This week on the Dads Spotlight podcast we are bringing you Joe DePaulo, the CEO and Co-Founder of College Ave Student Loans.

Chris has been working in the College Admissions field for almost 20 years and because of this experience he is always working to help families see the benefit of planning and saving for college early.

Joe DePaulo said that much of his team came from the consumer lending end of the financial services world. Being in the student loan industry they saw that there was a need to provide much better products and services to consumers and because of this they decided to create College Ave. Student Loans. At the most basic level, with their company they wanted to be very very clear at what they were providing the lender. Simple, clear and personalized was the mantra that they developed as they developed their company and this remains today.

As you are thinking about college and thinking about paying for college, Joe DePaulo first said that you need to fist find a school, or schools that offer strong academics and that will offer you what you are looking for in a school. Have a few options, with varying cost points to be able to have options for yourself.

Second, fill out the FAFSA or the Free Application for Federal Student Aid to see what kind of aid you are qualified for. Once you find out how much you are eligible for, make sure to also apply for any school based scholarships that might be required to assist you as well.

WE asked Joe DePaulo aboout how you can help your kids to better understand money in general. He stated that for him, the most important thing that you can do is teach them about basic budgets. This is especially true for any child that will be going away for college but really any college student needs to understand this.

It’s back to school time and some parents out there are trying to figure out how to best prepare their kids as they go off to college. Starting them on the right track can help them make good choices about spending, saving, and borrowing. Smart choices right now can help yoang adults avoid unnecessary financial stress in the future. Here are some tips from College Ave Student Loans CEO and Co-Founder Joe DePaulo on things to consider when preparing your kids for going off to college. As your kids are starting to understand basic budgets and you start to talk about borrowing for college, the thing that kid have to understand is what that loan will cost them by the time that they get out of college.  Students need to understand what their monthly costs will be with student loan costs built in as they try and truly grasp what they need to be able to get by month by month.

As a company College Ave. Student Loans works to make sure that all lendees know what they are getting involved in and helps you plan for your future. For them it is important for you to understand that starting to pay for your student loans in college will help you greatly in lowering your overall costs in general.  In all as a company they want to help students to borrow as little as possible and have the lowest interest rate as they can too!

Th FAFSA form is the form that you will have t be filling out every year o prepare you for receiving college student aid. Jow DePaulo said there are a few things you want to remember:

* Apply for the FAFSA as early as possible

* Do not wait to fill it out as many colleges are pushing up their deadlines for letting you know about scholarships.

                                  

Tip #1:                  Talk to your kids about financial basics, like creating and sticking to a monthly budget.

 

This will help your student make better choices about spending and saving money. Here are some basic steps to take with your college student to make a budget they can stick to.