Financial Aid Specialist II

University of Louisville•Louisville, KY

6d•Onsite

About The Position

The University of Louisville is seeking a Financial Aid Specialist II. The primary functions of the position is the overall management and oversight of Federal Direct PLUS and private educational student loans, as well as ensuring compliance with current and new federal regulations, providing support to multiple Teams within the Student Financial Aid Office. Through the utilization of system processes, reports, and queries and while maximizing the use of existing software tools to maintain compliance, this position is responsibility for the development, execution, and monitoring of awarding procedures applicable to private educational and Federal Direct PLUS loans to ensure best business practice standards are met. This position assists the Leadership Team within the Student Financial Aid Office with various tasks to ensure compliance with federal financial aid regulations and must maintain a working knowledge of all applicable regulations. The position will adhere to standards that ensure quality, efficiency, compliance, and service related to the responsibilities of the office, while providing guidance, resources, and training to the Student Financial Aid Office regarding all aspects of Federal Direct PLUS and private educational loan awarding and processing, and counsel students, parents, and other pertinent parties regarding application and eligibility requirements for federal, state, private, and institutional aid.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in a related field and two (2) years of relevant experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Oracle/PeopleSoft experience.
Loan management experience.

Nice To Haves

Project Management - organized, task oriented, ability to delegate and follow up.
Complex - review existing and recommend new departmental objectives, evaluate new approaches, and assess changing conditions.
Analytical - evaluating data and other information with the ability to choose the best solution and make recommendations.
Interpersonal - can build effective, strong working relationships with employees, colleagues, management and vendors through trust, communication, and credibility.
Critical Thinking - ability to think through issues and identity appropriate options and solutions.
Proactive - anticipates and plans for problems before they arise.
Flexible – ability to change directions as needed for the good of the department or organization.
Service Excellence – responsive, informs staff of process, pleasant to work with, educates and provides timely, accurate information.
Work Ethic – motivated, diligent, industrious and persistent in the workplace, stays on tasks to completion, works at a fast pace to ensure optimal efficiency.
Teamwork – ability to work with others, serve others, take directions from others in the interest of moving process and programs forward to the desired outcome.

Responsibilities

Carry out all aspects of the Federal Direct Parent PLUS application processing, including but not limited to the needed annual set-up, processing approved applications, managing Federal Direct PLUS Denial exemption appeal requests, processing additional Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan requests for PLUS denials, and ensuring all applications are reviewed and processed accurately
Carry out all aspects of private educational loan processing, including but not limited to annual loan period setup with Scholarnet and lenders, reviewing and certifying loan requests from various lenders, resolving data discrepancies, maintaining communication with lending partners, and ensuring all private loan applications are processed accurately and in accordance with federal, state, institutional, and lender-specific requirements.
Monitor the accuracy of Federal Direct PLUS and private educational loans utilizing queries and system processes
Evaluate and interpret federal, state, and institutional regulations to ensure compliance and provide recommendations for the application of new/changing regulations and process improvements, implementing needed actions to adhere to such
Maximize the use of existing software tools to adhere to federal, state, and institutional financial aid requirements and the needs of the office related to applicable award processing, ensuring policies and procedures are documented
Coordinate any needed correspondence to students pertaining to Federal Direct PLUS and private educational loan processing, canceling awards for students who do not adhere to processing requirements
Provide professional guidance, resources, and on-going training regarding the administration, management, and compliance related to the aid programs and activities for which the position is responsible
Counsel students, parents, and other pertinent parties regarding the Federal Direct PLUS, private educational loans, and other federal, state, private, and institutional aid, including advisement on the application process and eligibility requirements for such aid within federal, state, and institutional guidelines
Provide support to the other responsibilities of the Student Financial Aid Office and provide back-up processing of tasks when needed; perform other duties as assigned.