Do You Have What It Takes to Be a Financial Aid Administrator?

Students receive more than $160 billion in federal and state funds to attend college each year, and virtually every one of the colleges those students attend had at least one financial aid professional on staff. Financial aid administrators work with students and families to help them understand how to combine their own resources with federal, state, private, and institutional financial aid to cover the costs of attending college. They also ensure that all financial aid funds are awarded as fairly as possible and are handled according to federal and state law, and provide students with the information they need to successfully repay any education loans.

No one enters the financial aid profession for the glamour, prestige, or huge salaries—these simply do not exist in the student aid office. Committed financial aid professionals are generally hard-working individuals inspired by a desire to help needy students reach their higher education goals. Although much of the job deals with regulations and details, it is reaching out to students that keeps most aid administrators motivated.

The responsibilities of financial aid administrators vary based on a number of factors, such as the student aid programs offered at the school, the number of students the school serves, the amount of financial aid delivered by the school, etc. For example, some larger institutions often have a number of staff members who each specialize in certain aspects of student aid administration. Financial aid administrators at smaller schools generally have smaller staffs, where each individual staff member has a greater variety of responsibilities.

Financial Aid Administrator Roles

Successful financial aid administrators must be good listeners and effective communicators. Financial aid can be a highly emotional issue for many families because it deals with sensitive issues such as their finances, the way they manage money, their expectations of the school and the government, and most importantly, their ability to attend college. Most effective financial aid administrators learn to handle the frustration families feel about limited funding sources or application “red tape” by empathizing with these frustrations and helping families to understand and navigate the process.

Aid administration also requires comprehending and applying almost countless federal, state, private scholarship, and institutional requirements, and keeping a clear, organized audit trail. Strong management skills are also critical as an aid administrator gains responsibility to make sure that all staff are complying with laws and regulations. Failure to comply can have grave consequences, from misrepresenting a student’s eligibility, to jeopardizing the entire school’s ability to participate in the student aid programs.

Many student aid programs are tied to the federal and state government, which means that effective financial aid professionals must easily adapt to change. Programs are reauthorized every several years, student aid legislation and requirements can be subject to the priorities of each new federal and state administration. But while the specifics are always in flux, the general responsibilities of an aid administrator commonly include the following:

• Understanding and explaining different types of financial aid and the eligibility requirements for each type of aid
• Estimating the costs of education and available financial aid for prospective students
• Helping students to identify alternative sources of funds if additional money is needed to meet educational costs
• Helping students budget and providing ongoing counseling to keep students’ educational debts under control
• Processing student aid applications, verifying their accuracy, and maintaining a detailed audit trail
• Ensuring technology systems meet federal and state standards and facilitate workflow
• Exercising judgment in special circumstances when the student aid application may not accurately reflect a family’s circumstance
• Interpreting federal and state laws and ensuring that current financial aid practices are always in strict compliance
• Providing recommendations to the school’s senior officials on how current and proposed legislation will affect students
• Understanding and explaining student loan repayment requirements and borrowers’ rights and responsibilities
• Finding Federal Work-Study jobs for students and handling student employment programs
• Advocating with policy makers at national and state levels to ensure that financial aid funding remains available, affordable, and accessible to families
• Participating in local, regional, and national professional associations to keep up with the latest trends in the effective administration of student aid
• Responding to media requests for practical information to help families
• Developing detailed informational materials for students and parents, including financial literacy materials
• Submitting reports to federal and state agencies and completing institutional reports
• Maintaining office policies and procedures and overseeing staff and office operations
• Coordinating with other offices on campus to facilitate student services

Core Competencies

With such a broad range of responsibilities, financial aid administrators must have a diverse range of skills. Although the skills needed depend on a variety of factors, having or acquiring as many of the following competencies as possible will help you to succeed:

• Ethical and Dedicated: Is honest and forthright and always makes students and adherence to the law the first priority. Maintains a calm and steady demeanor and provides open and accurate feedback to students, parents, coworkers, and management.
• Empowering to Others: Encourages students and parents to make their own decisions after providing them with all of the facts, and continues to provide resources and support as needed. Motivates others and expresses pride in their achievements.
• Analytical Thinker: Has the ability to clearly identify a problem and a set of solutions based on data and information. Can read charts, diagrams, and data elements to identify trends, make comparisons of all available options and make sound decisions based on empirical evidence.
• Critical Thinker: The ability to discern, analyze, and evaluate tangible and intangible information related to the student and families circumstances in an effort to form a solid judgment about the families ability to pay for college by reconciling application data and other pertinent information with common sense.
• Trust Builder: Uses a win-win approach to help students and parents without compromising the integrity of the financial aid system or the institution. Remains open to students, coworkers, and managers to achieve departmental goals. Can be relied on in all situations.
• Communicates Effectively: Is able to write and speak effectively and convey complicated terminology and concepts. Has the ability to change communication style based on the audience (first-time college students Vs. returning students). Has the ability and patience to repeat communications to students and parents.
• Manages Change Effectively: Supports innovation in the workplace and proposes ideas to streamline processes. Has the flexibility to alter policies and procedures to remain in compliance with changing federal and state laws.
• Resilient: Continues to function at an optimal level despite tight deadlines and pressure. Has the ability to change tasks quickly and maintains self-control when being criticized, attacked, or provoked by frustrated students and parents. Maintains an aura of optimism.
• Adept Conflict Manager: Empathizes with those who are frustrated and has the ability to diffuse antagonistic situations.
• Problem Solver: Demonstrates the ability to recognize challenges that may exist related to people, data, and/or things that impede the achievement of the mission, goal, and objectives of the institution and develop strategies to overcome them.
• Skilled Fiscal Manager: Has the ability to monitor student accounts and reconcile financial aid balance statements. Complies with rules, policies, and laws that govern administrative funds. Can maintain perfect and tedious record and can account for every single dollar of financial aid funds.
• Lifelong Learner: Has the ability to learn and integrate new information into existing workflows. Is curious about the underpinnings of the financial aid system, regulations, policies, and procedures and seeks out various opinions for better understanding. Is self-motivated to stay up on current laws and rules governing financial aid.
• Customer Focused: Makes students their primary focus and develops good relationships with both prospective and ongoing students. Recognizes the need to readjust priorities to respond to students’ needs. Feels the need to measure and understand customer satisfaction and changes practices to ensure families receive the service they need.
• Not Averse to Technology: Understands and uses basic technology to communicate with staff and students. Must understand concepts associated with database management and be proficient in using a personal computer and standard office software.
• Values Diversity: Shows respect for other cultures and ways of thinking and seeks to understand all perspectives and viewpoints. Treats all students and staff equitably and with respect. Understands the value of financial aid in increasing enrollments of underserved populations (e.g., first-generation college students, ethnic minorities, and low-income students).

College Coursework

Financial aid administrators do not graduate with a degree in a specific, career-targeted field, like “financial aid administration” – such degrees simply do not exist. However, because financial aid administration requires the kind of analytical and critical thinking students typically hone in college, most schools want all but the most entry level positions in their financial aid office to be held by 4-year degree graduates. Many in senior positions within the student aid office hold masters or doctoral degrees.

Where do aid administrators learn how to be aid administrators? They learn from colleagues; they receive training through their national, regional, and state financial aid associations as well as the U. S. Department of Education; and in some cases they learn through courses offered by state agencies. Often financial aid administrators start as Federal Work Study students who have worked in the student aid office as undergraduates and are hired after graduation.

Although there is no degree that leads directly to a career in student aid, financial aid administrators do need to keep up on myriad regulations, laws, and requirements, as well as innovations in technology that can help the aid office serve students and families more efficiently. This takes dedication and enough background information to be able to apply complex requirements to the academic and financial structure and student population of the school. To meet that ambitious goal, prospective financial aid administrators may benefit from courses in the following subjects:

• Accounting
• Business Management
• Statistics
• Ethics
• Psychology
• Writing
• Public Speaking
• Personal Computing
• Communications
• Foreign Language (if working in an area with predominantly high numbers of speakers of a specific foreign language)

Why Student Aid?

By helping students to afford college, student aid administrators contribute to the physical, social, and environmental, and economic health of the individual, the community, the nation, and the world. Because of the work they do, millions of students go on to become physicians, teachers, scientists, artists, engineers, managers, economists… and even president. And data shows that college graduates also live longer, healthier, and more productive lives. While their efforts remain behind the scenes and largely unsung, student aid administrators make a difference in countless lives every day.

How Can NASFAA and My State and Regional Associations Help Me to Further My Career in Financial Aid?

There are several ways that NASFAA can help you make yourself more competitive in the financial aid profession:

NASFAA Membership: NASFAA members receive daily updates on student aid issues, have access to valuable student aid resource materials, receive free and discounted training, and have expanded networking opportunities.

If you are not already a member, consider joining NASFAA to keep on top of all of the breaking news in student aid and to benefit from the analysis and tools the Association provides to its members.

NASFAA Career Center: The NASFAA Career Center is the definitive career resource for financial aid professionals, offering free job searching and resume posting. At the NASFAA Career Center, prospective financial aid administrators can:

• View and search current job postings
• Post a resume (anonymously or with contact information)
• Create a job alert for specific jobs
• Review the articles and information in the online Content Library, which is provided by JobTarget, the company that hosts the NASFAA Career Center.

Attend Training: When you seek training at the state, regional, and/or national levels, your knowledge stays up-to-date. An added bonus to in-person training is the opportunity to build a network of peers. Whether you want a promotion or a new position, your resume should include all continuing education programs that you have completed.

You can begin your financial aid training or brush up on your financial aid skills through LearnStudentAid.org, the first learning community on the Web created by financial aid professionals for financial aid professionals. LearnStudentAid.org training is available to NASFAA members and non-Members, as well as associations and organizations with an interest in helping those who assist students in financing their higher education.

For ongoing training, each year NASFAA offers Fall Training, a Leadership Conference (by invitation), and a National Conference. You can also complete online courses at LearnStudentAid.org and/or purchase CORE training materials and lead your own training session at your institution. For more information, visit the NASFAA Training Center.

Get Involved: Working in financial aid is not just about filling out paperwork or filing papers electronically. Effective financial aid professionals look forward to going to work each day because they are dedicated to helping students succeed no matter what obstacles the student faces. Early awareness efforts and programs for underserved populations take place across the country. If you get involved at the state, regional, and/or national level, you may find a deeper meaning to your work, and make great peer contacts, too.

NASFAA offers the resources you need to create an informative Financial Aid Night presentation for families in your area.

Volunteer: All of the financial aid associations—at the state, regional, and national levels—rely on volunteers to accomplish their objectives. When you volunteer for a committee or serve on a board of directors, you learn how organizations are run; you gain useful management skills, especially if you lead a committee; and you make fantastic contacts for the future. The experience looks great on your resume, too.

While NASFAA has a permanent staff, the Association relies on more than 170 volunteers each year. To learn how you can get involved with NASFAA, visit the Volunteer Page on the NASFAA Web site.

Earn Awards: When you get involved and volunteer, you begin to get noticed in the financial aid community. State, regional, and national associations recognize their volunteers annually. Not only do awards look great on your resume, they also make you feel good.

Learn what it takes to earn awards and aim to make them your goal. Information on NASFAA’s awards can be found in the Awards Center online.

Get Published: State, regional, and national associations have online and print publications that need articles on a regular basis. Some publications come out every month, others three or four times a year. When you publish an article, you establish yourself as an expert in the field of financial aid. People begin to seek you out. Also, you can give your boss copies of your articles and include them as a resume supplement.

To submit articles, visit NASFAA’s Student Aid Transcript magazine online.

Do Research: If you are interested in a particular financial aid topic and you want to conduct research, go for it—especially if you are in a graduate or PH.D. program. Publishing a student aid-related research report is an excellent way to show your current and future bosses that you are serious about your financial aid career. Research papers establish you as a subject expert.

NASFAA offers research grants through its Sponsored Research Grant Program and publishes select research reports and results in NASFAA’s Journal of Student Financial Aid. For more information, visit the NASFAA Research Center.

Please direct all questions and comments about the Career Center to Membership at (202) 785-0453 Ext. 1 or Membership@NASFAA.org