About this role
Executive Director of Financial Aid
Position Description
The Executive Director of Financial Aid is Wiley University's chief financial aid officer. The Executive Director leads the Office of Financial Aid and is accountable for the compliant, accurate, and timely delivery of every federal, state, institutional, and private aid dollar a Wiley student receives.
This role carries a dual charge: compliance steward and enrollment and retention strategist . The Executive Director protects the University's eligibility to participate in federal Title IV programs and uses financial aid as a strategic tool to enroll, retain, and graduate students. At a small private HBCU, financial aid is often the deciding factor in whether a scholar enrolls, returns, and finishes. Most Wiley students depend on aid, and many are the first in their families to navigate the process. The Executive Director builds an office that is fast, clear, and compassionate with students and families, and exact with regulators and auditors.
The Office of Financial Aid sits within the Division of Enrollment Management and Strategic Retention, and the Executive Director reports to the Vice President for Enrollment Management and Strategic Retention. The Executive Director works in close, collaborative partnership with the Senior Vice President for Business and Finance on institutional aid budgeting, fund management, reconciliation, and audit. The Executive Director also partners with Admissions and Recruitment, Student Success and Strategic Retention, Student Billing, the Registrar, Institutional Research, Athletics, Institutional Advancement, and Information Technology. The successful candidate is a seasoned financial aid leader, a confident systems and data user, a developer of people, and a clear communicator who can explain complex rules in plain language.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Strategic Leadership and Enrollment Partnership
- Leads the Office of Financial Aid and sets its vision, priorities, and annual goals.
- Serves on the University's enrollment and retention leadership team and contributes to strategic planning, policy, and institutional decisions.
- Uses financial aid as a strategic lever to meet new student enrollment, net tuition revenue, and retention goals.
- Recommends packaging and institutional aid strategy, using data to balance access, affordability, and the University budget.
- Advises the Vice President of Enrollment Management and Strategic Retention on current and proposed regulations and their impact on students and the University.
- Partners with Admissions and Recruitment to deliver early, accurate, and easy to read aid offers to admitted students.
- Meets regularly with the Senior Vice President for Business and Finance to align aid strategy with the institutional aid budget, cash management, and audit readiness.
Aid Administration and Delivery
- Directs the full annual aid cycle: application, verification, need analysis, packaging, awarding, disbursement, reconciliation, and reporting.
- Administers federal, state, institutional, and private aid programs, including Pell Grant, SEOG, Federal Work Study, Direct Loans, Parent PLUS, and Texas state aid programs.
- Ensures aid offers and disbursements are timely and accurate for every term and session.
- Oversees professional judgment, dependency overrides, appeals, and Satisfactory Academic Progress reviews.
- Oversees Return of Title IV Funds calculations and coordinates with the Registrar and Student Billing on withdrawals and enrollment changes.
- Coordinates veterans education benefits with the University's School Certifying Official, or serves in that role as assigned.
Compliance, Audit, and Risk
- Maintains compliance with all federal, state, and institutional rules that govern student aid.
- Manages the Program Participation Agreement, recertification, and required updates with the U.S. Department of Education.
- Prepares and submits the FISAP and all required federal and state reports and provides the financial aid portion of IPEDS with Institutional Research.
- Leads preparation for the annual audit, program reviews, and state reviews, and carries out corrective action plans.
- Reconciles aid programs each month with Student Billing and the office of the Senior Vice President for Business and Finance.
- Writes and maintains the Financial Aid Policy and Procedure Manual and consumer information disclosures.
- Identifies emerging compliance risks and advises University leadership before they become findings.
- Leads loan default prevention and financial literacy efforts.
Scholarships and External Relations
- Leads University scholarship strategy, including the coordination, awarding, and evaluation of institutional and donor funded scholarships.
- Works with Division of Institutional Advancement and donors to develop and steward scholarship funds.
- Coordinates with external scholarship partners, including UNCF and other organizations that serve HBCU students.
- Serves as the University's designated financial aid authority for athletics and works with Athletics on athletic aid and eligibility.
- Serves as primary liaison to federal and state agencies, lenders, and servicers.
- Represents the University in state, regional, and national financial aid associations.
Student and Family Experience
- Builds a student centered, empathetic, and responsive service culture.
- Resolves elevated and complex student aid cases with timely and equitable outcomes.
- Leads FAFSA completion support, aid workshops, and outreach for students, families, high schools, and community partners.
- Ensures communications, the financial aid website, and award notices are accurate and written in plain language.
- Partners with Student Success Coaches, Student Billing, and the Registrar to remove financial barriers to registration and persistence.
- Participates in orientation, registration, and recruitment events.
Systems, Data, and Process Improvement
- Serves as functional owner of the financial aid management system and its integration with the student information system and billing platforms.
- Partners with Information Technology to improve automation, reporting, and the student experience.
- Serves as data custodian for financial aid data and safeguards its security and privacy.
- Produces regular reports on aid applications, packaging, verification, disbursement, and unmet need for enrollment and retention decisions.
- Reviews business processes each year and removes steps that slow service or create risk.
Leadership and Staff Development
- Hires, trains, supervises, and evaluates financial aid staff and student workers.
- Builds workforce stability through clear expectations, cross training, sustainable workloads, and succession planning.
- Keeps staff current on regulations through ongoing training and professional development.
- Develops and manages the office budget and the institutional aid budget in partnership with the Vice President for Enrollment Management and Strategic Retention and the Senior Vice President for Business and Finance.
- Serves on University committees and performs other duties as assigned.
Qualifications
Minimum Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited institution.
- Seven years of progressively responsible experience in college or university financial aid.
- Three years of experience supervising professional staff.
- Comprehensive knowledge of federal Title IV programs and regulations.
- Experience with financial aid audits or program reviews.
- Experience with a financial aid management system and its integration with a student information system.
- An equivalent combination of education, training, and experience may be considered.
Preferred Qualifications
- Master's degree in higher education administration, business, or a related field.
- Experience as a Director, Associate Director, or Assistant Director of Financial Aid.
- Experience at an HBCU or a small private college or university.
- Experience with PowerFAIDS and Jenzabar.
- Experience with AdmissionPros.
- Knowledge of Texas state aid programs for private institutions.
- NASFAA credentials or FAAC certification.
- Experience serving as a VA School Certifying Official, or willingness to become certified within 12 months.
- Experience leading change in an office with vacancies or turnover.
- Active membership in NASFAA, SWASFAA, or TASFAA.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
- Knowledge of federal, state, and institutional aid programs, need analysis, packaging, and professional judgment.
- Knowledge of university accounting, budgeting, disbursement, and reconciliation practices.
- Understanding of national and state issues in financial aid, affordability, and enrollment.
- Ability to interpret complex regulations and turn them into clear, compliant policy and procedure.
- Skill in using financial aid technology, workflow automation, data, and reporting tools to improve compliance, decisions, and service.
- Skill in analyzing data and preparing reports for leadership.
- Skill in supervising, coaching, and developing a professional staff.
- Ability to lead steady, trust building change.
- Ability to listen well and explain complex information clearly to students, families, faculty, staff, donors, and trustees.
- Ability to manage competing deadlines with a high degree of accuracy.
- Ability to handle confidential information with discretion and sound judgment.
- Strong ethical character and commitment to the mission of an HBCU.