Financial Aid Advisor at University of the West – Rosemead, California

Job Summary:

Under the supervision of the Director of Financial Aid, the incumbent is responsible for monitoring full-service financial aid processing, including document collection, budgeting, awarding, FAFSA verification, and loan certification for federal and state aid as well as VA education benefits.

Job Duties and Responsibilities:

• Provides advising and counseling to applicants, parents, and others regarding all aspects of financial aid such as the application process including need calculation, eligibility, awarding, rights and responsibilities of aid recipients, federal and state regulations, and institutional policies and procedures.
• Review financial aid applications to determine student eligibility and authorizes awards for federal and state aid such as Pell, FSEOG, and Cal Grants, Federal Work Study, in addition to Federal Direct Subsidized Loan, Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan, Federal Plus Loans, and Private Loans.
• Maintains a thorough knowledge of federal, state, and university policies, procedures and regulations pertaining to financial aid policies and procedures for awarding funds, making budget adjustments, and using professional judgment.
• Authorizes and disburses awards for financial aid through a combination of loans, grants, and work study based on individual needs and applicable laws and regulations.
• Perform return to Title IV calculations.
• Ability to establish and maintain cooperative working relationships with faculty, UWest administrators, student organizations, private/public agencies, committees, and other operations and programs of the University of the West.
• Provides advice and offers solutions to students who have special financial problems, or who question eligibility requirements, or who have been denied aid.
• Compiles facts and figures necessary for the preparation of periodic and special reports.
• Prepares public information material related to financial aid.
• Verifies the accuracy of information received through follow-up investigation or other means.
• Operates a computer terminal to input and retrieve information from a variety of specialized financial aid and student records systems.
• Utilizes standard office software applications to compile data and prepare information and correspondence.
• Attends and participates in seminars, conferences, workshops, and other training sessions to learn about state and federal laws and regulations pertaining to financial aid.
• Participates in outreach activities and acts as a liaison between other campus faculty and staff.
• May assist in the development and recommendation of new procedures and changes in existing clerical procedures.
• May perform a variety of tasks during peak work load periods or in the absence of assigned staff.
• Performs other related duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications:

• A bachelor’s degree or its equivalent from a recognized college or university AND two years of full-time aid administration experience in a college or university financial aid office.
• Demonstrated thorough knowledge and experience of administrative regulations and policies governing federal and state financial aid and other government funded programs.
• Demonstrated knowledge and experience of financial aid office procedures related to the day to day operations of the office.
• Demonstrated knowledge and experience of computerized financial aid award and tracking systems.
• Demonstrated knowledge of eligibility requirements and application procedures for financial aid programs.
• Demonstrated ability to interpret and apply federal and state laws and regulations pertaining to financial aid programs.
• Must have excellent oral and written English skills.
• Outstanding interpersonal and social skills in dealing with a diversity of people.
• Ability to use initiative and resourcefulness in planning work assignments using good judgment, attention to detail and follow-through.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Required:

• Experience with ANTHOLOGY student system or related student information software and other programs such as ED Express, ED Connect, COD, NSLDS, CA WebGrants system, VA-ONCE.
• Excellent organizational and time management skills with the ability to set own priorities to coordinate multiple assignments with fluctuating and time sensitive deadlines.
• Demonstrated ability to maintain detailed information with transparency and integrity.
• Demonstrated customer service experience requiring a very high level of diplomacy and professionalism.
• Excellent oral, written, and interpersonal communication skills to work effectively with staff, students, parents, and other external contacts.
• Excellent communication skills; ability to effectively communicate information in a clear and understandable manner, both verbally and in writing.
• Ability to interpret and apply financial aid rules and regulations.
• Ability to use initiative and resourcefulness in planning work assignments and in implementing long-range program improvements.
• Ability to reason logically.
• Ability to collect, compile, analyze and evaluate data and make verbal or written presentations based on these data.
• Ability to advise students individually and in groups on routine matters where required.
• Ability to establish and maintain cooperative working relationships with faculty, UWest administrators, student organizations, private/public agencies, committees, and other operations and programs of the University of the West.
• English- Spanish bilingual preferred.