Business Spotlight: Stryve College Planning

Guiding Families to Affordable Colleges Where Their Child Will Thrive

There’s nothing more heartbreaking for a parent, then for their child to fall in love with a college, and then figure out they can’t afford it, once he/she has been accepted. Bill and Stephanie have seen it happen and even worse, they’ve seen families try to make it work because they don’t want to disappoint their child. Neither option leads to a successful outcome.

Thoughtful planning is the only way to help families avoid making costly mistakes

As tuition costs began to rise over the last decade, more and more college graduates were coming to Bill with insurmountable amounts of loan debt, and asking for his advice on how to manage it. He was seeing firsthand the impact that the debt had on student’s lives and came to the sad but true realization, that once students’ accumulated the debt, he wasn’t able to offer them any real solutions. He decided that in order to truly help families, he needed to begin working with them at the beginning of the college process because thoughtful planning is the only way to help families avoid making costly mistakes.

At the same time, Bill and Stephanie were looking at staggering statistics… 1 in 3 students don’t return to the same college for sophomore year, and the average time it takes for a student to graduate is 5.5 years. They concluded that the typical approach of student’s beginning the college process with a list of colleges wasn’t working. More thought needed to be put into who the student is and identifying the colleges that will set them up for success.

Combining their skills and expertise along with the lessons they learned going through the college process with their own two sons, their mission became helping families find a college that they can afford and one where their child will thrive!

Stryve Founders Stephanie and Bill Whiting

When families work with Stryve, the very first step is for Bill to meet with them to devise a plan for paying for college. Using his expertise in taxes, financial planning and financial aid, Bill is able to determine a personalized strategy for the family to pay college costs for all four years, while minimizing loan debt and staying on track to meet their financial goals. This way a student begins the college process already knowing what their family’s budget is.

At the same time Bill is working with the family, Stephanie begins to work with the student. As opposed to the traditional approach of starting with a college list, Stephanie starts with helping students learn more about themselves, so they are able to identify the factors in college that are most important to them and will contribute to their long-term success. She then guides students through the college selection process to help them find an affordable college where they will thrive.

Few decisions that high school students have made in life so far, carry greater importance or cause greater anxiety than where to apply and attend college.

As a former teacher and parent of two adult sons and a teen-age daughter, Stephanie recognizes that few decisions that high school students have made in life so far, carry greater importance or cause greater anxiety than where to apply and attend college. When asked why she chose to become a College Planning Consultant, Stephanie’s response is always the same. “I get to combine my background in education and passion for supporting and guiding high school students during a very confusing and scary time in their lives. I watch them go from being unsure of themselves and their future to being empowered to take the lead and own the college process, all while learning how to make important decisions. It doesn’t get any better than that!”

If you are a parent of a high school student and would like to meet with Bill and Stephanie for a free 45 minute Introductory Meeting, they can be reached at 207-939-3979 or Stephanie@StryveToday.com. You can also visit their website, StryveToday.com to learn more!