College Aid Calculator(R) Helps College Financial Planners Boost Services, Reduce Costs; College Aid Calculator slashes time required by planners and CPAs to develop financial planning strategies for students and their parents.

DRESDEN, Maine -- Think Ahead, Inc., a developer of college financial planning tools that help financial planners become experts in college planning, announces that professional college planners have found that its College Aid Calculator software application helps them improve services to parents while reducing overall costs. Financial planners and CPAs use this software to help families obtain more information about the costs of college, estimate anticipated financial aid, and compare and contrast anticipated aid packages. Many college financial planners have used the tool to help build their financial planning practices.

"I used to use spreadsheet software to develop reports comparing financial aid prospects for parents, but College Aid Calculator has slashed the time I need to spend, while providing more accurate data," says Larry Dannenberg, Principal, College Solutions. "I save at least 10 hours a week by using this tool, in part because I no longer have to update my spreadsheet for every variation in rules and regulations - College Aid Calculator does all of that tedious work for me, and allows me to spend more time focusing on my customers' needs."

Most financial planners charge customers between $100 and $200 an hour; the time saved by using College Aid Calculator enables them to pay back the cost of the tool in less than one week. The software provides comprehensive answer keys for FAFSA and PROFILE aid forms, which help college financial planners and CPAs guide their customers more efficiently and effectively. In addition, the software quickly and easily creates reports that calculate and compare aid eligibility for up to five colleges, side-by-side, simultaneously. Planners can work with parents to select from a list of thousands of private and public colleges to create customized, useful reports.

"We provide it as a free download to visitors of our website and then encourage them to complete the data entry and email us the encrypted data record that the CAC provides. This allows us to thoroughly analyze the prospect's college funding profile before they come into our office to meet for a consultation," says Tom Bottorf, President and Founder of GetCollegeFunding, Inc. "This single tool has increased the efficiency and effectiveness of our consultations beyond measure - and significantly differentiates our company from the competition."

"For me, as a fee-only college funding planner, CAC properly identifies the various aspects of the family contribution methods," says Fred Amrein, Amrein Financial. "It allows me to develop the best strategies to lower my clients out of pocket cost of education.

Unlike some freeware calculators available on web sites, College Aid Calculator is continually updated with every new federal regulation, so that financial planners can provide parents and students with the most up-to-date and accurate information. Planners and CPAs can brand the product with their own logos, which has helped them develop and enhance their identity with their customers.

About Think Ahead, Inc.

Founded in 1996, Think Ahead, Inc. is nationally recognized for producing high quality college financial planning tools, including College Aid Calculator, a tool that helps parents with high school students understand options and next steps in financial aid; Early college-cost Estimator, which helps parents with young children explore college financial planning options; and College Cost Forecaster, which addresses comprehensive 529 saving/borrowing/cash-flow issues. These products meet the needs of families planning for college and provide user-friendly marketing tools for state higher education agencies, lenders, colleges and universities, as well as financial planners and CPAs. For more information, call 800-780-0515 or visit www.CollegeAidCalculator.com.