Financial Aid Counselor

 GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES

Under the supervision of the Dean of Student Success and the direct supervision of the Director of Financial Aid, the Financial Aid Counselor assists in counseling and performing technical and clerical tasks related to the preparation, dissemination and documentation of Financial Aid information; and assists students, staff and the general public concerning the interpretation of Financial Aid program policies and procedures.

SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES

Financial Aid Counselor Responsibilities

1. Provides excellent customer service and assistance to internal and external customers through walk-ins, telephone, and email.
2. Responsible for the annual set-up of the Colleague system and financial aid process for each year.
3. Create/update yearly verification documents.
4. Oversees the important process of ISIR’s ensuring accuracy and proper budget/COA calculation, assigns student files to financial aid advisors for awarding.
5. Completes verifications, resolves comment codes, obtains documents, and makes necessary corrections to ISIR’s in compliance with federal and state regulations.
6. Counsel students with special circumstances on applying and documenting requests for exceptions and aid recalculations, such as dependency overrides and changes in family income/circumstances.
7. Processes student aid applications electronically; verifies, submits corrections, and packages financial aid awards.
8. Provides information to students regarding financial aid programs, eligibility requirements, and application processes; interprets and explains the College and Financial Aid policies and procedures to students, parents/guardians, and the general public.
9. Send correspondence to students regarding incomplete or missing information in their files, as well as prompt notification of the Financial Aid Offer Letter.
10. Award financial aid, certify students for disbursement, and process return of funds and/or overpayments for federal and state programs in addition to verifying students are not paid federal/state funds for classes outside their program of study.
11. Maintains Consortium Agreements each semester for students.
12. Oversees the administration of the NC Child Care Grant program, the Federal Work-Study Program, as well as all state scholarship programs through NCCCS (e.g. Golden LEAF, SECU, etc.).
13. Oversee the awarding and application of third-party scholarships received on behalf of students.
14. Maintains the budget for Continuing Education financial assistance funds, awarding CE funds to students, and working with the Coordinator of CE Compliance to ensure proper spending and allocation.
15. Works with the Business Office after each disbursement of federal funds to ensure reconciliation with COD.
16. Advises students of the impacts of drops and withdrawals regarding Financial Aid.
17. Responsible for calculating and tracking the academic progress of students at the end of each semester. Sends correspondence to students as needed.
18. Maintains and tracks appeals of Satisfactory Academic progress for the SAP Committee.
19. Serves on the Scholarship Committee (non-voting member) for the review and awarding of annual MTCC Educational Foundation scholarships.

Compliance & Reporting Responsibilities

1. Maintains proper student financial aid records.
2. Ensures compliance with all Title IV regulations regarding aid eligibility.
3. Assists the Director of Financial Aid in reviewing the Program Participation Agreement annually, as new programs of study are added and removed from the College Catalog.
4. Assists the Director of Financial Aid in the completion of annual reporting, such as FISAP, IPEDS, NCHED.
5. Assists in preparation for annual, and semi-annual audits and program reviews.
6. Review reports to ensure student compliance with course curricular requirements related to financial aid.

Veteran’s Affairs/School Certifying Official Responsibilities

1. Assists with federal and state reporting to appropriate agencies.
2. Assists the Director in performing certification of veteran’s educational benefits each semester and maintains appropriate records, ensuring compliance with the Department of Veteran’s Affairs policy and procedure.
3. Assists the Director in maintenance of accurate and timely records of withdrawals, drops, and overpayments of VA educational funds.
4. Collaborates with the Director and the Business Office to ensure payments are received each semester for certified students and that funds are returned to the VA promptly.
5. Collaborates with the Director and the Registrar to submit the annual Catalog Recertification and Approval Packet to the Veteran’s Administration for review.

Miscellaneous

1. Assists with developing policies and procedures for administering an effective Financial Aid program.
2. Participates in committees and task forces as assigned.
3. Attends annual and semi-annual conferences, professional development trainings and webinars to keep abreast of ever-changing rules and regulations for federal, state, and veteran financial assistance programs.
4. Assists with the creation of materials and content for the office website, while collaborating with the Digital Media Specialist on social media campaigns.
5. Assists FA Director to engage with MTCC Foundation Board, Board of Directors, and donors to communicate the impact donations and scholarships make in student’s lives.
6. Effectively work with other constituents as necessary to coordinate outside resources and other Financial Aid related activities.
7. Implement all policies as established by the Board of Trustees.
8. Other duties as assigned.