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