About College Funding Advocates
College planning is personal.
Families aren't just comparing schools, reviewing numbers, or completing applications. They're trying to make the right decision for someone they love.
That decision may affect where their son or daughter lives, the people they meet, the opportunities they receive, and the direction their life takes.
It may also represent one of the largest commitments their family will ever make.
That is why Rick believes families deserve more than information.
They deserve someone who will listen carefully, help them understand the complete picture, and give them honest guidance when the decisions become difficult.
The work Rick does today through College Funding Advocates has been shaped by a lifetime of experiences that, at first glance, may seem unrelated:
But each chapter taught him something about preparation, relationships, advocacy, leadership, and the responsibility we accept when people trust us to help them make an important decision.
Service Before Self
Rick's professional journey began with service as a U.S. Naval Intelligence Officer.
The military taught him the importance of preparation, discipline and attention to detail. It taught him to gather information, look beyond the obvious, understand the complete picture and recognize that important decisions have consequences.
Those lessons never really left him.
Years later, when a family sits across the table trying to understand admissions, financial aid, college costs or recruiting, the circumstances are obviously very different, but the responsibility feels familiar.
More Than Just Football at Foxboro
Many people naturally associated Foxboro Stadium with the New England Patriots.
Rick saw another side of it.
As Director of Marketing & Sales, he worked in an environment that extended well beyond professional football. Foxboro was also a major New England sports and entertainment venue, bringing together concerts, special events, sponsorships, corporate partnerships and hospitality.
The names and events were memorable.
But what stayed with Rick were the people.
That experience taught him that good marketing was never simply about selling something. It was about listening. Understanding what mattered to someone. Building trust. Creating value. And developing relationships that lasted beyond a single transaction.
Those lessons eventually followed him into College Funding Advocates.
Families don't need to be "sold" a college.
Boston & Chicago Commercial Real Estate
Commercial real estate took Rick into another world of high-stakes decisions.
Working in Chicago and Boston meant representing clients in significant lease negotiations, construction and development projects where the financial commitments could be substantial and the consequences could last for years.
A deal could look attractive on the surface and still be wrong once you understood the details.
That reinforced something Rick had already begun learning in other parts of his life:
You have to understand the complete picture.
You have to know what matters most to the person you're representing.
And when you sit on their side of the table, you advocate for their interests as though they were your own.
That lesson has a direct connection to the work Rick does today.
A college's published price is one number.
An admission offer is one piece of information.
A financial aid award is another.
None tells the family's entire story by itself.
Coaching, Leadership & College Athletics
Athletics has been a big part of Rick's life for more than four decades.
But those titles aren't really the story.
Years of coaching and athletic administration meant sitting with young people at important moments in their lives. Some were trying to figure out whether they were good enough to compete at the next level. Some were trying to choose a college. Some needed encouragement. Others needed someone willing to tell them something they didn't necessarily want to hear.
Rick learned that coaching wasn't only about teaching a game.
Those experiences also gave Rick an unusual view of colleges from the inside. He saw how institutions make decisions. He saw recruiting from the coach's side. He saw athletics from the administration's side.
A Vision Becomes Reality
One chapter at Bellarmine University became a lesson in what can happen when someone sees a possibility before everyone else does.
Rick was hired as Director of Athletics for many reasons, but his lacrosse background was a compelling part of the conversation.
President Jay McGowan eventually put a direct question to him:
Rick's answer was equally direct:
Jay put Rick on the Board agenda for 30 minutes.
Three and a half hours later, Rick walked out of the room with unanimous support.
Within two weeks, he had raised more than $1 million for the new program.
Four weeks later, Bellarmine was entering a lacrosse conference with Notre Dame, Ohio State, Denver, the United States Air Force Academy and Fairfield.
And Rick wasn't interested in easing quietly onto the national stage.
They went on the schedule.
To explain the thinking to the Board, Rick borrowed a line from New York Life:
A quiet Catholic university in suburban Louisville was about to share the lacrosse stage with some of the biggest names in the game.
It started as a vision. Then it became real.
That's advocacy, too.
The Story Behind 21
There are experiences that teach lessons.
And then there are experiences that change you.
The loss of Paul “PJ” Trendowicz was one of those.
PJ was to begin college.
Rick, with the support of Paul and Julie Trendowicz, wanted to honor PJ through lacrosse, a game both PJ and Rick loved.
What started as a way to remember one young man became something much larger: an opportunity to teach leadership, character, teamwork, friendship and service through lacrosse.
Wins mattered. Competition mattered. But they were never enough.
Rick wanted the young men in the program to understand that who they became was more important than any scoreboard.
PJ's legacy gave the program its WHY.
And in time, that WHY became inseparable from service to others.
Giving Back
21 Lacrosse and the Black Jacks were created to honor PJ, but service became part of the program's larger responsibility.
Each year, net proceeds were quietly donated to organizations and causes that had personal meaning to Rick and to members of the lacrosse families.
They supported the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute because so many players had family members whose lives had been touched by cancer.
They supported The Jimmy Fund because their young men were physically thriving while other children were fighting for their lives.
They supported Alzheimer's-related causes because Rick's mother died from complications of that terrible disease.
And they supported the Wounded Warrior Project because military service has always remained an important part of Rick's life.
These weren't marketing decisions.
They were reminders that whatever success the program enjoyed brought with it a responsibility to help someone else.
The wins and accolades were nice.
You Are More Than an Athlete
Being inducted into a Hall of Fame is an extraordinary honor.
But the years have a way of changing how someone measures an accomplishment.
The awards matter. The victories matter. The programs built along the way matter.
But when Rick looks back, he doesn't think first about a record or a trophy.
He thinks about the people who stood beside him along the way.
One such person was Phil Haley.
Phil was a valued defender playing in front of Rick when Rick was the goalkeeper at Hampden-Sydney. After college, life took them in different directions. They didn't see each other all that often, but they remained close.
Phil was lost to brain cancer.
He was a great athlete.
And Rick has said it simply:
It's friendships like that.
Relationships that lasted long after they walked off the field for the last time.
Athletics can open doors. It can create opportunities, friendships, confidence, discipline and memories that last a lifetime.
But the uniform eventually comes off.
The games end.
And a young person is always more than an athlete.
College should help them discover who they are beyond the uniform.
Why College Funding Advocates Exists
College Funding Advocates brings all of these chapters together.
That's really what College Funding Advocates is built upon.
Families deserve someone who will listen carefully.
Someone who will explain things clearly.
Someone who will tell them the truth, even when the answer isn't necessarily the one they wanted to hear.
Someone who understands that choosing a college isn't simply a transaction involving tuition, admissions statistics, scholarships and financial aid.
It's their future.
And it's personal.
Rick's job isn't to make those decisions for a family.
It isn't to promise an outcome no one can guarantee.
It's to stand beside them as an advocate, help them understand the complete picture, and give them the information and perspective they need to make the decision that's right for their family.
And families deserve someone in their corner whom they can trust.
Ready to Start the Conversation?
Your family may be planning years ahead.
You may be building a college list.
Your student may be navigating admissions or athletic recruiting.
Or you may already be comparing financial aid offers and trying to understand what each college will actually cost.
Wherever you are, we'll meet you there.
Let's start with a conversation about your student, your family, and the decisions in front of you.
Schedule a Complimentary Consultation