Financial Aid Specialist

Description/Job Summary
Under the supervision of the Associate Director of Financial Aid the Financial Aid Specialist assists in the planning, organization and coordination of financial aid functions of the college; assists and advises in the formulation, revision and implementation of office procedures; and performs related work as assigned. Supports the development of ad-hoc reports and may perform duties of a sensitive and confidential nature.

Responsibilities/Duties

• Assists in the review of student files to ensure accuracy and completion, process waive status reports, disburse financial aid awards to those who qualify;
• Assist with the administration of federal and state aid programs
• Award and adjust financial aid in accordance with federal regulations and institutional policy.
• Provide accurate and confidential financial aid counseling and guidance to students, prospective students and parents.
• Review federal tax transcripts and other confidential financial documents to determine financial need and eligibility for federal, state, and institutional programs.
• Perform federal verification, resolve conflicting information, exercise professional judgment and review appeals
• Review and perform R2T4 process
• Must have strong customer service skills and be able to work effectively in a culturally diverse environment.
• Provide flexible, responsive and high quality service to students, community, and staff, while maintaining high degree of confidentiality.
• Participate in new student orientations, open houses, financial aid nights, and other related events both on and off-campus.
• Work actively with other areas of the college to ensure a spirit of college wide collaboration, collegiality, civility, and teamwork.
• Serves as liaison for office functions, programs and services, internal and external to the University; attends open houses and orientations; manages Incoming calls, e-mail messages and
• Assists in the compiling and preparing statistical data according to State and Federal regulations, policies and guidelines, application processing and eligibility requirements;
• Assists in the review and maintains student records to ensure continued eligibility, evaluates the academic status of each applicant; and monitors withdraws;
• Verifies student files selected for verification by the U.S. Department of Education;
• Makes electronic corrections to the Dept. of Education;
• Corrects C-code rejections by the Department of Education ;
• Processes students’ private loan applications; consortium agreements; social security waivers and AmeriCorps waivers;
• Prepares and process a variety of State and Federal financial aid records and reports as required, process grade point average verification forms and eligibility reports; creates and completes all internal and external reports,;
• Keeps abreast of current federal regulations and guidelines pertaining to the student financial aid program;
• Performs a variety of clerical support duties related to assigned activities such as maintain financial aid accounts and ledgers and aid and loan status records;
• Assists students at the Financial Aid window and provides a variety of financial aid information to students, faculty and other colleges or universities as requested; may provide evening and weekend coverage, as necessary;
• Cross-trains in related functions to support operational efficiency;
• May supervise work study students;
• Coordinates work study student and supervisor orientations and plans a yearly calendar of orientation dates;
• Assesses an individual student’s financial need, and ascertains the student’s eligibility to participate in federal, state and/or institutional aid programs;
• Evaluates Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeal Forms and Special Circumstances Appeal Forms;
• Assists in the implementation and management of learning outcomes assessment;
• Provides counseling to students and assists students or parents in the preparation of pertinent forms;
• Provides appropriate instruction and/or instructional support in a manner that best enhances student learning and success;
• Other related duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree.
• At least three to five years' experience in student financial aid,
• At least two to three years' experience with Banner system
• Working knowledge of the regulatory environment affecting student financial aid (Title IV aid) preferred.
• Ability to interpret and communicate complex financial aid rules and regulations.
• Strong interpersonal skills.
• Systems, detail, and process orientated.