When Enumclaw School Board member Corey Cassell met Charlie Hoff he was impressed.

When, as a parent, he recently attended Hoff’s “How to Go To College Free” seminar in Federal Way, he was floored.

“Charlie is a wealth of information when it comes to college readiness, and what it takes to get serious about going to college.”

“Most people,” Cassell said, and included his wife and himself in that category, “are clueless about what is really involved in making sure our kids are positioned to get accepted into a good school, and possibly making it happen without spending our life savings.”

Cassell is bringing Hoff to the Enumclaw High School library at 6:30 p.m. May 6. The event is free and geared for parents and their middle school and high school ninth-grade students.

As a former college admissions counselor and Federal Way School Board member, Hoff coaches students and their parents on how to get into the best colleges and universities, and possibly do it for free, or at least receive some significant financial assistance from the school.

“I was really impressed with what he’s been able to do for some families,” Cassell said.

“I’m just trying to help kids get a better education,” the retired Hoff said.

“We’ve had some great successes,” Hoff said, mentioning students who paid nothing or practically nothing to attend upstate New York’s Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

He said the key is understanding the process and starting early. He said most universities have handed out their money before kids have started the school selection process.