Position Summary

The Financial Aid Advisor provides comprehensive, individualized financial aid counseling and support to students throughout the full academic journey at St. George’s University. By maintaining a continuous counselor relationship across academic phases, this role delivers a seamless student experience and serves as a consistent point of contact for financial aid guidance, loan processing, financial literacy, and issue resolution.

As a trusted advisor to students and families, the advisor guides students through the entire financial aid lifecycle, including eligibility, application and loan packaging, enrollment and cost-of-attendance adjustments, credit and private loan counseling, debt management, and repayment planning. The role ensures students understand their borrowing responsibilities and long-term financial obligations while maintaining compliance with federal regulations, institutional requirements, and private lending policies.

Essential Functions

Student Counseling & Advisement

Provide one-on-one counseling to students on federal and private loan programs, including eligibility, application and renewal requirements, disbursement timelines, and repayment responsibilities.
Participate in “Win Rooms” focused on incoming students (if assigned to incoming student support). Come prepared to discuss assigned students, provide relevant financial aid updates, and coordinate timely follow-up with Admissions and Financial Aid to support enrollment and a seamless student experience.
Serve as the primary point of contact for an assigned student caseload throughout the student journey, providing proactive outreach, continuity of support, and timely responses within 24-48 hours; escalate complex cases as appropriate.
Provide individualized credit counseling to help students understand credit scores, creditworthiness, credit reports, and the impact of personal credit history on loan approval and borrowing capacity.
Deliver private loan counseling, ensuring students understand loan terms, lender requirements, repayment obligations, and potential risks.
Provide debt management and financial planning counseling, including responsible borrowing, budgeting, living expenses, credit management, repayment options, and long-term financial impact.
Guide students through federal entrance and exit loan counseling and monitor completion of required counseling and loan requirements.
Guide eligible students through the VA process and collaborate with the Enrollment and Financial Aid Operations team on VA certification.
Document all student interactions in RHACOMM (Banner) and Salesforce to ensure accurate case tracking, compliance, and follow-up.

Application Processing & Aid Packaging

Review and evaluate financial aid applications, ISIRs, and supporting documentation to determine aid eligibility and resolve conflicting information.
Package federal and private student loans in accordance with Department of Education regulations and lender requirements.
Review and process cost-of-attendance adjustments, budget increases, recalculations, and aid revisions resulting from curriculum, enrollment, or other eligible changes.
Certify private loan eligibility and monitor pending, incomplete, or denied applications through resolution.
Evaluate unusual or extenuating circumstances submitted for professional judgment consideration and prepare recommendations for leadership, as appropriate.

Financial Literacy & Continuous Student Journey

Deliver financial literacy education through individual counseling, workshops, orientations, webinars, class meetings, and other student-facing programming.
Provide proactive financial aid outreach at key milestones from Basic Sciences to Clinical Sciences, mid-program, and pre-graduation.
Ensure continuity of counseling and financial aid support as students progress between academic phases, reducing handoffs and providing a consistent student experience.
Educate students on responsible borrowing, credit awareness, repayment options, debt management, and long-term financial planning.
Monitor completion of federal and private loan requirements and counseling modules to support timely compliance with institutional and regulatory deadlines.

Collaboration & Compliance

Maintain compliance with Title IV regulations, FERPA, COD, NSLDS, institutional policies, and private lender requirements.
Partner with Admissions, Registrar, Bursar, Student Affairs, Enrollment, Clinical Education, and Financial Aid Operations to align financial aid with enrollment, billing, academic progression, and student services.
Support audit preparation by ensuring files, records, and student communications are complete, accurate, documented, and accessible.
Remain current on changes in federal and private loan regulations, loan servicing, debt management practices, and financial aid best practices through ongoing training and professional development.

Operational Support & Reporting

Monitor and utilize daily, weekly, and monthly financial aid and enrollment reports to support accurate disbursements, enrollment status, loan eligibility, and compliance.
Communicate with students in support of department-wide initiatives, outreach campaigns, and regulatory reporting.
Serve as a liaison to lenders and loan servicers to support students throughout the borrowing and repayment experience.
Provide coverage for core financial aid functions as needed to ensure uninterrupted service to students.

Other Duties

Perform other duties and special projects assigned by leadership.

This description is not intended to be all-inclusive. This position may perform other related duties as required to meet the ongoing needs of the department/institution.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

Strong knowledge of Title IV federal aid programs, private loan processing and certification, credit counseling, and debt management strategies.
Excellent counseling and advising skills with the ability to build rapport and provide student-centered support to students and families from diverse backgrounds.
Proficiency in Banner (RHACOMM), Salesforce, NSLDS, COD, Microsoft Office 365, and database systems; advanced Excel skills preferred.
Strong organizational, analytical, and critical-thinking skills with a high degree of accuracy and attention to detail.
Excellent written, verbal, and presentation skills, with the ability to explain complex financial aid information clearly to individuals and groups.
Ability to manage sensitive financial and personal information with discretion and professionalism.
Demonstrated commitment to financial literacy, responsible borrowing, debt management, and continuous student experience.

Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s degree preferred.
Minimum 2-3 years of professional experience in financial aid, banking, lending, or student services, preferably in higher education.
Direct experience with loan processing, FAFSA verification, disbursements, and electronic data transmissions preferred.
Experience providing credit counseling, private loan counseling, and debt management education is strongly preferred.
Familiarity with Title IV, NSLDS, COD, and private lender regulations and certification processes.

Work Environment & Physical Demands

Professional office setting with frequent use of computers, phones, and office equipment.
Ability to focus and maintain accuracy in a high-volume, student-facing environment with frequent interruptions.
Primarily sedentary role requiring sustained attention to detail and accuracy.

Hours & Travel

Standard work week
Flexibility to work evenings and weekends during peak periods.
Occasional travel may be required for orientations, admissions events, or other student-facing initiatives.

Key Outcomes

Student Success & Continuity: Students receive timely, accurate, and consistent financial aid counseling from pre-matriculation through Basic Sciences, Clinical Sciences, graduation, and repayment preparation.
Seamless Student Experience: Students experience fewer handoffs and maintain a continuous financial aid counseling relationship as they progress through academic phases.
Debt & Credit Management: Students demonstrate increased financial literacy, credit awareness, responsible borrowing, and repayment readiness.
Compliance: Financial aid packaging, counseling, loan certification, and documentation comply with Title IV, federal, institutional, and lender requirements, with minimal audit findings.
Responsiveness & Documentation: Student inquiries are addressed within 24-48 hours and interactions are thoroughly documented in Banner (RHACOMM) and Salesforce.
Engagement & Retention: Students report a positive, supportive financial aid experience that contributes to persistence, retention, and graduation.

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