You Make Too Much to Qualify for Aid on Paper — and Not Enough to Just Write the Check
The FAFSA and CSS Profile aren’t a snapshot of your finances — they respond to how your income and assets are positioned before you file. Most families never learn this, because school counselors don’t teach it and financial advisors aren’t trained on the aid formulas specifically.
Get the Course — $297The Formula Isn’t Fixed — It’s a Formula
Colleges don’t look at what you’re worth. They look at what the FAFSA and CSS Profile calculate you’re worth — and those two formulas treat income, home equity, retirement savings, and business ownership very differently from each other. That gap is where families lose money, not because they don’t qualify, but because nobody explained how the calculation actually works before they filed.
- ✔️ The FAFSA and CSS Profile score income and assets differently — filing the same way for both leaves money on the table.
- ✔️ Home equity, retirement accounts, and business equity aren’t treated equally by the formulas — how you hold them matters.
- ✔️ Timing and documentation decisions made months before you file can change your number.
This course teaches you how those formulas actually work, so you can legally reposition your finances before you file — not after it’s too late to matter.
Inside Financial Aid Positioning
| Lesson | Focus |
|---|---|
| 0 – 1 | How the aid system actually works — FAFSA vs. CSS Profile, who requires what, and the scams to watch for |
| 2 | Inside the SAI formula — what counts as income vs. asset, and how the number is actually built |
| 3 | How colleges package aid — award letters, gapping, merit stacking, and why two offers can look completely different |
| 4 | Timing — the base year, filing windows, and deadlines that can quietly cost you money if missed |
| 5 – 6 | Build your target school list and calculate your real Student Aid Index using The Money Map Calculator |
| 7 | Asset Repositioning Strategy — how to legally reposition income and assets before you file, using your own real numbers |
Lessons 8 and 9 — income timing strategy, and household/blended-family filing rules — are in active development and will be added to this course at no additional cost as they’re released. $297 is the launch price while the course is still being built out — it increases once Lessons 8 and 9 ship.
Is This You?
This is built for parents of college-bound high schoolers who are still a year or more out from filing — households that are financially “in the middle”: not positioned to qualify for aid on paper as things stand today, but not in a position to comfortably write a full-price check either. Usually there’s meaningful equity in a home, retirement savings, sometimes a business — assets that get treated very differently depending on how they’re positioned before you file.
- ✅ Parents of college-bound students in grades 10 through 12
- ✅ Families who want to understand how their finances actually affect aid, formula by formula
- ✅ Anyone who wants to legally improve their aid eligibility before senior year
- ✅ Families with a home, retirement savings, or a business — the assets these formulas treat least intuitively
A note on what this is: this course teaches you how the aid formulas work, so you can make informed decisions about your own finances before you file. It is not personalized financial, investment, or tax advice, and I’m not acting as your advisor — I’m teaching you the mechanics so you can apply them to your own numbers.
Why Listen to Me
I ran a 1:1 financial aid consulting practice for six years (2012–2018), working directly with families through this exact filing process — with a minimum engagement of $1,500 and packages up to $5,000. This course teaches that same strategy, at a fraction of what families used to pay for it one-on-one.
Get Instant Access
Financial Aid Positioning is available now — Lessons 0 through 7, self-paced, watch at your own speed. Lessons 8 and 9 will be added to your access at no extra cost as they’re completed.
Get the Course — $297Self-paced — no live calls, no community. Not a financial, investment, or tax advisor.
🔒 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee — if this isn’t right for you, ask for a refund within 30 days of purchase, no hoops to jump through.
Common Questions
My student hasn’t picked schools yet — is this too early?
No — this is actually the ideal time. The strategies in this course work best when they’re applied before you file, and most of them need lead time to matter. Lesson 5 walks you through building even a light target list with the schools you’re considering, so the rest of the course has something real to apply to.
My target schools are FAFSA-only — do I still need the CSS Profile material?
You can skip what doesn’t apply to you. The course is built so FAFSA and CSS Profile content is clearly separated at each step — if none of your schools require CSS Profile, you’ll know exactly which sections to move past.
I don’t know anything about financial aid formulas — will this make sense to me?
Yes. The course is built to start from zero — Lessons 0 through 6 are entirely concept, building your understanding piece by piece before any strategy is introduced in Lesson 7. Nothing assumes prior knowledge.
Is this financial or tax advice for my specific situation?
No. This course teaches how the FAFSA and CSS Profile formulas work so you can make informed decisions — on your own, or with your own financial, tax, or legal advisor. It isn’t personalized advice, and I’m not acting as your advisor.
What if it’s not for me?
Ask for a refund within 30 days of purchase. No hoops, no forms to justify it.
Get Ready to Plan Smarter
Start today and take the first step toward understanding how colleges really calculate aid — and how to position your family’s finances for the best possible outcome.
Get the Course — $297