Would you be surprised to learn that the average cost of one year at a private college is $45,370 (Trends in College Pricing 2016)? Or that student loan debt, which totals $1.3 trillion in the U.S. alone, is now the second-highest consumer debt category (behind mortgage debt)? And, perhaps most important, have you thought about what these numbers mean for many of your clients? The answer is simply this: college tuition is likely to be one of their most significant expenses—and creating a college savings strategy has never been so vital.

With ever-rising tuition at both public and private universities, many of your clients likely spend a lot of time thinking—and worrying—about how they'll pay for their children's higher education. At the same time, these clients may also be struggling with meeting their own retirement savings goals. And that’s exactly where you come in. As the trusted advisor, you can help clients with education planning by laying out the facts when it comes to the true cost of college, plus strategies to keep their savings on track.

Every year as January approaches, parents of college-aged children scramble to gather the necessary information to complete their FAFSA forms (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). This annual ritual can be stressful for your clients. They hear from others that they should submit the application as soon as possible to get the most aid, but unfortunately, the tax data they need isn’t always available! After all, how many of us have our tax returns done by January 1? As a result, in previous years, applicants were forced to wait to file or to file unofficial numbers and update their FAFSA forms once their tax return was filed.

Consider this: The rate at which college tuition costs are rising has outpaced that of health care nearly twofold. The result is a generation of young people left with the giant burden of student loan debt. But as you have undoubtedly developed strategies to help your boomer clients meet the high cost of health care, there is now an opportunity for you to work with the next generation of clients trying to manage their debt while meeting their other financial goals.

The Millennial generation has a lot going for it. Raised on cutting-edge technology and social media, they consider themselves optimists with big plans for the future—they are generally confident, connected, and committed to doing meaningful work. Unfortunately, many also graduated from college with staggering debt; according to the 2014 Wells Fargo Millennial Survey, this generation's top financial concern—besides day-to-day bills—is paying off student loans. As a result, those with young children may find saving for future education expenses difficult.