When the pause on student loan repayments was extended through the end of August, 43 million borrowers may have breathed a collective sigh of relief. But former students paying off loans is just one facet of a complicated college planning environment that has only intensified since the pandemic, experts say.

“Parents are price sensitive and sending children to less expensive schools,” says Mark Kantrowitz, an expert on student debt and author of How to Appeal for More College Financial Aid. “The schools that were struggling before the pandemic are going to be struggling more. Colleges that probably would have closed eventually will have to close now.”

Lincoln College in Lincoln, Ill., for example, is one such school. The small private college, which was reported to have had record-breaking student enrollment in 2019, has announced it will lock its doors permanently in May, ending a 157-year history of higher education in the Midwest.

A dip in birth rates and the financials of the business are simply making it impossible for smaller schools to survive, and the pandemic only accelerated the inevitable, Kantrowitz says. “Originally I predicted at the start of the pandemic that 100 colleges would close.”

It will be fewer than that now, he says, but the demise of even 50 to 75 schools means increased pressure on high school students and their parents to compete for fewer openings, and this is one area where financial advisors can really help their clients.

First, helping clients accurately complete their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the best thing an advisor can do, sources agree. And in this case, 2020 might show a silver lining, according to Karen McCarthy, vice president for public policy and federal relations at the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.

“Aid applications for the current academic year, which is 2021-2022, were based on income in 2019. The applications for this fall are looking at 2020 income,” she says. “For a lot of people, 2020 represented a real drop in income, and whether they’ve recovered or not, that may provide some relief.”

Second, advisors can give their clients a reality check and some guidance on how to run an effective and efficient college search. For that, Kantrowitz has a formula.

“Apply to five to seven colleges, tops,” he says, suggesting that for most applications, the student’s GPA and test scores should fall between the school’s 25th and 75th percentiles.

“Then they can have one or two reach schools, and one safety where they can afford to go even with no financial aid,” he says. After all, not all careers require a pricey school. Here it’s important, he says, to keep in mind a rule of thumb: Total debt from all four years should not exceed the student’s expected salary for the first year of employment.

Third, Joe Messinger, a co-founder at Capstone Wealth Partners in Dublin, Ohio, says advisors should stay aware of their clients’ needs.

“Whether they’re saving for college, paying for college, or paying college off, they all face different challenges,” he says. “If they’re saving up to pay for college, understand your state’s 529 plan matching program. A lot of states have them. And it’s never too late. If their kid is a high school freshman and they’re aggressive, they can save a lot. But they need to think of it less as investing for college and more as earmarking for college.”