Financial Aid Program Coordinator
Position Overview
The University of Kansas Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships (FAS) serves students, families, and the community by providing federal, state, and institutional financial aid information and resources to assist students in achieving their educational goals. FAS is committed to providing quality financial aid services to its constituents while maintaining accountability in the administration of public, institutional, and private financial aid funds. Services are designed to support the educational goals of the individual student and the goals of the university as they relate to retention and graduation.
This position is responsible for the administration of federal and state aid. This position requires strong interpersonal skills, proficiency with various technologies, strong public communication and writing skills, attention to detail, as well as an aptitude for administering financial aid programs to ensure compliance with all Federal Title IV regulations. The staff member in this position must effectively administer financial aid and scholarship programs in support of our mission to ensure access and support progression and performance of our students.
Job Description
75% - Administration of Financial Aid Packaging and Awarding:
- Administers financial aid packaging and awarding in the Student Administration System (SAKU).
- This includes coordinating mass packaging, summer awarding processes, manual awarding, late awarding, and oversight of packaging special populations.
- Collaborates with staff in Student Lifecycle Technology.
- Member of the KU FAS Packaging Team, assisting the Team’s strategic decision-making about funding allocations and spending strategies, ensuring compliance with federal, state, and institutional regulations.
- Serves as the federal campus-based aid and state programs subject matter expert, keeping up to date on all regulations affecting packaging of aid and updates policies/procedures as needed.
- Reviews Pell award amounts and makes adjustments on census date.
- Serve as back up for Pell LEU.
- Ability to access secure data in the Federal Student Aid Application Systems (requires a valid social security number and applicants cannot be in default on a federal student loan).
- Adjusts budgets and determines financial aid eligibility for non-degree seeking, dissertation, Study Abroad, licensure, dual career and other groups who need budgets adjusted.
- Coordinates financial aid overawards, ensuring compliance with federal regulations.
- Determines when repayment of aid is required.
- Collaborates with Associate and Assistant Directors to determine work priorities for processing staff members and technical needs.
- Counsels prospective and current students and families regarding school-related financial aid concerns, and responds fully to escalated inquiries, including the application and awarding process, budgeting and the securing of resources to meet expenses.
- Develops training materials for program areas and provides training to colleagues.
- Responsible for keeping the Knowledgebase up to date and providing updates in staff meetings.
- Develops communications as needed.
- Assists with outreach activities (e.g. FAFSA completion, high school events) to support recruitment activities in conjunction with the KU Admissions office, as well as other financial aid events on campus for current students.
- Serves as the main point of contact for students enrolled in Jayhawk Flex (Competency Based Education program).
- Supervises one administrative associate senior position.
- Provides training and timely feedback surrounding performance, including focus on data integrity, accuracy, and timely service delivery for constituents.
- Clearly and routinely communicates expectations for project completion and task completion.
- Utilizes My Talent to set expectations and goals and regularly address performance.
- Routinely audits data entry to ensure compliance with federal awarding rules, and state/institutional policies and procedures.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree with two years relevant experience OR Master’s degree at time of appointment.
Preferred Qualifications
- Preferred minimum two years professional financial aid experience at a post-secondary institution.
- Experience creating efficiencies through technology, including experience with data query and analytics, as evidenced in application materials.
- Excellent communication skills, as evidenced by the application materials.
- Experience with interpreting federal regulations and developing/implementing programs to comply with those regulations, as demonstrated in application materials.
- One year of experience providing assistance to students.
- Demonstrated experience and skill in problem-solving for a variety of situations, as evidenced in application materials.
- Demonstrated record keeping skills and ability to organize and manage multiple detailed tasks accurately, as demonstrated in application materials.
Additional Candidate Instructions
In addition to the online application, the following documents are required to be considered for this position:
- A cover letter addressing how required and preferred qualifications are met.
- Resume or curriculum vitae.
- Contact information for three professional references.
Contact Information to Applicants
Stephanie Covington, scov@ku.edu
Advertised Salary Range
50,000
Work Schedule
Monday - Friday, 40 hours/week
Application Review Begins
Monday March 31, 2025
Anticipated Start Date
Monday April 21, 2025