It’s layers of deception and uncharitable business practice aimed at a very vulnerable slice of the population.

The foundation I work for is an odd hybrid – a non-profit student loan lender. We couldn’t conscience doing such a thing; we even have a an entry in our myspace blog discussing the basics of financial aid pointing out that there are companies and websites our there that do this.

There are a whole host of companies, ours included, that will provide in-person assistance with the completion of the FAFSA (as well as other daunting forms!) who do *not* charge a fee.

Families looking to locate free assistance should look first to see who their state Guarantee agency is – there is one per state – to see if there are college planning counselors to assist them with the whole process. Each state department of higher education should be able to provide information on who to call. Guidance counselors at your child’s high school are usually excellent resources, too.

After working here for over four years and absorbing a lot of technical info on student loans, my son and I still benefited from our own in-house college planners!

Thank you for helping to get the word out on issues like this. The financial aid process is stressful enough without having to worry about getting taken advantage of!