By Elizabeth Ellison, President Cornerstone Education Loans
When children need specialized educational help most parents have two major concerns. First, which program is right for their child and secondly how should they pay for it?
While I can’t tell you which program to pick, I can offer you some guidelines on how to finance your choice. Here are some points to consider:
Consider the Options
Many times families in crisis are so concerned about getting their child help that they don’t think clearly when it comes to considering their financial alternatives. This is completely understandable but can end up costing you financially.
Difficult as it sounds, try to stay calm. Don’t let your rush to find funding cause you to make an unwise decision. Parents should do a little homework and explore all their options.
What Should a Broker Provide?
At Cornerstone, our mission is to help parents obtain affordable, personally tailored loans for their child’s needs. We gather the information, submit the documentation, and follow up daily with the lender until the loan is completely funded. We remain in touch with parents and the school so that both know exactly where we’re at in the loan process.
You should expect the same from your broker. He/she should return your calls promptly and make certain any questions you have are answered completely. I tell parents there are no dumb questions and to call me as often as they need to. After all, we’re talking about their most treasured possession – their child.
Smart Money
It’s generally wiser to finance your child’s schooling through an education loan than to clean out your retirement accounts or stocks. Those options can result in some hefty tax penalties.
Likewise, borrowing against your house is usually not your best long term option. Education loans do not require collateral and interest rates are often comparable to a home equity loan. Also, there are no pre-payment penalties for paying off your loan before its due date.
Education loans usually offer tax benefits as well. Check with your tax advisor about specific tax advantages that may apply to your situation.
Who Can Qualify?
Sometimes families make the mistake of thinking education loans are only for the very wealthy. In fact, I’ve worked with families from all different financial backgrounds.
If your credit isn’t high enough to qualify for a particular loan many times a co-borrower helps. If there are troubling items on your credit report those can sometimes be explained or even removed with the proper documentation. Generally speaking, a credit score of 645-650 with no major derogatory remarks will be enough to secure funding.
I Can’t Afford a Loan
Many parents look at the amount of tuition programs require and think, “I couldn’t possibly afford it.” However, an education loan can often put the program you want well within your reach.
My job is to detail the loan and calculate the monthly payment so parents know exactly what they’re getting in to. There is no guess work. When tuition is amortized over many years it generally becomes very affordable. Also, in long term cases loan payments can often be deferred for months, making repayment more convenient.
I Applied but the Lender Said No
If you’ve already tried to find funding on your own and been turned down, don’t give up. I work closely with the top three educational lenders: Prep Gate, Key and Sallie Mae. Often times I can review your application and help you clear up trouble spots.
My experience has taught me which lenders will probably be best for which families. A personal phone call from me to the loan officer can help us to understand what, if anything, can be done to rectify the denial.
Occasionally parents have simply failed to include a key piece of information that, once supplied, can move the loan into approved status.
I look for every lending opportunity available so the child can be placed.
What Kind of Documentation is Required?
For most families, all the loan officer will need is proof of income and residency. Occasionally, lenders require proof of citizenship. In rare cases, the lender will need a statement of your assets and liabilities.
How Long Does it Take?
Cornerstone can usually secure a conditional approval in 24 business hours. Many programs will proceed with admission based on that decision. On average, a formal approval will take 5-6 business days from start to finish.
No Surprises
While shopping for funding, parents should be sure to ask their loan officer to detail all of the costs associated with their loan. Typically, the broker will charge an application fee. Less reputable companies will try to tack on bogus fees for services that should be free.
As a mother and a financial services professional, I believe every child has gifts and abilities that are uniquely theirs. My job isn’t really about arranging loans, It’s about allowing parents to concentrate on placing their child in the best possible learning environment, knowing their financial concerns are being attended to.
Almost every week we receive letters or emails from former RedCliff students or their parents, thanking us for the change in their lives. While we appreciate the warm words of praise, we really can’t take credit for it. It’s the students themselves who made the commitment to take responsibility for their lives.
It is extremely gratifying to see our students rise to their potential. We are thrilled to hear their success stories. Especially touching is Trevor’s tribute to his father. Part of that letter is published here, along with a college entrance essay Trevor wrote.
As RedCliff parents and alumni, we hope you’ll enjoy this update on some of your peers. If you have a story you’d like to share, please email us at jenniferj@redcliffascent.com
- The Editors
It started with an essay for a college entrance application. Trevor, a 2007 RedCliff graduate, wrote the paper at his father’s office.
His father read the essay and was so impressed with his son’s insight he forwarded the story to RedCliff.
When Trevor learned his dad had sent the story to us, he wrote a touching email expressing his love and gratitude for his father and his encouragement.
We loved the essay and the email and, with Trevor’s permission, have included portions of both.
By the way, university officials were also impressed with Trevor’s writing. He has been accepted to the University of Montana (his first college choice), where he plans to major in psychology and wilderness studies.
-The Editors
From Trevor’s email:
…He is my hero, always has and always will be. My father does what his heart tells him to do when many push it aside. … In today’s world, people like my dad are few and far between.
They sent me to RedCliff not knowing what they would get out of it, and I dragged my feet the whole way there, not knowing what I was getting into. Today I am glad I had the opportunity to participate in our program, and I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you for giving me a second chance at life and with my parents. Through the troubles I faced and the troubles ahead, RedCliff has given me the strength and confidence I need to overcome those obstacles.
Lately he has been more of a hero to me than my whole childhood. It doesn’t matter to me if my hero takes me fishing or to Disneyland any more. It matters to me that my hero thinks of me, remembers who I am, who I have become and who I will be in the future. It matters to me that my hero loves me, my flaws, my strengths, and that he shows that love.
What my dad has done for me is a love story. A story of a father’s love for his son, and I can’t describe the gratitude I have for that story. Thank you. Thank you for helping me to realize who I am.
By Trevor R
As I stepped out of the car and into the darkness, my whole world changed. The moment my feet met the barren land, it was apparent that my life was going to be much more difficult. I looked out into the darkness, the howling wind blowing snow into my face. This was a foreign land, a different planet – where was I? I was stranded in a place so strange; it wasn’t too different from Mars. It was the desert of Southern Utah.
It was a far cry from the warm winter nights of San Clemente, where a walk on the pier and a trip to an ice cream parlor in January are commonplace. In Utah, surrounded by 500 square miles of snow, the last thing on my mind was ice cream. It seemed almost impossible that a few wrong turns could drive me here; little did I know that this place was one of new beginnings.
Kidnapped? Yes – in a way, I was. A little boy who, struggling to escape the pressures of this world, was kidnapped by addiction, by drugs and alcohol. I put on a mask and hid; hoping that this new persona would fool those around me. It slowly dawned on me that the whereabouts of this missing child were unknown, and there was little hope of bringing him back. I had lost myself. And that is how I ended up in the wilderness far from home and myself.
For three seemingly endless months I scratched and struggled through the desert. Shin splintering hikes, freezing rain at night or the blistering sun at noon, the taste of sand and dust and the smell of fire smoke – these were the elements of my every day. We laid down to sleep on the ground well after sunset, and arose with the sun the next day. I made more than 150 fires in the wild, blowing nights, using nothing but stone-age tools and breathing the tiniest embers into a flame that I would build taller than myself, roaring like a lion in the night.
I learned to find my own way my own path, helping to guide my newfound friends to find theirs as well. Together we explored. We climbed mountains just to keep our spirits high, even though food was scarce and water precious. Group therapy every day became our new wilderness, our new frontier. Speaking our truths became our currency. Earning trust was power; power enough to earn true freedom.
My experiences challenged me to unleash character traits I never knew I possessed; durability, rugged perseverance, courage, self-discipline, honesty, compassion and a renewed hunger for life.
Gail provides this update on her son, Christopher, a RedCliff graduate from 2004:
“He is in his senior year at Bryant University in Rhode Island majoring in business. He started college at Emmanuel College in Boston as an art major (he is truly a gifted artist). Spent two years there and decided art was not his thing and transferred to Bryant. He is due to graduate in May and then may go on to architectural school for a graduate degree – a perfect combination of art and business.
“Just as an aside, I must tell you that he goes camping in Maine every summer for a week – he has done this for about four years – with friends from Emmanuel College.
“EVERY summer when he is ready to take off, I always start to ask and remind him if he has everything he needs, etc. And he always gives me a quick stare and a twinkle from his gorgeous blue eyes and reminds me that he spent eight weeks from H…L in the desert in Utah and yes, he probably knows a bit more about camping and survival than I will ever know.
“We still have ALL his stuff from RedCliff, including the white-turned-gray t-shirts and his bits of carved wood … adorn the edge of my kitchen sink…”
RedCliff students and staff were honored to host the Clan of the Hand ceremony in September. The Clan of the Hand is an exclusive honor society of men and women who have made outstanding contributions to wilderness therapy.
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Held at Outpost, this year’s Clan of the Hand ceremony honored Ken Stettler and George Church. Ken has more than 30 years experience with the State of Utah Department of Human Services. He has been instrumental in helping to craft licensing guidelines that insure the safety of students enrolled in wilderness programs.
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Clan members were honored in a ceremony that dips their hands in red paint and places a handprint on the wall of Outpost’s ceremonial kiva.
“He was one of those kids that pushed the envelope and lived on the edge.” That’s how Leslie describes her son, Morgan. Morgan attended RedCliff in 2005. Since then, he’s been working in Lake Tahoe at Heavenly Mountain ski resort.
“Quite honestly, we were extremely doubtful about him coming around,” Leslie says. “He has such a strong personality and is so bullheaded.” Leslie says she and her husband were afraid Morgan would be able to bluff his way through therapy.
That was until they met Doc Dan.
“When we sat in the parents’ seminar we were just blown away,” Leslie recalls. She says although the family had weekly phone calls with Doc Dan it took the seminar to make RedCliff’s therapeutic model really hit home.
It’s been two years now since Morgan graduated. “He’s definitely had some bumps but he’s happy and he’s taking care of himself.”
Leslie concludes, “He didn’t walk out of there and become an instant success. But he’s taking responsibility for every single thing in his life.”
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