The Director of Financial Assistance provides strategic leadership in developing and assessing processes for efficiency, accuracy, and equity while ensuring proper stewardship and compliance with all university regulations. This role includes direct supervision of the Financial Assistance staff, focusing on their optimization and guaranteeing exceptional customer service for everyone who contacts the department. The Director is responsible for the administration and management of student financial assistance programs at the Caruso School of Law. This includes overseeing federal, state, and institutional aid programs, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements, and delivering timely funding and outstanding service to the law student population.

Duties

Department Management and Supervision

• Oversee and manage the annual aid year rollover process for all Law Ground and Online programs. This includes auditing new tuition and housing charges and adjusting the cost of attendance accordingly. Ensure all cost of attendance line items for specific programs are reviewed and confirmed in compliance with applicable regulations.
• Ensure federal aid disbursement dates and term information are accurate based on guidelines. Oversee the audit of communication materials for new aid years, ensuring accuracy and adherence to WaveNet processing instructions.
• Supervise the preparation and submission of the annual ABA report, including reviewing loan and scholarship statistics. Assess student annual indebtedness and prepare reports for U.S. News compliance.
• Lead the completion of cost of attendance surveys, ensuring accuracy in line items and adjustments based on student cost of living. Oversee the communication of annual debt letters to law students.
• Manage the annual update of the Law School Catalogue and ensure accurate website data related to financial aid programs.
• Oversee the response to auditor requests for documentation, ensuring timely and accurate support is provided.
• Supervise the Financial Assistance staff, conducting annual performance reviews and ensuring staff development in compliance with institutional standards.
• Evaluate and identify students not meeting Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) standards. Take appropriate actions to notify affected students and guide them through the process of addressing deficiencies.

Financial Aid Processing

• Review and interpret new federal guidelines related to student awarding and verification processes. Lead the development of new Verification Worksheets and related documents in compliance with Federal Student Aid (FSA) requirements.
• Oversee the audit of packaging plans, budgets, and nightly processing jobs for active terms and ensure all budget uploads are completed accurately.
• Supervise the auditing of suspense and disbursement reports, including the Authorization Failure Report (AFR) for student loan rejects, under-enrolled students, and disbursement exceptions. Ensure the timely completion of Aid Year Activation batch processes in compliance with FAFSA requirements.
• Oversee the upload of valid ISIR Verification results to the federal online database (CPS online). Review the transfer monitor report and the NSLDS database to identify students with over-borrowing issues and take corrective actions.
• Administer the awarding of faculty and staff discounts, veterans benefits, AmeriCorps awards, NCAA scholarships, and institutional scholarships in compliance with regulations. Ensure the timely processing of Outside Scholarship checks through the CashNet database, coordinating with accounts receivable.
• Troubleshoot loan origination and awarding issues within both federal aid and institutional guidelines, resolving eligibility issues in a timely manner.
• Perform additional duties as assigned, ensuring all tasks align with institutional priorities and compliance standards.
• Uphold University mission through work performed.

The above information has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities, and qualifications required of employees assigned to this job.

Skills and Qualifications

Required:

• Bachelor's degree.
• Five years of professional experience in a higher education setting.
• Superior interpersonal skills.
• Professional demeanor.
• Ability to interact comfortably with high-level administrators, law faculty, students, and applicants.
• Ability to multi-task at a high level.
• Able to perform under pressure of a high volume of tasks and traffic conditions.
• Ability to use discretion when handling confidential or sensitive issues.
• Strong attention to detail.
• Extremely organized.
• Administrative.
• Multi-tasker.
• Proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel, and Google Suite: Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive, and Gmail.

Preferred:

• Experience with administering financial aid programs or other student service areas.
• PeopleSoft.

Qualified individuals should be able to show respect for workplace differences, and have the ability to work effectively with individuals from different backgrounds.

Offers of employment are contingent upon successful completion of a criminal, education, and employment screening. The University conducts such screenings in compliance with applicable laws and with the objectives of evaluating risk and supporting a safe environment for students, faculty, staff, and guests; safeguarding key University assets including people, property, information, and the University’s reputation; and providing comprehensive job-related information to University leaders to enable them to make prudent hiring decisions. Qualified individuals with criminal histories will be considered for employment in compliance with applicable laws, including the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance.

This is a Regular, Exempt, 40 hour per week position.

Expected Pay Range: $92,000 - $95,000 per year

The above pay range reflects what Pepperdine University reasonably expects to pay for this position at time of posting. Actual compensation may vary based on relevant factors such as work experience, market conditions, education/training, and skill level. In addition to base pay, Pepperdine offers a robust and highly competitive benefits package.

Pepperdine is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer and does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of any status or condition protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.