What does a Finance Aid Counselor do?
Financial aid counselors are professionals who are responsible for providing advice to students and parents regarding various institutional financial aid programs. By following state and university guidelines, financial aid counselors are required to award funds from various controlled programs to students by ensuring the optimal use of financial aid funds. These counselors must assist students to complete all the appropriate and required forms to ensure the proper application process for financial aid. They must also assist the financial aid coordinator to make sure that their department is running smoothly.
Finance aid counselor responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real finance aid counselor resumes:
- Manage project for the development and implementation of a university-wide scholarship database, STAARS.
- Utilize the PeopleSoft student administration financial aid module to determine loan eligibility.
- Assist patients with Medi-Cal applications as well as facility payment assistance applications.
- Provide assistance to uninsure patients and families in completing and filing Medicaid or assistance program applications with the appropriate agency.
- Document all enrolling activities in CampusVue.
- Originate loans, create disbursements, and print miscellaneous reports and financial aid information in EdExpress database.
Finance aid counselor skills and personality traits
We calculated that 12% of Finance Aid Counselors are proficient in Financial Assistance, Customer Service, and Financial Aid Programs. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Math skills, and Sales skills.
We break down the percentage of Finance Aid Counselors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Financial Assistance, 12%
Counseled students and parents in order to disseminate information and answer questions relating to financial assistance available while enrolled at Tulane.
- Customer Service, 11%
Provided excellent customer service by timely and accurately responding to students' and parents' inquiries
- Financial Aid Programs, 7%
Prepared marketing materials and conducted workshops and presentations to sell financial aid programs at recruiting events.
- Professional Judgment, 5%
Created accurate financial aid packages for students in compliance with federal and state regulations and exercised professional judgment for special circumstances.
- FAFSA, 4%
Collected student paperwork to verify FAFSA applications to award accurate financial aid.
- Financial Aid, 4%
Advised/counseled new and continuing students & parents in understanding student financial aid plans utilizing the Tribal scholarship to defray post-secondary education.
"financial assistance," "customer service," and "financial aid programs" are among the most common skills that finance aid counselors use at work. You can find even more finance aid counselor responsibilities below, including:
Analytical skills. One of the key soft skills for a finance aid counselor to have is analytical skills. You can see how this relates to what finance aid counselors do because "in determining an investment portfolio for a client, personal financial advisors must be able to assess a range of information, including economic trends, regulatory changes, and the client’s comfort with risky decisions." Additionally, a finance aid counselor resume shows how finance aid counselors use analytical skills: "conduct searches within a federal database for pell grant eligibility and lifetime limits for students. "
Math skills. Many finance aid counselor duties rely on math skills. "personal financial advisors must be adept at working with numbers to determine the amount invested, how that amount has grown or decreased over time, and how a portfolio is distributed among different investments.," so a finance aid counselor will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways finance aid counselor responsibilities rely on math skills: "corresponded with families regarding policies; updated yearly financial aid publications and statistics"
Sales skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of finance aid counselors is sales skills. This skill is critical to many everyday finance aid counselor duties, as "to expand their base of clients, personal financial advisors must be convincing and persistent in selling their services." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "utilized essential computer applications which initiated outbound calls to prospective or current clientele through registry meant to generate sales. "
Speaking skills. finance aid counselor responsibilities often require "speaking skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "personal financial advisors interact with clients every day." This resume example shows what finance aid counselors do with speaking skills on a typical day: "presented students with an overview of various financial aid options. "
The three companies that hire the most finance aid counselors are:
- UUniversity of South Carolina4 finance aid counselors jobs
- EEmbry-Riddle Aeronautical University2 finance aid counselors jobs
- SSyracuse University2 finance aid counselors jobs
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Compare different finance aid counselors
Finance aid counselor vs. Farm mortgage agent
Student Services is a part of the school program that focuses on helping students in their studies. A Student Services Counselor handles this task and is the contact person for all students who need help or who have problems and issues requiring solutions and answers. In a culturally diverse population in schools, it is the student service counselor's job to connect each student to relevant student service programs available in the school. Ultimately, the welfare of the students and their success in school is the goal of this position.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a finance aid counselor are more likely to require skills like "financial assistance," "customer service," "financial aid programs," and "professional judgment." On the other hand, a job as a farm mortgage agent requires skills like "real estate," "mortgage loans," "fha," and "mortgage products." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
The education levels that farm mortgage agents earn slightly differ from finance aid counselors. In particular, farm mortgage agents are 9.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a finance aid counselor. Additionally, they're 0.9% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Finance aid counselor vs. Mortgage loan counselor
Often, counselors are known to be the go-to person in times we are in need of emotional and psychological support. They help people to manage and overcome the issues which affect their mental health and well-being. Counselors face different kind of situations which may involve trauma, addiction, disabilities, abuse, suicide, anger management, career, and even personal relationships. They provide care, counseling, rehabilitation, and support services. Every counseling requires collaborative effort both from the counselor and client to become effective.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, finance aid counselor responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "financial assistance," "financial aid programs," "professional judgment," and "fafsa." Meanwhile, a mortgage loan counselor has duties that require skills in areas such as "fha," "loan process," "outbound calls," and "payment arrangements." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Mortgage loan counselors earn lower levels of education than finance aid counselors in general. They're 14.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.9% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for Finance Aid Counselors in the next 3-5 years?
Lesley Casarez Ph.D.
Director, Quality Enhancement Plan Program Coordinator, M.S. Professional School Counseling Associate Professor, Curriculum and Instruction, Angelo State University
Finance aid counselor vs. Student services counselor
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, finance aid counselors are more likely to have skills like "financial assistance," "financial aid programs," "professional judgment," and "financial aid eligibility." But a student services counselor is more likely to have skills like "student services," "social work," "rehabilitation," and "mental health."
Student services counselors earn the best pay in the government industry, where they command an average salary of $45,469. Finance aid counselors earn the highest pay from the education industry, with an average salary of $37,882.When it comes to education, student services counselors tend to earn similar degree levels compared to finance aid counselors. In fact, they're 4.1% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 1.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Finance aid counselor vs. Counselor
Types of finance aid counselor
Updated January 8, 2025
