Financial Aid Advisor

Job Title

Financial Aid Advisor I - Processing

Agency

Texas A&M University

Department

Scholarships And Financial Aid

Proposed Minimum Salary

$21.64 hourly

Job Location

College Station, Texas

Job Type

Staff

Job Description

Who We Are

What We Want

Scholarship & Financial Aid is seeking a Financial Aid Advisor I who will be primarily responsible for financial aid processing. As a financial aid processor, this person will work with a team behind the scenes to process documents and review student files. We are looking for a detail-oriented individual who can work in a fast-paced environment, multi task, problem solve, and work with spreadsheets and data. The ideal candidate will be passionate and enthusiastic about providing excellent service to students by timely working daily processing tasks.

What You Need to Know

Salary Range: $21.64/hour

Cover Letter & Resume: A cover letter and resume are strongly recommended

Other Requirements:

• Occasional Travel

• May be asked to work weekends, holidays, and outside regular business hours during peak periods

• Must comply with Texas A&M System Policy 07.02 Texas Higher Education Fair Lending Practices

• Must be in good standing on all Federal Student Loans. The U.S. Dept. of Education will not grant access to student loan data for any individual who is in default status. Access to such information is a necessity for this position. Must be able to rectify default status within three months of employment. Good standing must be maintained for continued employment.

Essential Duties/Tasks

• Advising/Processing - Under close supervision, learns to use discretion and independent judgment to advise and counsel students and their families on financial aid and scholarships. Learns how to and assists with reviews of student files and adjusts as needed. Learns the student financial aid/scholarship process and shadows team members. Learns how to award, revise and/or approve the disbursement of financial aid through the specific controls of program policy and guidelines. Learns how to communicate with students and their families via multiple methods (i.e. email, in-person, phone, etc.). Learns to review application data against additional data received and resolve discrepancies or adjust data in Banner/Compass as appropriate. Learns how to collaborate with on campus representatives regarding students’ financial aid concerns.  

• Financial Aid Knowledge & Team Support - Learns, interprets, and maintains knowledge of current federal, state, and institutional policies, procedures, and regulations pertaining to financial aid. Learns how staff interact with students and help transition students from prospective to currently enrolled students. Learns how to ensure processing activities adhere to established policies and procedures while using critical thinking skills.

• Financial Aid Processing - Learns to review match rules to find matching students records in Compass to load ISIR files. Learns to work reports related to ISIR data review – ensuring correct ISIR transaction is current record, reviewing ISIR for accurate data and adjusting as needed, and determining students’ awards are accurate after FAFSA changes are made. Learns to manage reports related to processing student financial aid. Learns to ensure files are completed accurately and in a timely matter, including reports. Learns to train others in the office and answers questions related to duties. Learns to use discretion and independent judgement to research and resolve issues related to responsibilities. Learns to assist in preparing paper scholarship checks for deposit into University accounts. Learns to review scanned images of checks to ensure quality of images. Learns to balance deposit total with total in imaging system. Learns to prepare documents for imaging, including but not limited to identifying all documents, separating into batches, placing separator sheets as appropriate for imaging identification. Learns to scan documents using the imaging system, including but not limited to scanning batches of documents, validation of the documents scanned, and the release of these documents into the repository. This position provides back-up support for the Processing team as needed. This includes cross training with other team members to learn different processes, including correcting over awards, determining correct aid and loan periods for students, determining aid eligibility and awarding students, and processing documentation to clear C flags on students’ aid applications.

• General - Participates in and assists in the planning and execution of events for departmental initiatives (e.g. financial aid awareness programs, Aggieland Saturday, New Student Conferences). Learns how to respond to various questions that may require researching and consolidating data regarding financial aid and scholarships. Attends local, state, and national workshops, and conferences. May assist with presentations.

Qualifications

Required Education and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

• No experience required.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Ability to meet deadlines and maintain a high level of accuracy, professionalism, and customer service.

• Working knowledge of Microsoft Office software.

• Ability to work individually or as a team in a dynamic organization.

• Good interpersonal communication skills.

• Must be literate in the English language and able to comprehend, give and follow both written and verbal instructions.

• Ability to organize and make decisions.

• Ability to work well under pressure.

• Ability to use tact, diplomacy, and judgment in dealing with all customers.

• Attention to detail.

All positions are security-sensitive. Applicants are subject to a criminal history investigation, and employment is contingent upon the institution’s verification of credentials and/or other information required by the institution’s procedures, including the completion of the criminal history check.

Equal Opportunity/Veterans/Disability Employer.