Financial Aid Coordinators

Laredo College•Laredo, TX

12d•Onsite

About The Position

The Financial Aid Coordinator manages student financial aid programs at Laredo College, including financial aid counseling, verification, satisfactory academic progress, awarding, and reporting, with fiscal accountability for federal, state, institutional, and local funds. This position supports enrollment services and assists students and staff with processing and disseminating information and customer service, including training new staff. The role requires strict adherence to federal, state, and institutional financial aid policies and procedures, fostering a student-centered, technology-based, high-performance culture. Responsibilities include managing financial aid communications, processing accurate information for file verification, awarding, and eligibility review, and maintaining accurate student financial aid records in compliance with FERPA and GLBA. The coordinator counsels students and parents on financial aid eligibility and student accounts, awards and revises financial aid packages, makes professional judgments and adjustments based on unique circumstances, and processes appeals, requests for aid, enrollment revisions, verification revisions, ISIR revisions, satisfactory academic progress appeals, and consortium agreements. The position also assists the Director of Financial Aid with reviewing and processing appeals and maintaining office processes and procedures.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited College or University.
3 years of full-time employment experience.
Valid Driver’s License and vehicle insurance.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities: Enthusiastic, positive, self-starter, and detail-oriented with strong oral/written communication, interpersonal, and marketing skills.
Strong analytic and decision-making skills; able to respond quickly to unfamiliar situations; above-average problem solver and critical thinker.
Excellent organizational and time-management skills; must be able to effectively organize and maintain large volumes of records.
Strong project management skills.
Ability to initiate professional contact with people to establish rapport.
Must maintain a strong work ethic with excellent follow-through.
Self-motivated and able to function independently without extensive direct supervision.
Detail-oriented with a focus on achieving optimum results while maintaining high ethical standards and attention to compliance with college policies, mission, and core values.
Interpret questions, identify problems, read reference manuals, and identify actionable insights from ambiguous and sometimes limited information to propose solutions and process improvements.
Perform data entry and word processing with speed and accuracy without immediate and constant supervision.
Knowledge and expertise in student technical support skills, i.e., retrieving reports, correspondence operations, and communication products.
Ability to multi-task, function under pressure, work independently, accept responsibility with limited supervision, manage multiple tasks to completion, and work with frequent interruptions as part of a team environment.
Willingness to lead through positive influence and take ownership and accountability for actions and decisions.
Anticipate needs and create a welcoming, diverse, and inclusive environment.
Highly skilled in the use of Microsoft Office programs.
Ability to analyze and understand complicated federal and state regulations to ensure college compliance with Title IV.
Ability to calculate financial need based on eligibility and cost of attendance.
Ability to recognize and prevent over-awarding or under-awarding of financial aid.
Must be highly flexible and able to work in a fast-paced, high-energy work environment that emphasizes measurable work outcomes.
Ability to provide excellent customer service in a high-traffic area.
Required to work safely and follow safety rules.
Report unsafe working conditions and behavior.
Take reasonable and prudent actions to prevent others from engaging in unsafe practices.

Nice To Haves

3 years of experience in a professional setting, financial institution or closely related field.
3 years of experience working with database systems, maintaining records, or policy interpretation.
Experience in financial aid or a closely related field in Higher Education.
Experience in interpreting rules/regulations or management of federal or state programs.
Experience with software such as: Ellucian Banner, COD, FSA, NSLDS, CANVA, CASCADE, etc.
Knowledge of and/or ability to learn Ellucian Banner administrative computing system, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, Centralized Application Service (CAS), and ARGOS reporting system, or other similar systems.
Knowledge of the enrollment process, ie., admissions applications, admissions criteria, recruitment in a college setting, financial aid, college advising, and registration.

Responsibilities

Manages student financial aid programs, including counseling, verification, satisfactory academic progress, awarding, and reporting.
Maintains fiscal accountability for federal, state, institutional, and local funds.
Aids in all areas of enrollment services as needed.
Assists students and staff with processing and disseminating information and customer service.
Trains new staff in relevant programs.
Establishes a student-centered, technology-based, high-performance culture.
Manages financial aid communications effectively and on time.
Processes and delivers accurate information to the financial aid team for file verification, awarding, and eligibility review.
Maintains accurate student's financial aid records in accordance with FERPA and GLBA regulations.
Counsels and advises students and parents on all aspects of financial aid eligibility and student accounts.
Awards and revises financial aid packages.
Makes independent professional judgments and adjustments to student eligibility based on unique student circumstances.
Processes documents, appeals, requests for additional/reduced aid, enrollment revisions, verification revisions, ISIR revisions, satisfactory academic progress appeals, and consortium agreements.
Assists the Director of Financial Aid with the review and processing of Financial Aid appeals.
Assists with the maintenance of office processes and procedures.
Counsels students and parents and assists them through the financial aid process.
Plans, develops, implements, and evaluates financial aid policies and procedures.
Administers and facilitates the awarding of new and continuing students' financial aid packages, including Federal Pell and SEOG Programs, State Aid and Tuition, and Federal Work-Study.
Maintains direct contact with assigned students via phone, text, e-mail, etc., and responds to student inbound communication within established timeframes.
Awards applicants with federal, state, and institutional financial aid awards in accordance with student eligibility and institutional policy.
Verifies financial aid applications using federal tax transcripts, verification forms, etc.
Conducts constant review of student enrollment to determine student aid eligibility.
Reviews and processes student aid adjustment requests such as part-time adjustments, housing status changes, etc.
Reviews reports to ensure compliance with federal regulations such as overawards, Pell LEU issues, loan default issues, CFLAGS, etc.
Assists with development and maintenance of financial aid policy and procedures manual.
Coordinates and partners with other offices on campus to ensure streamlined student-centered processes.
Processes summer financial aid requests.
Resolves student issues and assists with determining the best possible aid package.
Packages financial aid awards according to federal and state regulations.
Maintains an on-going understanding of computer programs and their application to all areas of processing and awarding financial aid.
Maintains current knowledge of federal and state regulations and their application to administration of financial aid programs.
Assists administration with ongoing projects.
Reviews and makes decisions on satisfactory academic progress appeals.
Determines and approves if students qualify for an unusual/mitigating circumstance; exercises professional judgment by making decisions or revisions to costs, contribution, need, or dependency status as exceptions to the prescribed process.
Addresses questions and requests from students, parents, or guardians in person or in writing regarding financial aid programs and eligibility.
Demonstrates working knowledge of Federal Systems such as COD (Common Origination and Disbursement), CPS (Central Processing System) and NSLDS (National Student Loan Data System).
Performs other duties as assigned.
Supervises student employees and/or work-studies.