Financial Aid Specialist - Student Financial Services

Under the directions from the Financial Aid Manager, the Financial Aid Specialist will provide specialized assistance to students applying for federal, state and institutional aid. The Financial Aid Specialist will, in addition to the CUNY Title Overview, perform the following:

- Perform functions required for the compliance and administration of the Federal Title IV financial aid programs (Pell, FSEOG, FWS and Direct Loans), including Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP), and Professional Judgments.

 Perform functions required for the compliance and administration of the New York State Aid Programs (TAP, Excelsior, PTAP, APTS) for degree and non-degree eligible students.

- Perform Title IV verification for students selected by the Federal government (includes income verification, default issues verifying immigration status, etc.) to ensure the accuracy of data reported to the Department of Education.

-  Assist with the quality assurance and program compliance of one of the Federal Title IV financial aid programs (Pell, FSEOG, FWS and Direct Loans), including Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP),  Professional Judgments, and Return to Title IV (R2T4);

- Communicate program activities, deadlines, Title IV payroll schedule to on and off-campus departmental supervisors;

- Conduct program orientations, and financial literacy workshops for students and departmental supervisors;

- Assist departmental supervisors with creating FWS job descriptions, posting and hiring of FWS students;

- Review daily reports to ensure FWS student records are updated in CUNYFirst and NexGen as needed;

- Identify and analyze rejected data and take appropriate action to resolve issues in the processing of the bi-weekly student payroll for federal programs;

- Ensure that the office adheres to FWS compliance with labor, federal and state tax regulations, and Federal Student Aid program requirements;

- Assist in processing, disbursing and resolving Federal Title IV program and payment issues;

- Assist in preparation of various management reports;

- Participate in monthly university-wide student loan or work-study meetings as assigned;

- Conduct internal quality control reviews and assessments to review compliance with federal, state, and university policies and procedures.

- Represent the department on and off campus as requested.

- Update appropriate databases and software as needed.

- Recommend and present training sessions, workshops, and webinars for the purpose of reducing workload processing errors and improving accuracy of work output.

- Develop and prepare training sessions based on findings of assessment review and analysis.

- Perform other job-related duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS

Bachelor's Degree and four years' related experience required.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience working in higher education.
• Experience with CUNYFirst system or PeopleSoft, including running queries.
• Knowledge of federal and state financial aid programs, and regulations.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Excellent communication, interpersonal and organizational skills.
• Bilingual in Spanish/English preferred.

CUNY TITLE OVERVIEW

Administers and supervises financial aid programs and operations.  

- Reviews contracts, disbursements, tuition and fees; validates student eligibility for various programs

- Administers, monitors and troubleshoots CUNY financial aid systems as well as Federal and NY State systems in order to ensure integrity of student databases and timely and accurate delivery of funds

- Assists CUNY staff, applicants, and students/families with advice on financial aid issues and eligibility 

- May review and reconcile student payroll processing

- Represents the Financial Aid function at Admissions events; works with academic departments as well as Bursar, Registrar, Admissions and Computing offices to assure staff understand and implement financial aid processes correctly

- Assists in the development and evaluation of Admissions processes

- Prepares documentation, instructions, and materials in various media to support financial aid activities

- Performs related duties as assigned.