"Financial Aid Counselor – 42654"

Job Details

FLSA EMPLOYMENT CATEGORY: Hourly; Non-Exempt; Administrative; Full time

DEPARTMENT: Financial Aid

POSITION SUMMARY:

Alma College seeks a Financial Aid Counselor to join our Strategic Enrollment Management team. This is a student-centered role focused on providing immediate and comprehensive services to students and families, including first year, transfer, graduate and international students.

SUPERVISION RECEIVED/EXERCISED:
Reports to the Director of Financial Aid and has no supervisory responsibilities.

ESSENTAL FUNCTIONS:

• Communicate with students/families in multiple media, including but not limited to telephone, postal mail, email and text.
• Assist students and families with completing the FAFSA, entrance counseling, Master Promissory Notes.
• Ability to learn software systems including financial aid and web-based applications, to ensure effective operations. Programs include Colleague, Slate and Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, Word, Power Point), as well as other Federal systems, such as COD (Common Origination and Disbursement), NSLDS (National Student Loan Data System), and FPP (FAFSA Processing Portal), State systems such as MiSSG, and ELM (private loans).
• Stay up to date with federal and state financial aid regulations.
• Review and certify student eligibility for state aid programs.
• Review and certify student eligibility for veteran and military educational benefits.
• Stay up to date on veteran and military regulations and qualifications.
• Continued veteran and military educational benefits training prior to offering, recommending, arranging, signing-up, dispersing, or enrolling in Federal or private student loan programs.
• Determine eligibility for Federal Work Study and award accordingly. Maintain payroll records for compliance and spending purposes.
• Review and process forms submitted to the document upload repository.
• Preparation of materials and other items needed for orientation days and annual audits.
• Complete office mailings including but not limited to award letters, MIL letters, disbursement notices, SAP letters, withdraw information, exit counseling packets and missing FAFSA notices.
• Attend admissions meetings and professional development opportunities.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• 2+ years in a customer service field.
• Excellent communication, organizational, and interpersonal skills.
• A professional, congenial and polite demeanor.
• Ability to problem solve.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively as part of a diverse team of professionals.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Associate or bachelor’s degree
• Experience in financial services or higher education.

APPLICATION PROCESS:

For full consideration, qualified candidates must complete the following steps:

• submit the Alma College application
• email a letter of interest and resume to careers@alma.edu.

Applications will be accepted through October 12, 2025.

Alma College is classified as a selective Baccalaureate College: Diverse Fields by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Alma is committed to academic excellence and the development of responsible leaders; our students thrive on challenging academic programs in a supportive, small-college environment emphasizing active, collaborative learning and close student-faculty interaction. Alma is a private Phi Beta Kappa institution located in the center of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula.

Alma College is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse faculty, staff, and student body.