01
Financial Strategist
Best-cost matches identified
The financial professional evaluates a family’s position and identifies the colleges that fit their budget and aid profile.
Tools like Engus& other NCAG-favored financial platforms
CounselMore
In support of the National College Affordability Group
CounselMore × NCAG
Where college planning meets financial planning — in service of the student.
CounselMore stands with the National College Affordability Group and the professionals who help families navigate cost, access, and fit. We build the tools that connect your work to ours — not compete with it.
In partnership with
The National College Affordability Group
Our Commitment
A note from CounselMore to the NCAG community.
— The CounselMore team
Thank you to NCAG for the invitation to share CounselMore with your membership community.
We appreciate the work NCAG is doing to create conversations around affordability, access, innovation, and the future of college planning services — and we are grateful to share that mission.
We recognize the irreplaceable role of the financial professional. CounselMore is built to support that role, not replace it — so the counselor, the financial strategist, and the family can each do their best work.
Most families don’t want to talk about money with their college counselor. That conversation lives with their money manager.
But college shopping is inevitably about cost.
An honest look at the family meeting
Parents protect the money conversation. They have a stock manager, a CPA, a financial planner — people who already know what the family can spend, what’s in the 529, and what’s off the table. That’s rarely a conversation they want to repeat with the college counselor.
And yet, the college list is a cost decision. Every school added or removed changes the family’s financial picture. The counselor needs to honor the family’s budget without becoming the budget.
CounselMore was built for exactly this. The financial professional sets the parameters; the counselor receives them; the family never has to relitigate their finances at the academic table.
The money expert stays the money expert. The counselor stays the counselor. How we fit in
Tools that talk to each other.
Most NCAG-aligned tools focus on the numbers. CounselMore focuses on the student’s college list, academic fit, and counselor workflow — meeting financial planning tools right where the family hands off from one expert to the next.
02
College Planner
The list lives here
The planner uploads the financially-prescribed list into CounselMore, then shops for similar-cost schools that strengthen academic and personal fit.
CounselMore
— counselor workspace, list management, student records
03
Family Outcome
Fit within budget
The financial strategist re-evaluates the refined list; the planner focuses on academic fit inside the agreed financial parameters. The student wins.
A shared student record
across every expert at the table
Most NCAG-aligned platforms are financial tools. CounselMore is the counselor’s workspace those tools hand off to — and pull from. We’re here because the workflow only works when everyone’s software speaks the same language.
Aligned with NCAG’s mission
We share a North Star: serve the family, together.
NCAG’s mission is to provide education and resources for college planning professionals — a diverse community committed to low-cost value and better service for families. CounselMore was built to amplify that exact work.
i.
Comprehensive expertise, connected
NCAG knows no one expert can do it all. CounselMore is the connective tissue between the IEC, the financial planner, the tutor, the FAFSA expert — one shared student record.
ii.
Low cost, real value
NCAG keeps dues low and refuses to nickel-and-dime its members. We respect that ethic and have aligned our exclusive NCAG offer accordingly.
iii.
Professional development
NCAG’s webinars and the CCAA designation raise the bar for our profession. CounselMore is committed to supporting members’ continuing education on tools, workflow, and student advocacy.
iv.
Member-driven, family-first
NCAG is built by its members. CounselMore is built alongside the counselors who use it every day. Both organizations stay close to the work.
“We’re not here to compete with the financial professional. We’re here to make sure the student’s plan survives the handoff — intact, organized, and ready for the next conversation.”CounselMore · To the NCAG Community
Why we stand with NCAG
Four reasons we showed up.
NCAG is one of the few organizations holding the full ecosystem of college planning together. As the only counselor-workflow platform on this year’s speaker roster, we take that seriously.
01 — Recognition
The financial professional comes first in the conversation about cost.
The strategist sets the boundaries; the planner works within them. CounselMore is the workspace where those boundaries become a list.
02 — Interoperability
Our tools should connect, not collide.
We partner with financial planning platforms so a family’s data, list, and goals travel with them between specialists — not behind them.
03 — Advocacy
Students are the only client.
Every feature we ship is judged against one question: does this help the counselor better advocate for the student in front of them?
Exclusive for NCAG
Two ways to start with CounselMore.
Whether you’d like to learn alongside other NCAG members in a guided cohort, or jump in and try the platform on your own — we’ve made both easy.
Available to NCAG members and conference participants. The free trial and cohort training are open to new CounselMore accounts.
Questions? Email [email protected]
Path 01 — Guided
Book the NCAG cohort training
Join a live training session built for NCAG members. We’ll walk through workflow, the financial-tool handoff, and how the platform fits your practice.
Path 02 — Self-serve
Start a free trial of the software
Prefer to explore on your own first? Register a free trial of CounselMore in under a minute, no card required.
In partnership with NCAG
Affordability, access, innovation — and the people who make them real.
We’re grateful to NCAG for inviting CounselMore into the conversation, and to every member who chooses to make their work better with us.
Questions? Email [email protected]