Colleague Financial Aid Consultant

POSITION SUMMARY

The Colleague Financial Aid Consultant works in partnership with colleges & universities on their ERP needs, specific to Ellucian Colleague Financial Aid, within scope and budget agreed with client. The Consultant roles report up through professional services, specifically working under a Director and ultimately a VP of Professional Services.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Support application design and configuration of client systems through customization and coding of screen layouts, user interfaces, printed outputs, and interfaces with other systems to enable client strategies.
• Write and maintain technical specifications/documentation to describe program development, logic, coding, testing, changes, and corrections.
• Provide technical assistance by responding to inquiries from others regarding errors, problems, or questions regarding ERP and integrated systems.
• Attend both internal and external meetings and trainings.
• Analyze, define, and document requirements for data, workflow, safety processes and standards, hardware and operating system environment, interfaces with other systems, internal and external checks and controls, and outputs.
• Train end users or technical support staff to use programs.
• Build and apply technical, safety, industry, and functional standards to support efforts in enabling value creation for clients.
• Support the analysis and design of business processes.
• Maintain technical/professional currency and share knowledge with others.

REQUIRED SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS

• Strong functional knowledge of the Ellucian Colleague Financial Aid module

• Experience configuring and maintaining Financial Aid rules, parameters, tables, and annual award-year setup

• Thorough understanding of the federal financial aid lifecycle, including:

• FAFSA processing and ISIR review

• Student eligibility and verification

• Need analysis and cost of attendance

• Packaging, awarding, and disbursement

• Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)

• Return of Title IV Funds (R2T4)

• Direct Loan and Pell Grant processing

• COD origination, transmission, and reconciliation

• NSLDS reporting and resolution

• Federal and institutional reporting

• Experience with Gainful Employment and Financial Value Transparency requirements, including data collection, validation, regulatory reporting, and troubleshooting submission errors

• Knowledge of applicable program eligibility, debt-to-earnings, and earnings-premium measures

• Experience preparing, reviewing, and submitting student- and program-level Gainful Employment data through Ellucian Colleague and applicable federal systems

• Knowledge of current Title IV regulations and financial aid compliance requirements

• Experience troubleshooting Colleague Financial Aid processing errors, data issues, and integration problems

• Ability to evaluate existing business processes and recommend practical improvements

• Experience testing system configurations, regulatory updates, patches, and annual processing changes

• Ability to reconcile financial aid data among Colleague, COD, NSLDS, and institutional finance records

• Understanding of how Financial Aid integrates with Colleague Student, Registration, Admissions, Student Accounts, and Finance

• Experience creating process documentation, test plans, training materials, and client-facing deliverables

• Ability to lead discovery sessions, document requirements, and translate business needs into system solutions

• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and attention-to-detail skills

• Clear and professional written and verbal communication skills

• Ability to explain complex system and regulatory information to technical and functional audiences

• Strong client-service and consulting skills, including expectation management and timely follow-through

• Ability to manage multiple priorities, meet deadlines, and work independently in a remote consulting environment

• Experience training and supporting financial aid staff