Welcome to College Planning Experts, Inc.

ABOUT US

College Planning Experts Memberships or Affiliations:

Ambassador of the Santa Clarita Valley Chamber of Commerce

Board Member of Toastmaster a non-profit organization

Business Networking International

Career Speaker for the Santa Clarita Valley School & Business Alliance

Member of the Santa Clarita Valley PTA

Participant in the SCV Chamber of Commerce Education Foundation

Sponsor for Santa Clarita Valley Scholarship Foundation

The Better Business Bureau

The National Institute of Certified College Planners (NICCP)

Valley Industrial Association

Brian Safdari
Raised in the San Fernando Valley, Brian was a 4 year varsity soccer player. As Chatsworth High School’s Captain and center midfielder, he was one of the highest ranked soccer player in the West Valley League, an Olympic Development Program player for the California State Team and a player on the US Junior Tournament Team at the France 98 World Cup.

Brian had many NCAA Division I colleges recruiting him in his senior year to play soccer. He was banking on a full athletic scholarship and made no other college plans. When a career ending injury took college soccer off the radar for Brian, he was lost. Brian was the first in his family to attend college and did not have anyone to turn to for advice. He decided to attend CSUN and live at home because it was the least expensive and he did not understand the financial aid process. After procrastinating and making multiple mistakes on his financial aid forms, Brian took on over $50,000 in student loans.

In 2003, Brian met his mentor, Ron Caruthers, the nation’s leading expert on college planning. Brian decided to devote his career to teaching and guiding families through this process so that they do not make the same mistakes he made.

Brian has worked with over 1,000 families helping them attain their college dreams. His clients come from as far as Palm Springs and attend colleges with diversity from junior colleges to Harvard University.

He is the co-host of the monthly smash hit radio show, “College Planning Secrets EXPOSED!” on KHTS 1220 AM, Wednesday afternoons from 1:00 to 2:00 PM and has also published his own book, “College Planning made Easy”.

Phillip Lew

Growing up in the Los Angeles area Phillip Lew has always had a passion for two things: entrepreneurship and motivational speaking. At the age of 15 while attending Birmingham High School Phillip co-founded his own retail apparel company (Sheik Attire) that in less than 1 year sold more than $5,000 dollars per month worth of men’s clothing through online stores such as eBay and Amazon. Phillip Lew became the youngest student ever at Birmingham High to publically to ask the administration for venture capital.

After having the opportunity to meet Senator Barbara Boxer from California while attending a high school summer program at Stanford University, Phillip became committed to the art of public speaking and was accepted as an economics student at Georgetown University. Yet in the midst of his excitement Phillip soon realized his family could not afford to pay his “unmet” financial need and could not qualify for any student or parent loans.

Devastated by the event, Phillip soon met his future mentor: nationally renowned college planner Brian Safdari who taught him everything he knew surrounding the financial aid process. Phillip soon after began creating financial aid plans that allowed him to attend Boston University for four full years while helping countless friends and families do exactly the same.

While attending Boston University, Phillip co-founded Anthony & Anthony Academic Consultants which specialized in helping New England High School and College students meet and find tutoring resources in over 23 subjects. Phillip soon also became one of the most successful real estate agents in Boston breaking the city record by renting over a hundred apartments in less than 3 months.

After graduating Boston University Cum Laude in 2009 Phillip Lew joined his mentor Brian Safdari full time as an acting partner in College Planning Experts™ which has quickly risen as a national leader in providing high end college planning solutions to families across the nation.

Phillip is the co-host of the monthly smash hit radio show, “College Planning Secrets EXPOSED!” on KHTS 1220 AM, Wednesday afternoons from 1:00 to 2:00 PM and also the published author of his national best seller “Phillip Lew’s College Planning System for Success” and currently working on his second publication “Phillip Lew’s College Networking System for Success”

Travor Mizrahi

Trevor Mizrahi was a 3 year varsity soccer player at Chatsworth high school with a focus on Martial Arts. He has a passion for scholastic achievement and optimal success in everything he pursues. Growing up in a spiritual household he shares with young adults the value of becoming a leader through giving to others and making a difference. It was in his senior year he experienced a knee injury that inhibited him from obtaining an athletic scholarship due to prolonged rehabilitation. Trevor made the choice to focus on raising his GPA to a 3.7 by dedicating more time to his studies and watch his teammates from the sidelines to cheer them toward victory. He also became more active in the community and in his church groups.

When faced with the harsh reality of the expense college would create after receiving his acceptance letters, he began his college career the same way many others did by being ignorant of the financial aid process. Although he came from a lower-middle class family, colleges failed to provide him with the massive amounts of government, state and institutional money they have stocked away. Because at the time he was not astute on the process of how to qualify for the proper amount of financial aid, there seemed to be only one alternative. Trevor went to Moorpark Community College for 2 years and was then able to transfer to the University of California Irvine. Thinking he was making the wise choice of cutting out two years of a large college expense, he still fell victim of the process and was awarded no money for his education. His family was definitely low income and should have received some money but because of the common errors most families make, he was awarded nothing. After graduating with a finance degree and a little over $55,000 dollars of debt, he made it his mission to discover the secrets behind the Higher Education Act and provide other families with the tools to make higher education a reality without going broke.

Since 2005, he has coached numerous families as well as created a passion for students to find what it is they are good at. Helping them through the application process has been his forte, yet he found that there was a link missing to this puzzle. It was at that point he expanded the process and began showing families how to pay for the cost of college without going broke. He has created a system that takes out the guesswork for families on how to get in to the right colleges and shows them how they will be able to pay for the cost without disrupting any future financial goals. Trevor has a sound background in helping individuals reach their highest potential, motivate students and prepare them for their career after college. “Having a plan on how to use your education is step one to getting a job. Self education and the commitment to never stop learning is what sets any individual apart from the rest”, Trevor shares with his students.