Financial Aid Specialist
- Westminster, Colorado, United States
- Full Time
- Exempt
Title: Financial Aid Specialist
Position Type: Professional Tech Full time
College: Front Range Community College
Division: Enrollment Management and Student Affairs
Department: FRCC Financial Aid
Campus: Westminster Campus
Location: Westminster, Colorado
Salary Range:$52,517 - $55,143 annually
Who We Are:
With three campuses along Colorado’s Front Range, FRCC is the state’s largest community college. We enroll close to 28,000 students annually from our diverse service area, which offers a variety of cultural and recreational activities.
Each year approximately 5,000 FRCC students transfer to four-year universities and FRCC offers more than 36 career training programs that prepare students for immediate employment and rewarding careers. Last year, more than 5,000 high school students took concurrent enrollment classes with us, earning college credit without having to pay college tuition. And we were recently ranked as one of the “Top Online Colleges” in the country by Newsweek.
One of FRCC’s main goals is to offer educational excellence for everyone. The college’s strong commitment to student success means we start by creating an inclusive and equitable environment—one where both students and employees feel they belong and are supported. FRCC’s focus on diversity, equity and inclusion is woven into the fabric of our college conversations and decision-making processes. We are actively seeking to hire a workforce that reflects the diversity of our student body.
The college is also an emerging Hispanic Serving Institution. For us, becoming an HSI is an intentional commitment to being a college where our Latinx (and other historically marginalized) students thrive.
FRCC employees and leaders work hard to create a culture of collaboration, innovation and pride. We’re looking to hire people who share these values—along with our commitment to student success, equity and excellence.
Job Summary:
Reporting directly to the Associate Director for Financial Aid Operations, the Financial Aid Specialist position reviews and processes financial aid applications to help students achieve their educational goals while meeting the compliance requirements of the college. The Financial Aid Specialist will implement Front Range Community College’s (FRCC) student focused culture by supporting the Financial Aid department operations and awarding federal, state, private and institutional funds. The position will maintain reporting, programming, and processing schedules pertinent to all automated systems while troubleshooting in the student information system and other systems as necessary. This position will support quality control of financial aid data, both input and output, from the student information system with a commitment to deliver consistent and high-quality support to students.
The ideal candidate will have a passion for continuous improvement of programs, services, and operations that enhance student experience with Financial Aid. The Financial Aid Specialist is expected to stay up to date with all new federal, state and institutional regulations, guidelines, policies and procedures.
This position does have the opportunity to work remotely occasionally but does require a strong on-campus presence and may require occasional travel to all three FRCC campuses.
Please note: You need to be a Colorado resident on your first day of employment. Also, Front Range Community College is an E-Verify employer.
Duties & Responsibilities:
Financial Aid Processing, Reporting and Quality Assurance
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Review FAFSA or other aid application data, student submitted documentation, and other financial aid related files to determine the eligibility for federal, state, institutional and private aid programs
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Work with Financial Aid Service Advisors to ensure the quality and acceptability of documents and student information.
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Assist with the coordination of scheduling and running of reports, data input and output, maintaining required documentation in student information systems, US Department of Education systems, and other systems used.
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Analyze, review and process a variety of daily, weekly, and by term reports for accuracy, compliance and equity.
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Process Return to Title IV fund calculations
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Certify, originate and coordinate private loans
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Review satisfactory academic appeals
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Work with other schools to resolve transfer monitoring or potential overpayment issues
Financial Aid Team Support
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Provide support for college wide events, presentations, or other department support where financial aid representation and expertise is required
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Collaborate with Financial Aid team, FRCC partners and Colorado Community College System with developments to enhance processes and reports.
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Provide support and training where applicable.
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Collaborate in the formulation, review and implementation of college-wide Financial Aid Office guidelines and procedures.
Communication
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Clearly disseminate general and specific information regarding financial aid information, programs, eligibility and other items pertaining to financial aid for students, their families, or inquiring institutions or Federal/State entities.
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Interactions may be in person, by phone, virtual/remote or via written correspondence, including email.
Professional Development
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Attend trainings provided by Federal Student Aid, NASFAA, RMASFAA, CAFAA, CCCS and FRCC
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Trainings could be in person, travel required, or via remote media/online source
Competencies/KSAs:
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Mission, Vision & Values: Embraces the mission, vision and values of FRCC. Understands the importance of the work that you do to support institutional goals.
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Student Centeredness: Places the student at the center of your work. Adopts a philosophy that makes the ability to serve the student the cornerstone of the work that you do.
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Data Usage: Looks at the data within the department, paying particular attention to what the data shows about the department's performance and student impact. Works with the next level supervisor to brainstorm changes that can be implemented to improve a program or service that the department provides.
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Cultural Self-Awareness: Willing to examine own beliefs and acknowledge own biases and how they have impacted or may impact the ability to serve students.
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Cultural Competence: Recognize the need to become knowledgeable about the ways to communicate and support students of other backgrounds. Change approach to reflect the new learning.
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Equity Mindedness: Learn to view department operations through an equity lens. Be willing to call attention to processes that lead to inequity in serving students. Understand the College's equity goals and how your role supports FRCC's ability to achieve those goals.
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Operational Planning: Have an understanding and knowledge of the college's various strategic plans and understand how your work supports each of them. Understand the department's expectations to find proactive ways to support the goals of the department.
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Leading from the Middle: Lead from your position by not only closely examine your responsibilities for the department, but in bringing forward ideas to your supervisor the college should consider to be more student centered.
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Team Building: Participate in team-building exercises and strive to build positive and collaborative relationships with colleagues both within the department and in other departments within the college.
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Collaboration: Willingness to work with colleagues across departments to further student engagement.
Minimum Qualifications:
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Bachelor’s degree and demonstrated experience in related field of work
OR
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Associate degree and two years professional experience in financial aid
Selection Process:
The selection process for the Financial Aid Specialist will be conducted through a competitive, merit-based evaluation of all qualified applicants. Preliminary screening will be based on the completed application package submitted by the candidate.
This posting may be used to fill multiple or similar positions.
Application Instructions:
Position will remain open until filled with a priority deadline of June 28,2026.
In your application, please include a resume and cover letter that specifically address how your background and experience align with the requirements, qualifications, and responsibilities of the position.
The application will ask for you to provide three references. We ask that they are all professional references and at least one is a current/recent supervisor.
Additional Information/Benefits:
Salary Information: The salary range reflects the minimum and maximum starting salary for the position. When determining the starting salary for a new employee, FRCC takes into consideration a combination of the selected candidate’s education, training and experience as it relates to the requirements of the position, as well as the position’s scope and complexity, internal pay equity and external market value.
Benefits Information: We are apart of the Colorado Community College System (CCCS) and benefits are system wide across all 13 colleges. For information about benefits, please view Administrative, Professional and Technical Employee and Faculty Benefits.
Welcoming. Respectful. Inclusive. Together, we are FRCC.
CCCS is an Equal Opportunity Employer
The Colorado Community College System believes when all human qualities are regarded with dignity and respect and when everyone has access to the individualized support they need, all will have the opportunity to thrive. In all aspects of the employment process, decisions are made based on merit, competence, performance and business need without regard to race, color, religion, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, creed, ancestry, national origin, marital status, genetic information, military status, or any other protected status in accordance with applicable law.
Reasonable Accommodation/Additional Details
For full policies and contact information, please view Front Range Community College's Disclosures. This page includes regarding our Non-Discrimination Notice, Clery Act, Background Check policies, ADAAA Accommodations, and Pregnancy Related Accommodations.