"Financial Aid Specialist"

Position Details

Position Number: 0081964

Hiring Unit: Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs

Location: Kapi‘olani Community College, Honolulu, HI

Date Posted: March 19, 2026

Closing Date: April 2, 2026, 11:59 PM HST

Band: B

Salary: Salary schedules and placement information

Temporary/Permanent: Permanent

Funding: General

Other Conditions: General funded position, to begin approximately June 2026, pending position clearance, availability of funds, satisfactory performance, and program needs.

Introduction

Under the general supervision of the Financial Aid Manager within the Kekaulike Center, this position serves as a key member of the Financial Aid team, working collaboratively with students, staff, and counseling faculty to ensure the effective delivery of comprehensive financial aid services. The position plays an essential role in supporting the Colleges commitment to access, affordability, and student success by administering complex financial aid processes in compliance with federal, state, institutional, and University of Hawai‘i policies.

Duties and Responsibilities

• **Works within the financial aid unit of Kekaulike Information and Services Center (KISC) and interacts with students, staff, and counseling faculty.
• Assists in all areas of financial aid services to ensure efficiency and effectiveness in operations.
• **Performs the day-to-day financial aid processing operations requiring specialized knowledge in the subject matter area to resolve situations.
• **Responds to students' individual needs and establishes trust and rapport to be able to provide specialized counseling services.
• **Monitors and assists in the management of the caseload distribution according to peaks and valleys in workload
• **Enhances, maintains and implements regular and specialized modifications to financial aid application processing based on state and federal regulations.
• **Keeps updated and maintains specialized knowledge in all financial services areas.
• **Recommends and develops approaches to ensure outstanding financial aid services.
• **Performs needs analysis to determine a student aid index/expected family contribution and financial need.
• **Utilizes human and technology resources to efficiently respond to all applications and requests received and provide specialized information to students.
• **Collaborates with the colleges community while acting as liaison between Financial Aid Specialists and other college units to address processing issues.
• **Evaluates and recommends the total operations of the office for planning purposes, to implement activities to improve services to students, and to keep in compliance with federal and state regulations.
• **Determines students' eligibility for financial aid based on the Department of Education's need analysis system and procedures. Apply awarding policies to fulfill college initiatives (federal, state, institutional)
• **Evaluates and grants students' requests for increasing aid awards due to appeals or changes in circumstances.
• **Advises/counsels/meets with students regarding financial aid processes and policies, in a variety of modes (in-person, phone, email).
• **Develops, maintains, monitors, and controls specialized financial aid processes assigned to the specialist; maintains procedures and assesses the effectiveness of the processes annually.
• **Directs, designs, and maintains the management of funds in assigned financial aid program(s).
• **Develops procedures for monitoring of expenditures for the full utilization of funds, including but not limited to projecting, awarding (which may include convening committees to review applications), monitoring, reconciling expenditures, and compiling annual/periodic reports.
• **Evaluates student financial aid applications and the awarding of Federal/State/Institutional aid. Including but not limited to, items such as eligibility for need/non-need-based aid; satisfactory academic progress; verification process; and professional judgement.
• Other duties as assigned

Minimum Qualifications

• Possession of a baccalaureate degree in Business Administration, Social Sciences, Technology, Mathematics, Education or related field and 3 year(s) of progressively responsible professional experience with responsibilities for providing student financial aid services, educational services, counseling; or any equivalent combination of education and/or professional work experience which provides the required education, knowledge, skills and abilities as indicated.
• Considerable working knowledge of principles, practices, and techniques in the area of student financial aid as demonstrated by the broad knowledge of the full range of pertinent standard and evolving concepts, principles, and methodologies.
• Considerable working knowledge and understanding of applicable federal and state laws, rules, regulations, and theories and systems associated with student financial aid regulations to develop policies and procedures pertaining to the awarding of financial aid, monitoring of services, and auditing compliance programs.
• Demonstrated ability to resolve wide-ranging complex problems through the use of creative reasoning and logic to accurately determine the cause of the problems and the resolution of the problems in an effective, innovative, and timely manner.
• Demonstrated ability to interpret and present information and ideas clearly and accurately in writing, verbally, and by preparation of reports and other materials.
• Demonstrated ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with internal and external organizations, groups, team leaders, and members, and individuals.
• Demonstrated ability to operate a personal computer and apply word processing software.
• For supervisory work, demonstrated ability to lead subordinates, manage work priorities and projects, and manage employee relations.
• Ability to utilize technology and current systems to increase productivity and improve processing services.
• Knowledge of the special needs and unique challenges of student groups, including those that are minorities, socio-economically disadvantaged, disabled, or adult learners.
• Must be able to work evenings and weekends, on and off-campus settings, and with a variety of traditional and non-traditional students and applicants for admission.

Desirable Qualifications

• At least one (1) year of professional experience using Banner or similar software.
• Evidence of commitment to Kapi‘olani Community Colleges vision of positioning itself as a model indigenous-serving institution whose graduates strengthen the social, economic, and sustainable advancement of Hawai‘i and the world.

To Apply

Click on the "Apply" button on the top right corner of the screen to complete an application and attach the required documents. In addition to the Application, applicants must attach the following:

1. Cover letter;
2. Resume;
3. The names and contact information (telephone number and email addresses) of at least three professional references; and
4. Official graduate and undergraduate transcript(s) showing degree and coursework to date appropriate to the position (copies of official transcripts are acceptable; however, original official transcripts will be required at the time of hire.) Transcripts issued outside the United States of America require a course-by-course analysis with an equivalency statement from an agency having membership with the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services, Inc., verifying the degree equivalency to that of an accredited institution within the USA. The expense of the evaluation shall be borne by the applicant.

Incomplete applications will NOT be considered.

Inquiries: Kapi'olani Community College HR Department, kapcchr@hawaii.edu