WHAT DOES A FINANCIAL AID SPECIALIST DO?
Published: Mar 24, 2025 - The Financial Aid Specialist ensures compliance with student aid regulations and assists in OSAP cost code processes. Coordinates grant applications, evaluates financial need, and supports data entry of awards. Provides front-line support, advises students with complex cases, and updates financial aid information across platforms.
A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Financial Aid Specialist
1. Financial Aid Specialist - Repost Duties
- Program Advising: Provide information to students and families regarding financial aid programs.
- Eligibility Interpretation: Assist students with the interpretation of financial aid status and eligibility for programs.
- Application Processing: Reviews, verifies, and processes applications and supporting documents in accordance with established guidelines to determine financial aid eligibility in coordination with the Associate Director.
- Package Preparation: Prepares financial aid packages, including grants and loan certification in coordination with the Associate Director.
- Data Analysis: Perform data analysis to identify discrepancies in data and determine action for resolution.
- Letter Processing: Process financial aid letters and manage data files.
- Application Importing: Import financial aid applications using ED Express.
- Report Monitoring: Prepare and review reports including monitoring expenditures and reconciling data.
- Committee Participation: Serve on the Financial Aid SAP Committee.
2. Financial Aid Specialist - Repost Details
- Website Maintenance: Serve as back up for maintaining the RVCC Financial Aid website and post notices and announcements.
- Service Knowledge: Develop and maintain a working knowledge of the services provided by the Student Enrollment Center and other College departments in order to respond to inquiries appropriately and accurately.
- Regulatory Knowledge: Maintains ongoing knowledge of Federal, State, and College financial aid/loan regulations.
- Presentation Delivery: Perform Financial Aid presentations on and off campus.
- Program Administration: Under the direction of the Director of Financial Aid, the Financial Aid Specialist will be responsible for assisting in the administration of Federal, State and Institutional Financial Aid Programs.
- Data Entry: Perform varied and involved administrative and computer data entry duties as well as advise students and parents in an accurate and customer friendly manner in the financial aid process, eligibility and procedures.
- Application Review: Review and evaluate applications and make award adjustments on less complex issues.
- Award Packaging: Responsible for packaging awards, monitoring expenditures and reconciling data.
3. Financial Aid Specialist Responsibilities
- Client Support: Support clients in preparing applications for government financial assistance.
- Program Monitoring: Monitor new programs, grants and available tax credits and budget cycles.
- Event Participation: Attend external partner events to keep abreast of the latest developments.
- Business Insight: Understand the business context and impact of programs on client operations.
- Regulatory Advising: Give advice on innovations and compliance efforts.
- Planning Support: Help develop a short- and medium-term development plan.
- Business Development: Perform business development and advocacy activities.
- Partner Management: Manage relationships with external partners like clients, organizations and levels of government.
- Stakeholder Communication: Manage relationships and maintain ongoing and efficient communication with all stakeholders to ensure that solutions meet business requirements.
- Data Management: Maintain proper recording of information within the student information system for assigned area, as well as process daily incoming paperwork, which includes the scanning and tracking into the student’s file.
- Phone Support: Rotate onto the phone queue when scheduled, and when assistance is requested, to ensure students calling receive accurate answers in a timely manner.
- Presentation Assistance: Assists with Financial Aid Presentations both within DSC and with outside constituents.
4. Financial Aid Specialist Accountabilities
- Application Processing: Monitor queues, process applications and confirm student enrolment details throughout the year for government assistance payments and interest-free status requests.
- Document Tracking: Track receipt of OSAP supporting documentation and submit it to the Student Financial Assistance Branch of the Ministry of Colleges and Universities (MCU) for processing.
- Application Review: Review applications for completeness and advise students of missing, incorrect, or additional required documentation (e.g., signatures, inconsistencies, conflicting information).
- Record Management: Manage the retention and archival process of all paper documents within a student’s financial aid file per government policies.
- Student Advising: Provide advice to students on policies, regulations, processes, and appeals for government assistance programs.
- Payment Confirmation: Compile and transmit confirmation of government assistance payments to the Business Office for processing.
- Adjustment Submission: Submit adjustments for students who have withdrawn or made course changes to the MCU.
- Refund Processing: Process and track applicable student refunds to the NSLSC throughout the year, in accordance with government policies.
5. Financial Aid Specialist Functions
- Regulatory Compliance: Comply with all performance requirements and program regulations to maintain eligibility for student aid programs while keeping abreast of ever-changing government assistance policies
- Process Support: Assist the Financial Aid Manager with the OSAP cost code process, which is integral to institutional annual approval
- Academic Verification: Verify student academic progress requirements are met, and report applicable updates to the MCU
- Grant Coordination: Coordinate grant applications with Learning Services
- Application Processing: Assist in evaluating financial need, processing applications, compiling eligibility criteria, filtering applications, compiling nominations and data entry of awards on student accounts
- Communication Support: Support the communication of award results/acceptances/thank-you’s between students, Financial Aid, and Donor Relations
- Customer Service: Assist with front-line customer service, responding to telephone, written, in-person and electronic inquiries
- Student Advising: Advise students with unique or complex financial or family situations and recommend other financial aid options
- Content Updating: Update financial aid information for the website and Redeemer App