Who We Are:

College Funding Associates, LLC was founded in 1999 by President, Chuck Drawbaugh,with the goal of taking college planning assistance to the next level.  Mr. Drawbaugh is the author of the book, “How To Send Your Child To College Without Going Broke.”  He is also a leading expert speaker and consumer advocate for families struggling with the college funding issue.   The “Associates” of College Funding Associates, LLC, is a team of Coordinated Professional Resources, or the “CPR Team,” created to deliver maximum value to member families.  The CPR Team coordinates the expertise from professionals in all areas that are crucial to navigating the major life phases families will experience, including Tax Planning, College Planning, Retirement Planning, Risk Planning, and so on.  This coordinated approach guarantees unbiased solutions for maximum outcome and results.

What Do We Do?  Our Mission:

CFA is a college funding/consulting business. Our Mission: Show families how to more easily afford to send their children to college by virtually eliminating the administrative nightmare of the financial aid process, which is very time consuming and filled with countless opportunities for errors that can cause families to lose financial aid. By integrating sound financial planning strategies with the financial aid rules and regulations we implement programs that help families more easily afford to send their children to college, thus leaving them with more money to use for other goals like weddings, retirement, etc.

Why Do We Do What We Do?

We believe people waste a lot of time, energy and money when they are uninformed or misinformed, or when trying to do too much themselves in areas they neither understand nor have time to figure out. Chuck Drawbaugh believes his parents, like most families, overpaid for his college education and he doesn’t want that to happen for his own children or for his clients.  From his 20+ years in the Financial Services field, it became obvious that all families are concerned about, and need help, paying for college.

Our experience working with families tells us that most of the money saved is tied up in retirement plans and in the home. Busy family life leaves little time or money to do proper planning early, which puts most families in a bind later. Here are the key steps to being successful in your college planning:

1. Make the time to become educated and to complete the process, or to work with a professional. Sadly, many people spend more time researching and buying a car than they do when planning for college. Your child will not be scarred for life if you miss one of their games to plan their future.
2. You must understand how to determine your EFC and why this number is so crucial to your success.
3. You also need to understand the importance of properly positioning your student to maximize aid.
4. Be sure to understand how to prevent your college savings from costing you financial aid in the end, and also learn how you can pay for college on a tax favored basis.
5. Lastly, you must understand when and how to appeal a financial aid award from schools.

Why Should You Do Business With College Funding Associates, LLC?

You get an expert and consumer advocate in this field, with access to a support group of other experts to help continually deliver more value to you the client.

• We will save you time.  If you struggle to find 20 minutes to read a newspaper every day, you may not be in a position to commit the time needed to master the process and strategies for maximum results.
• We will reduce your stress. By coaching you, you get the best results without becoming an expert and stressing over whether you are doing everything right:
  

  Meeting deadlines
  Proper completion of forms
  Choosing the right schools
  Student positioning for maximum aid

• We will help identify early on what you can expect to pay and identify the best way possible to pay your share. Even if you can reduce your cost, it is still a big number. Paying on a tax favored basis is one key to minimizing college costs.