Harris Poll Online. Harris Interactive serves clients worldwide through its United States, Europe and Asia offices, its wholly-owned subsidiaries Novatris in France and MediaTransfer AG in Germany, and through a global network of independent market research firms. More information about Harris Interactive may be obtained at www.harrisinteractive.com. To become a member of the Harris Poll Online and be invited to participate in online surveys, register at www.harrispollonline.com.

¹ 348 of the survey's respondents are U.S. adults with children aged 13-17 years living in their households.