Financial Aid Tech Specialist
Employment Type : Full-Time
FINANCIAL AID TECH SPECIALIST
Job Summary
The Financial Aid Technical Specialist works with prospective and current students to successfully navigate the financial aid process, responding to their inquiries regarding documentation requirements, eligibility, and options. The specialist identifies and suggests improvements for system errors or inefficiences, researches and documents questionable information, and reconciles data discrepancies in order to expedite decisions and maintain compliance with appropriate federal regulations, as well as university policies and procedures.
Essential Functions
1) Problem Investigation:
- Assist students to resolve complicated issues pertaining to financial aid application and/or processing.
- Award institutional and federal grants and loans.
- Regularly work with OneStop Student Services, OneStop Counseling, other campus departments, government entities and other universities to troubleshoot and resolve student problems and clarify financial aid eligibility.
- Troubleshoot the cause of aid that is not awarded, not disbursed or overawarded. Work with the student and/or other key areas (e.g. systems team) to make the necessary adjustments and resolve these issues on student accounts, including returning loan and/or grant funds when needed.
- Resolve rejected ISIR issues and properly calculate proration of federal grants and loans.
- Initiate and document ISIR corrections when appropriate.
- When necessary, respond to student questions regarding Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) policy issues.
- Troubleshoot and creatively problem-solve complicated issues, in addition to monitoring, detecting and reporting problems, system inconsistencies, areas for improvement, and potential risks.
2) Data Verification and Submission:
- Maintain a thorough understanding of federal and institutional financial aid and scholarship policies and regulations.
- Provide daily interaction and communication with students through the YMessage system and/or phone calls.
- Calculate students’ financial aid properly within the bounds of the institution’s Cost of Attendance (COA) and federal regulations.
- Verify accuracy of student ISIRs and make adjustments, as needed.
- Interpret and understand the regulations regarding federal tax laws as pertaining to filing requirements, split income, and various types of tax forms and circumstances.
- Verify and input foreign tax documents.
- Accurately calculate student loan distribution amounts based on eligibility and enrollment.
- Perform proration on federal loans.
- Verify and award additional aid as allowed by PLUS Loan denials.
- Process alternative education loan applications within appropriate eligibility parameters.
- Comply with the regulations dictating the return of Title IV funds.
- Accurately award aid to students whose eligibility changes mid-year due to class standing or matriculation.
- Determine eligibility and accurately award aid to students in Post-Baccalaureate and Teacher Certification programs.
- Monitor and record other financial aid received, including ROTC, scholarships, and outside sources of aid.
- Properly label and prepare documents for imaging.
- Maintain expert knowledge regarding FERPA policy and use good judgment in accessing student records.
3) Consultation:
- Respond to inquiries regarding the application and awarding process and resolve concerns.
- Regularly work with the Enrollment Service office, other departments, other financial aid office and systems team employees to analyze and troubleshoot problems.
- Define and propose methods to anticipate and implement proactive solutions to prevent problems from happening in the future.
- Contact other schools, as needed, to resolve issues on the student’s financial aid history.
4) Maintain Proficiency and Training:
- Regularly review financial aid regulations/updates and participate in staff meetings and regular trainings.
- Maintain annual certification in financial aid service competencies.
- Attend state, regional, and national financial aid trainings, as required.
- Assist in creating training and reference materials, as needed.
5) Special Projects:
- Serve on office, division, and university committees, as assigned.
- Special projects assigned by the Director or supervisor
Decisions Made and Referred
Made:
- Determine if correct tax forms and policies have been used and followed (including amended tax returns).
- Decide if documentation requirements have been met, when conflicting information exists, and what is required for appropriate resolution of such conflicts.
- Determine how to proceed when informational discrepancies arise.
- Resolve financial aid processing, eligibility, and awarding problems.
- Recommend changes to improve and/or streamline financial aid processes and the student experience.
- Calculate financial aid and scholarship award amounts within federal regulations and institutional policies.
Referred:
- Changes to policies and procedures.
- Official interpretation of federal and institutional policies.
- Decisions requiring professional judgment as defined by the federal government.
Education/Experience
Minimum education/experience required:
- Three years of work or study at an institution of higher education
Preferred:
- Bachelor’s degree
- Financial Aid Work Experience
Skills, abilities, knowledge, licenses, certifications :
- Basic computer skills, including keyboard dexterity and speed.
- Navigate with proficiency multiple complicated software systems and adapt to system updates and upgrades. A working knowledge of PeopleSoft and AIM is preferred.
- Digest the complexity of financial aid policies, implement those policies precisely, and comply with the myriad of ever changing laws, regulations, policies and procedures.
- Maintain a high degree of professionalism, even with difficult cases, depersonalizing and deescalating difficult encounters with students and/or parents.
- Work independently as well as on a team.
- Communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing, to students, parents, and other campus entities.
- Ability to multitask and organize work based on pre-established priorities.
- Quick learner with ability to multitask in a dynamic, highly technical environment, while demonstrating attention to detail, timeliness, and concern for accuracy.
- Leadership qualities to motivate, mentor and support team members and contribute to a nurturing, upbeat office culture.
- Be energized, not paralyzed, by changes to policy or work environment.
- Strong work ethic, including positive approach to difficult assignments.
- Self-initiating, possessing ability to stay focused on a given task until completed successfully.
- Encourage innovation and creativity in streamlining procedures and finding better ways to serve students and stakeholders.
- Good judgment to determine reasonable and appropriate actions to maintain compliance.
Employee Class: Staff (Full-Time)
Work Location: Provo Campus
Environment: General office or other equivalently good environment
Desired Start Date: As soon as possible
Job Close Date: Open Until Filled
Pay Level: 47
Approximate Starting Salary: $34,000 to $43,054 depending on qualifications and experience
Documents Required at time of Application:
Required: Resume
Optional: Cover Letter, Letter of Recommendation 1
Equal Opportunity Employer: m/f/Vets/Disability