(FORTUNE Magazine) – Congratulations. Junior just got accepted to Princeton. All that remains is for you, proud parent, to take up the not-so-small matter of the bill: some $121,385 over four years, thank you, not including books or schnapps. But wait. Before you take that vow of poverty, it just might make sense to contact a financial aid broker. A what? Well, they go by titles like "college specialist" or "consultant" or even "cpa," but what they do best is help parents through the byzantine aid process, devise strategies on how to fill out forms to maximum effect, and--most important--help cajole Tightwad College into acting more like Sugardaddy University.

Anybody can hang out a shingle as a "college aid expert." That opens the door for the unscrupulous ("We guarantee financial aid") and the incompetent ("What filing deadline?"). To protect yourself, a couple of simple checks are in order. Referrals work best, but a call to your child's high school college counselor is also smart. Try out some financial aid terminology and see just how familiar the "expert" is with the jargon of the trade. If a broker doesn't know about local state educational grants or scholarships (say, the Edward J. Bloustein in New Jersey or the Cal Grants in California), send him packing.

None of this comes cheap: While they can save you thousands of dollars in the long run, financial planners tend to charge hourly rates of $125 or more. A flat-fee arrangement may set you back over $500. Some consultants roll the service into an overall college consulting package, which can include everything from SAT coaching to arranging campus visits.

For that investment, a broker will teach you how to act like a poker player--and how to make the most of your hand. If you are dealt a juicy financial aid offer from another school, naturally, you have a great card. But, says Kalman Chany of New York's Campus Consultants, "you can't play a tier-three school off against a tier-one school." A true ace in the hole is an aid offer from a school that competes aggressively with your first-choice college: It may work wonders prying open financial aid coffers. That's why it often pays to apply to a lot of schools. Don't fret about overdoing it. Those $50 college application fees may be the best deal in higher education.

A couple of other bargaining pointers: Before you call to haggle, have firm dollar figures for each kind of aid you're seeking--grants, loans, and work-study programs. If you are asked what it will take to get your child to attend, be able to respond in the wink of an eyelash. Should the college offer loans with its grants, graciously accept. If you're crying poverty when it comes to grants and scholarships, it looks suspicious to be turning down loans.

Your child's junior year in high school is the base from which subsequent financial aid will likely be determined. So a smart broker will help you prepare in advance to minimize income: postponing bonuses that year or reducing capital gains. Financial planner Karen Schaeffer of Silver Spring, Maryland, also suggests taking advantage of the process to make some family lifestyle changes--moves that will pay off in increased financial aid. She recently persuaded a mother of twins to finish her master's degree as her kids began to get ready for college. The higher expenses and loss of income helped boost the family's financial aid by thousands of dollars at a state school.

How should you manage your assets to maximize aid? In large part, that depends on your college of choice. Most state schools, for example, don't count home equity as an asset, so it often makes sense to scale back your investment portfolio and pay off your mortgage. What a school doesn't ask is important too. Because New York University doesn't inquire about medical expenses, one of Chany's clients was set to make do with $4,000 in grant aid. After Chany had his client alert the school to some hefty doctor and drug bills, NYU boosted its aid to over $6,000. Such vagaries are where a savvy broker really earns his fee.

Don't, however, let price rule all your decisions. Says Brad Barnes of Denver's College Quest USA: "If the kid has two nose rings and a tattoo, Texas Christian isn't going to be the right choice no matter how much aid it offers." After all, the real value of a college education is not what you pay, but what your child makes of it.