Financial Aid Analyst

City Colleges of Chicago’s vision is to be recognized as the city’s most accessible higher education engine of socioeconomic mobility and racial equity – empowering all Chicagoans to take part in building a stronger and more just city.  The community college system’s more than 3,500 faculty and staff serve more than 60,000 students annually at seven colleges and five satellite sites.

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE

Reporting to the Associate Vice Chancellor (AVC) Financial Aid and Scholarships, the Financial Aid Analyst provides technical and compliance support to the Office of Student Financial Services and the colleges’ Financial Aid Offices.  Performs related duties as required.   The Financial Aid Analyst also performs weekly system testing and implementation of new OIT systems and functionalities, serving as an expert user and troubleshooter of all software associated with financial aid processing.  Performs related duties as required.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES

• Provides technical assistance and student issue resolution, including but not limited to, R2T4s  (Return to Title IV), failed authorization, failed origination, repackaging, and loan issue resolution for the colleges.   , failed authorization, failed origination, repackaging, and loan issue resolution for the seven colleges.
• Assists with system testing and implementation of new OIT systems and functionalities, serving as an expert user and troubleshooter of all software associated with financial aid processing.
• Designs and tests processes for efficiency.
• Aligns technical solutions with business needs. Identifies and documents requirements, validates business rules, develops training and technical guides, and supports system stabilization, support, and enhancements.
• Provides ongoing training and support for the colleges on how to resolve student issues and utilizes financial aid processing software. Escalates higher level issues to the Financial Aid systems department for resolution.
• Provides support for PeopleSoft functions for the Financial Aid Offices on a daily basis including running processes and initiating student communications from the system.
• Generates query reports providing process and student data.
• Assists with District-wide student loan default initiatives, such as contacting delinquent borrowers and analyzing data provided by loan servicers.
• Performs periodic reviews of processes at the campuses, including verification and C-Flag resolution.
• Manages back-end processing at assigned campuses for all Title IV, scholarship, waiver and external funds that apply to student accounts. This includes system functions, reconciliations, reporting, student issues, staff issues and external vendors.
• Documents user requirements. Evaluates performance characteristics and generates program specifications for information system components.
• Gathers and validates required audit documents and processes for internal and external audit request.
• Administers change management. Resolves policy and procedural issues.
• Assists at the colleges during new student registration to serve as a technical specialist related to student registration issues in the Financial Aid Offices.
• Maintain continuity for the campus team during absences or replacement of staff by filling in as needed. Serve as proxy to District Director of FA or AVC of FA with internal and external partners.

REPORTING RELATIONSHIPS

Reports To                       AVC Financial Aid and Scholarships

Direct Supervision          None

QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university
• Two to four years of experience with PeopleSoft and/or Regent Education Financial Aid Software
• Two to four years of experience in financial aid administration focused on the resolution of technical issues and reports
• Knowledgeable of financial aid regulations and automated financial aid processing software
• Excellent interpersonal, oral, and written communication skills
• Excellent critical thinking, problem solving and analytic skills
• Ability to work within a culturally diverse environment
• Proficiency in the use of Microsoft Office (Work, Excel, PowerPoint) 

WE OFFER: Excellent health and welfare benefit package and long-term savings and investment programs including 403(b) & 457(b) Investment Plans and a pension plan with the State University Retirement System (SURS) Plan. Generous vacation, holiday, personal and sick days, and tuition reimbursement. For a more detailed overview of benefits, please visit the benefits page of our website.

We are an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer.

Chicago residency is required for all full-time employees within 6 months of hire.

Thank you for your interest in CCC!

The intent of this job description is to provide a general description of the duties and responsibilities of this position.  It is not intended to be an exhaustive set of the duties and responsibilities, nor all of the necessary qualifications to perform the work.

(Job Description created October, 2012; FLSA updated April, 2014. Duties updated August 2022)