Financial Aid Specialist

West Coast University; Irvine (CA); On-site; USD 45,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

An educational institution in California seeks a Financial Aid Specialist responsible for managing multiple aspects of financial aid administration, including processing, reporting, and ensuring compliance with regulations. The ideal candidate should have 5+ years of financial aid experience and strong customer service skills. This role emphasizes collaboration across departments to support students and maintain the institution's integrity and effectiveness in financial operations.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of financial aid experience required.
• 5+ years in campus support or customer service.
• Proficient knowledge of financial aid standards and processes.

Responsibilities

• Manage assigned activity queue for timely completion of tasks.
• Complete weekly reporting on reconciliation and productivity.
• Evaluate federal verification of files selected by DOE.

Skills

Financial aid knowledge

Customer service

Integrity and confidentiality

Education

Bachelor's degree (preferred)

Job description

Overview

The Financial Aid Specialist will be involved in multiple aspects of financial aid administration. This position's main responsibility is to complete non-student-facing processing for assigned responsibilities and to ensure all processing is completed timely and accurately.

Areas of responsibility include complex and heavily regulated processing which requires specialized knowledge of financial aid regulations. Further, duties will vary based on team assignment but include from conducting file reviews, ISIR reviews, approving financial aid awards, managing state-based funds such as Cal Grant, completing tuition obligation and R2T4 calculations, processing stipends, monitoring, and resolving title IV credit balances, processing refunds, NSLDS reporting, import/export file processing, resolving disbursement and origination errors, evaluating, and approving institutional aid, SEOG and private loan batches, completing various reports as direct.

While this position is not student-facing, customer service is a critical aspect of this role as it supports all WCU and/or ACC campuses and works closely with various internal departments for resolution of issues and completion of multi-step processes.

Essential Functions & Responsibilities

All Financial Aid Specialist are responsible for:

• Managing their assigned activity queue to ensure all activities are completed accurately and on time.
• Completing required reporting each week as prescribed by their leader. This includes reconciliation reporting, productivity reporting and assigned reports.
• Review ISIRs where appropriate as a part of their assigned processes.
• Document activities, action taken, and guidance to campus as necessary in the Student Information System.
• Adheres to College/University policies and procedures and conducts job responsibilities in accordance with the standards set out in the College/University’s policies and procedures, applicable federal and state laws, and applicable professional standards.
• Other duties as assigned.

Based on team assignment, the Financial Aid Specialist will have the following responsibilities:

Finalize Aid

• Complete federal verification of files selected by Department of Education not verified by the 3rd Party Servicer.
• Evaluate files for conflicting information and c-codes and provide guidance to resolve.
• Determine aid eligibility for federal, state, and institutional aid.
• Monitor FAME Approved spreadsheets and update the Student Information System accordingly.
• Work Variance reports to identify and resolve award discrepancies.
• Manage and process all aspects of Cal Grant, including initial award, award updates, responding to campus inquiries, and data entry on state sites.
• Process Federal Work Study awards and payments

Refund Team

• Complete tuition obligations and R2T4 calculations for all students that drop or take a leave of absence.
• Process refunds
• Process campus stipend requests
• Process Title IV credit balances
• Process NSLDS (SSCR) reports

Disbursement & Exceptions

• Resolve or re-assign origination and disbursement errors.
• Review manual batches to ensure criteria met for all batches; prepare batches for approval.
• Evaluate and initiate appropriate action to resolve, or override exceptions.
• Resolve or adjust rejected disbursements in Anthology.
• Reverse or adjust refunds in COD.
• Proficient reviewing the cash flow, past due, and exception reports.
• Import/Export files through the Mailbox Manager.

Minimum and Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited College or University is preferred. Experienced candidates will be considered without a degree provided they have more than 5 years of financial aid experience and a combination of experience and education comparable to a bachelor’s degree.

Experience & Skills

• 5 years financial aid required
• 5 years campus support or customer service
• Requires proficient knowledge of standards and processes within financial aid plus experience supporting campus operations in an educational setting.
• May not be in default on a federal student loan or owe repayment on a federal grant.
• Demonstrates highest level of integrity, professional ethics, and confidentiality in all interactions.

Do you want a career that allows you to make a difference in other people’s lives? Discover what it means to truly believe in the work that you do at West Coast University.

At West Coast University, we have the privilege of educating students seeking careers in healthcare and guide them through their transformational journey from student to caregiver. Our associates are united behind that purpose and share a deep commitment to our values of teamwork, collegiality, transparency, and a student-centric approach to all we do. This focus creates an aligned, nimble, and consensus-driven culture that is solution-oriented and supports our associates’ professional growth.

West Coast University is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We embrace diversity and are dedicated to creating an inclusive environment for all associates.