OVERVIEW
The Association of Certified College Funding Specialists is the governing body for the Certified College Funding Specialist® (CCFS®) designation.
The CCFS® is the premier college financial funding designation in the financial industry. We serve the public interest by promoting the value of professional, competent and ethical college financial planning services, as recognized by those who have attained CCFS® (Certified College Funding Specialist™) designation.
Our members are Certified Public Accountants, Enrolled Agents, Certified Financial Planners®, Registered Investment Advisors, Wealth & Retirement Planners, Financial Advisors, Lenders, and other licensed financial professionals.
Our members are licensed financial professionals qualified to share prudent financial, tax, cash flow, and lending advice that can help families lower the cost of college and pay their tuition bill.
All of our members must adhere to the highest standards of professional competence, ethical standards, and continuous professional education in college funding.
OUR MISSION
The Association of Certified College Funding Specialists educates, certifies, and promotes our member CPAs, Enrolled Agents, CFP’s, Registered Investment Advisors, Wealth & Retirement Planners, Financial Advisors, Lenders and other licensed financial professionals as the only advisors qualified to give advice on the financial aspects of paying for college and licensed to offer specific financial products and services that can be used to fund college.
While there are college counselors that deal with the general issues of preparing for college, such as admissions, ACT/SAT prep, essay writing, college selection, and financial aid; our members are licensed financial consultants qualified to share prudent tax, financial, cash flow and lending advice that can help families lower the cost of college and pay the tuition bill.
OUR FOUNDER
The Association of Certified College Funding Specialists was founded January, 1st, 2017 by Ron Them, CCFS®.
Using his 25 years of experience in college financial planning, Ron finally created an educational training program solely focused on college financial aid, financial planning, and financial product funding. Those that complete the program achieve the designation of CCFS® (Certified College Funding Specialist™).
The CCFS® designation has been receiving outstanding industry reviews from Life Insurance Agents and RIAs across the country.
Prior to creating the CCFS® designation, he co-created the first ever recognized designation for financial professionals on the subject of college planning called the Certified College Planning Specialist.
For over 25 years, the nation's leading financial advisors, broker/dealers, and major media outlets have been using Ron’s research, funding strategies, training, and insight.
Ron was the Chief Financial Officer of Foote Industries before transitioning to the financial services industry as a registered investment representative and supervisor with Series 7, 24, 63, and 65 investment licenses; as well as, insurance licenses and is now retired from financial services.
Ron is highly regarded as one of the top experts in the college funding field. He has been quoted in:
U.S. News and World Report, Kiplinger's Personal Finance, Smart Money, Financial Advisor Magazine, Small Firm Profit Report, Practical Accountant, LIMRA's Market Facts, Senior Advisors Magazine, HR Magazine, BenefitNews.com, Employee Benefit News Magazine, ProducersWeb.com, Entrepreneur Magazine, Insurance Selling Magazine, CollegeNews.com, The Christian Voice, and Columbus CEO Magazine.
In 1994, Ron’s company, Educational Planning Services became an official Needs-Analysis Servicer for the United States Department Of Education. Ron currently holds copyrights on one of the original college financial aid software programs on the market, and also other publications, including:
- College Financial Aid Wizard Software and Manual - U.S. Copyright Office Certificate of Registration No. TX3-440-502, effective July 1, 1992.
- The College Decision Navigator Guidebook - U.S. Copyright Office Certificate of Registration No. TXu-740-709, effective April 11, 1996.
- The College Decision Navigator Guidebook (Parent & Student Edition) - U.S. Copyright Office Certificate of Registration No. TXu-691-849, effective December 2, 1996.
Ron developed the Cash Flow Recovery™ process that uses cash flow management principles to increase asset value and build wealth for business owners. He is also the originator of several software calculators to help advisors and families make college affordable, including the: WIZARD Financial Aid Manager, College QuikPlan EFC Calculator, "Find the Money" College Cashflow Calculator and the College Debt Reduction Calculator.
Ron helped develop the Answers4College Blueprint, which is quickly becoming the leading college planning application and client management system for advisors in the college market.
OUR MANAGEMENT TEAM
ADVISORY BOARD
Rick Bailey
J.D., MAcc, CFP®Rick Bailey is the Founder and Chairman of Camas Advice and one of the most highly-renowned estate planners in the United States. As a Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) with a Master’s degree in Accountancy/Taxation as well as a Juris Doctorate, Rick Bailey is a highly valuable asset to private clients, CPAs, attorneys, financial advisors, and life insurance professionals for his expertise in advanced estate planning and case design.
Roccy DeFrancesco
JD, CWPP™, CAPP™, CMP™Roccy is an author, a national speaker, an advisor, and an attorney. He is the Founder of The Wealth Preservation Institute, the creator of the Certified Wealth Preservation Planner (CWPP™), Certified Asset Protection Planner (CAPP™), Certified Medicaid Planner (CMP™) designations, and the Co-Founder of the Asset Protection Society.
Scott Greenameyer
CPA, CCFS®, ACCFS Master TrainerScott is a Certified Public Accountant and IAR and was a corporate CFO for two $200 million-dollar companies. Since 2001, Scott has utilized his financial expertise to improve a family’s lifetime financials through college funding, tax strategies, retirement planning, insurance, and annuity solutions, and asset management. As CFO of Financial Strategies Group, one of the largest FMOs focused on college funding, he helps IARs, RIAs, and life producers use college funding in their practices.
Timothy C. Parros
CCFS®, ACCFS Master TrainerTimothy C. Parros, a financial advisor with over 25 years of college funding experience. As the founder of Parros College Planning and Parros Financial Group, he knows that the two biggest issues for his clients and the advisors he trains, are retirement and paying for college. He noticed most parents struggle to find a way to pay for a college education without taking on a great deal of debt or dipping into their retirement resources.
Sam Mikhail
CCFS®, ACCFS Master TrainerSam is the CEO of SmartTrack College Funding and has been an active financial professional since 2002. He is a leading financial educator, popular speaker, and national authority on the college planning process since 2006. He is the nation’s top life and annuities producer in the college funding niche. Sam uses his extensive experience in Accounting, Finance, Tax, and Audit to provide complex financial analyses that include business, asset protection, tax strategies, and lifespan planning.
Tom Chrobak
CCFS®, ACCFS Master TrainerTom is a licensed fiduciary and holistic Wealth Advisor. Tom is the founder of College Funding Accelerator, a turnkey sales, and marketing system for financial advisors wanting to grow their practice using the college funding niche. He is a college planning veteran with over 15 years of experience. He has been Allianz Life’s top producer for the last four years. Tom has over $35 million in FIA/AUM production and has helped families save over $20 million in college tuition costs.
Brad Schiller
Brad is an MIT grad and the CEO of Prompt. Prompt’s mission is to improve writing globally, helping each person become a confident, proficient writer. Prompt delivers online English writing courses, one-to-one writing coaching and feedback, and a writing-specific LMS and instruction delivery platform. Brad has his finger on the pulse of the college admissions process and works with higher education consultants helping their students get into college.
Jay Mehta
CCFS®Jay the co-founder of Veraz Advisors and is an RIA with 20 years of professional work experience. Mr. Mehta holds 2 MBAs – one from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and a second from Columbia Business School, where he also taught MBA and Engineering students. He is a Certified College Funding Specialist and specializes in designing retirement investment plans.
TIMELINE
April
Founder Ron Them travels to Washington D.C. to obtain a copy of the Congressional Methodology formula (now called EFC) from the Library of Congress.
May
Knowing that this formula was not well known especially in the financial services community, Ron forms a new company, Education Planning Services, hires a DOS programmer, and builds one of the first college financial aid analysis tools called the "Wizard Financial Aid Software."
July
Copyright approval received for the "Wizard Financial Aid Software." (Registration # 3-440-502).
January
Educational Planning Services becomes an official Needs-Analysis Servicer for the United States Department Of Education.
May
Ron holds a first of its kind financial aid and college funding training conference for financial professionals in Columbus, OH.
April
Ron's College Decision Navigator Guidebook receives copyright approval from the U.S. Copyright Office (Certificate of Registration No. TXu-740-709, effective April 11, 1996).
December
Copyright approval received for the Parent and Student Edition of the College Decision Navigator Guidebook from the U.S. Copyright Office (Certificate of Registration No. TXu-691-849, effective December 2, 1996.).
April
Marketing of new training course "CollegePLUS - A Turnkey College Planning System for Affluent Families" begins.
October
CollegePLUS turns into a popular nationwide training program teaching advisors how to attract and guide affluent families who want to recoup their total cost of college prior to retirement.
April
Ron Them and two CPAs (Joe Hurley & Ricky Gerald Darvis) form the National Institute of Certified College Planners and create the first certification and designation for financial professionals on the subject of college planning called the Certified College Planning Specialist.
April
Joe Hurley, sells his interest in the NICCP to focus on his college savings website, SavingForCollege.com. Leaving Ron and Ricky the remaining partners.
June
Ron develops Cash Flow Recovery™ to help advisors generate new business during the stock market crash. It uses cash flow management principles to show financial advisors how to help business owners increase asset value and build wealth.
February
Several new college related calculators are added to Cash Flow Recovery™:
- College QuikPlan EFC Calculator
- "Find the Money" College Cash Flow Calculator
- College Debt Reduction Calculator.
September
Ron develops a Business Builder training series that teaches financial professionals how to add college planning to their financial practice.
June
As managing partner, Ron assembles a new management team made up of marketing and IT professionals to educate, market, and promote the college niche to financial professionals across the country.
April
Recognizing that parents and students are borrowing trillions of dollars, Ron and his new management team create an education course for financial professionals called the Education Loan Analyst™ (ELA).
April
Chatter heats up that the Department of Labor may invoke a new Fiduciary Rule, forcing all financial advisors offering retirement planning to become registered as a fiduciary (CFP, Series 65, etc.). Reality begins to set in, as this could affect many of the advisors that call themselves Certified College PLANNING Specialists, and are only insurance licensed.
October
Recognizing the potential of a new DOL Fiduciary rule, and the fact that most advisors offer college funding and not tax planning, Ron decides to create the Certified College Funding Specialist (CCFS®) designation as well as a new company, and certification course.
November
The new CCFS® course is completed. Moving away from college planning that mostly uses tax planning strategies and now focuses more on college funding strategies taking advantage of financial aid, financial planning, and financial products that can be used to fund college.
January
The Association of Certified College Funding Specialists and a new designation called the Certified College Funding Specialist® (CCFS®) is officially launched. With new education training materials that focus more on college financial aid, financial planning, and financial product funding.
September
The CCFS® designation is registered with FINRA.
October
Registered trademarks for the CCFS® mark and Certified College Funding Specialist® are received from the US Patent & Trademark office.
February
Consumer website www.hireaccfs.com which promotes our CCFS® members, adds many new integrations. They include... public messaging, marketing funnels, lead tracking, Google Analytics, Eventbrite integration, and online appointment scheduling integrations with Acuity Scheduling, Calendly, and Schedule Once.