Peter “College Pete” Ratzan

Peter “College Pete” Ratzan is a co-founder of College Planning Specialists of Florida and a Certified College Advisor through the American College Funding Association.

A native of South Florida, Peter is a former high school social studies teacher at Ransom Everglades School in Miami, his alma mater. He also served for three years as a guidance counselor to 12th grade students at Temple Beth Sholom in Miami Beach, helping to prepare students for the transition to college.

Prior to founding College Planning Specialists, Peter worked for 12 years in corporate America, including nine years at Motorola, Inc. During these years Peter witnessed first-hand the challenges faced by the “forgotten middle class” in paying the ever-rising costs of college.

Together with his partner Andy Lockwood, Peter co-authored The “Never Pay Retail for College” Financial Aid Maximization Plan, a manual filled with tips and strategies on controlling college costs. He and Lockwood also co-hosted the College Planning Power Hour on 1400 ESPN Radio in Ft. Lauderdale and makes frequent appearances on television and in other local media.

Peter holds a BA from Tufts University, and an MBA and MA (International Affairs) from The George Washington University. He lives in Weston with his wife and two children. Peter loves to play tennis on Saturdays and cheer for the Miami Dolphins on Sundays.

About Andrew Lockwood, J.D. – College Funding Specialists

The local media and many high school guidance counselors think of Andy as somewhat of a “bad boy” of college planning – he is blunt, outspoken and openly critical of runaway college costs, how the college financial aid system really works to penalize the “forgotten” middle class, and the abysmal lack of guidance families and college-bound teens receive in key areas.

Formerly a practicing attorney (corporate and securities law) in New York City and South Florida, Andy is no stranger to crippling high rate, high fee student loans. Although he worked his way through his undergraduate (Wesleyan University) and law school (St. John’s University), as a custodian, waiter, line cook, bartender and any other work he could find, he still ended up with more than $100,000 in burdensome, high payment loans… despite receiving a smattering of need-based scholarships and grants (he was not a member of the “Silver Spoon Club”)!

Being a decent enough athlete to make the basketball team at Wesleyan helped Andy get in, and pay for a college he likely would not have otherwise attended.

Not long after he graduated law school, Andy started down a slippery slope – he struggled to make his student loan payments even though he had a good job at a decent salary.  The predictable result: poor credit, difficulty making ends meet and tons of stress.

Now, with four children of his own, Andy and his wife Pearl (also a St. John’s Law School Grad…they met the first day of law school if you really need to know….) have sworn a blood oath to make sure that their kids don’t have to endure what Andy went through.

Andy is a Certified College Funding Advisor through the American College Funding Association, a consumer watchdog organization, and a member of the Higher Education Consultants Association. He heads the New York office of College Funding Specialists in Plainview.  Along with his partner, Peter “College Pete” Ratzan, Andy co-authored The “Never Pay Retail for College” Financial Aid Maximization Plan and writes a monthly college finance column for a high school publication in Miami, Florida.  College Pete and Andy publish the blog, FinancialAidBUZZ.com and co-hosted the “College Planning Power Hour” on 1400 WFTL Sports Radio, ESPN – Ft. Lauderdale.

Andy can be reached at 516.882.5464 or al@financialaidbuzz.com.