Our services are typically funded by a third party, like a foundation, so they can be offered at no cost to students and families. As such, we consider ourselves to have many clients.

At its core, our focus is on reaching as many students and families as possible across the socioeconomic spectrum, and in particular at the lower end, with the message that college can be affordable and accessible. We do this by empowering them with the necessary information and linking them with the resources they need to take the next steps.

We consider each and every student and family we touch through our programming to be a “client” of Murray & Associates. Those that complete the College Costs Estimator program are loaded into our data system and have unlimited, ongoing access to our staff via a toll-free line and email (at no cost to them) as questions arise as they prepare for and move through the college process.

In order to reach large numbers of students and their families, our initial programming work is done utilizing a time and cost-effective group workshop format. We have taken only a few individual clients over time and have been able to maintain our core focus largely due to the financial support of philanthropic foundations, school systems, colleges and businesses. Their support enables many families to receive services they otherwise would not be able to afford and which many would not receive elsewhere.

Our funders include foundations, schools, youth-serving programs, colleges and businesses who believe in the far-reaching impact for both individual families and for society that can come from their investment in our programming. As such, our commitment to them extends beyond just providing quality programming to students and families. Our funders often are key players in helping shape local education issues. We aim to provide programming feedback and evaluation that can help inform future policies and practices, and help them better understand the issues today’s students and their families face when it comes to higher education.

Additionally, many of our foundation clients also are scholarship administrators, a good number of whom utilize our expertise to help systematically quantify the financial need of their applicants. Through our Scholarship Screening Service, foundations receive customized applicant reports and technical support that assist them in identifying which students most need the limited dollars available through their scholarship programs.