1. Your Presenter’s Name Here Your High School Name Here
Welcome families! At this presentation we will cover how to use the Execution Phase of the Financial Fit program. Financial Fit was created by Frank Palmasani, author of Right College Right Price. Frank is a high school counselor and former college admissions director with over 30 years of experience in the area of college financing.
Financial Fit is a revolutionary program whose goal is to help students and their families fund great educations without taking on excessive debt. At this point in the process, you should have sent your college applications and are ready to file financial aid documents and make some decisions about how you will pay for college and which college offer to accept.
Your Presenter’s Name Here
Your High School Name Here

2. Welcome to the Execution Phase!
In this phase, Financial Fit will help you:
File your financial aid documents.
Understand the options for paying.
Compare your college award letters.
File an appeal, if appropriate.
The Execution Phase is the phase after you apply to colleges, so it is appropriate for high school seniors. These are the four main areas with which Financial Fit can help you in this phase. As in the Planning Phase, there are videos and worksheets provided as needed to help walk you through the process.

3. Log in to www. CollegeCountdown
Log in to with the username and password you received.
You have been given (or will be given) a personal username and password to access Financial Fit through the College Countdown website. Go to and log in.

4. Once you are logged in, access Financial Fit Program from the My Tools menu at the top.
Once you are logged into the site, access Financial Fit through the “My Tools” menu at the top of the page.

5. Execution Phase: Steps to complete after college applications.
This is the home page of Financial Fit. From this page, you can access a short introductory video as well as a video that will give you a thorough overview of the Financial Fit method. In this presentation we focus on the Execution Phase of Financial Fit, which includes the last 3 steps of the program, as shown on the right side of the page.

6. Step 4: Financial Aid Documents How do we file financial aid documents?
Resources: Videos: Frank Palmasani explains the concepts Worksheets: Filing Your FAFSA Your CSS Profile Links: Other websites you will need
The fourth step of Financial Fit (the first step of the Execution Phase) is to file your financial aid documents. Financial Fit provides several resources to help you file the FAFSA and CSS Profile. There are several short videos that introduce you to the basic ideas. There are worksheets that help you prepare the materials you will need to file your documents, as well as links to websites you will need to do the filing.

7. Step 4: Financial Aid Docs
When you select “Financial Aid Documents” from the Financial Fit home page, you are brought to this page which gives you access to all the Financial-Aid-Document-related resources: 7 different videos that cover FAFSA, CSS, EFC, and special circumstances, 2 worksheets that help you prepare to file your documents, and 3 external links you will need to apply for a PIN and to file the FAFSA and CSS Profile.

8. Videos: Click on a video title to view the video.
Several videos are available to help you understand the basic concepts. In “Variables Used to Establish EFC, ” Frank explains the variables that are used in calculating your EFC, such as your income and assets. Other videos explain the FAFSA and how to file it, the CSS Profile and when to use it, and special situations such as divorce or students filing independently.

9. Worksheet: Filing Your FAFSA
The “Filing your FAFSA” worksheet helps you prepare to file your FAFSA. It explains what materials and data are needed to complete the FAFSA, and gives a place to store the login and PIN information you will need to save for future use.

10. Worksheet: Filing Your CSS Profile
The “Filing your CSS Profile” worksheet helps you prepare to file your CSS Profile. It explains what materials and data are needed to complete the Profile, and gives a place to record which of your colleges require it and which parent(s) must file in special circumstances.

11. Step 5: Paying the Bill How do we pay for college?
Resources: Videos: Frank Palmasani explains the concepts Links: Other websites you will need
Step 5 of Financial Fit is the “Paying the Bill” step, which helps you understand your options for paying for college, including loans and scholarships, and maximizing benefits such as college merit money.

12. Step 5: Paying the Bill
When you select “Paying the Bill” from the Financial Fit home page, you are brought to this page which gives you access to videos that explain your paying-for-college options, as well as the FAFSA and CSS Profile links.

13. Videos: Click on a video title to view the video.
The 3 videos in this step are: 1) “Variables Used to Establish Net Price,” which explains a bit about how net price is determined and how colleges use merit money to influence net price, 2) “Maximizing Benefits,” which explains ways to lower net price and maximize scholarships, and 3) “The 10 Loan Options,” which explains the types of loans available to students and parents.

14. Step 6: Award Letters How do you get the best deal?
Resources: Videos: Frank Palmasani explains the concepts Worksheets: Help you compare award letters and file an appeal.
The final step of Financial Fit is the “Award Letters” step. This is where you compare your award letters so you can understand exactly what is being offered by each college, how much you would need to provide out-of-pocket for each school, and which colleges are your best values. This step also explains how to file an appeal, for those cases in which an appeal is appropriate.

15. Step 6: Award Letters
When you select “Award Letters” from the Financial Fit home page, you are brought to this page, which gives you access to videos that explain the appeal process and how to compare your college award letters, in addition to worksheets to simplify both of those tasks.

16. Videos: Click on a video title to view the video.
The 2 videos in this step are: 1) “The Appeal Process,” which explains how to file an appeal and identify the cases in which an appeal is recommended and 2) “Award Letters” which explains the contents of award letters and how to compare them.

17. Worksheet: Filing an Appeal
This worksheet – “Filing an Appeal” – explains the four situations in which an appeal is strongly recommended, and it gives a template for an appeal letter to help you get started.

18. Worksheet: Comparing Award Letters
This worksheet – “Comparing College Award Letters” – gives a table with detailed instructions to help you extract the relevant and comparable pieces of data from your college award letters. The worksheet is structured to let you identify and compare the total net price, gift aid amount, and final cost of attending each college, so you will understand exactly how much you will pay and there will be no surprises.

19. You’re Almost There!
Once your documents are filed, you’ve planned how you will pay, and you know which school you will attend...
All that is left is to:
Send that acceptance letter, and
Start preparing for your first year of college!
Good luck!
You are on your way to the right college at the right price!