Financial Aid Counselor

Summary/Objective:  The Financial Aid Counselor is a student-centered role focused on providing immediate and comprehensive service to students in funding the student’s education. The candidate will navigate Federal, State, and Institutional regulatory requirements, awarding financial aid, calculating Federal need analysis eligibility, and performing detailed technical duties as it relates to student aid. The primary objective of this position is to support students through available information and resources to be able to attend and persist at HFCN. 

Essential Functions:

• Maintain a heavy volume of financial aid telephone calls and respond to email communications.
• Counsel students and families on federal, state, and institutional aid sources, as well as loans and other financing options, such as private educational loans and other forms of aid.
• Calculate financial needs and construct financial aid packages following federal and institutional formulae and guidelines.
• Perform Verification of applicant data and use Professional Judgment to adjust federal aid applicants’ eligibility.
• Reconcile student aid and loans.
• Collect and track financial aid documents.
• Certify student loan requests and counsel students on debt management issues.
• Review weekly New York State Tuition Assistance Programs (“NYS TAP”) and reconcile the award at the end of each semester.
• Process New York State Aid for Part-time Study (“NYS APTS”) applications and reconcile the program at the end of each semester.
• Provide consistent and accurate advice about financing options.
• Handle special projects as assigned.

Required Skills/Abilities:

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to manage sensitive and confidential situations with tact, professionalism, and diplomacy.
• Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Ability to work individually and collaboratively to complete projects.
• Knowledge of current federal and state laws, policies, and regulations governing Title IV and state aid programs.
• Proficient with Microsoft Office Suite or related software.

Education and Experience:

• An associate's degree in a related field is required or higher.
• Prior related office experience preferred.

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

The employee is occasionally required to sit; climb or balance, and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. The employee must frequently lift and/or move objects up to 10 pounds and occasionally lift and/or move objects up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.

Position Type/Expected Hours of Work

This is a full-time position. Days and hours of work are Monday through Friday between the hours of 9 am and 5 pm, during which the college is open. This is a face-to-face position. 

Other Duties

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. More details about other duties can be found in the HFCN Faculty and Staff Handbook.  Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

EEO Statement

Helene Fuld College of Nursing provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.