The Director of Financial Aid oversees and manages the school’s financial aid program, managing aid of approximately $10,000,000. A thorough understanding of, and experience with, merit and need-based financial aid is required. The position also assists with all aspects of the admission and recruitment process and works closely with the Director of Admission.
Responsibilities and Duties:
Provide overall supervision for and administration of financial aid program, including maintaining compliance with applicable financial aid regulations
Identify trends in financial aid, independent school demographics, and internal/external data to create long and short-term recruitment strategies
Establish strategies for the effective and efficient use of merit and need-based financial aid awards to maximize retention and recruitment goals
Oversee the merit scholarship program, working with current students who have stipends included in their financial aid award
In collaboration with the entire team, develop, execute, and evaluate the vision for recruitment of students for the school including goal setting and attainment.
Participate in all facets and phases of the recruiting process, including responding to inquiries, conducting candidate interviews, and traveling
Work with Business Office, and the Dean of Enrollment Management, on re-enrollment process for returning students
Oversee the Financial Aid Committee and prepare all financial aid budgets
Admission counselors are members of the faculty and will have residential and athletic or extracurricular duties included in their position descriptions.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
Knowledge of personal and business tax forms & strong analytical mindset
Interpersonal skills, organization, a strong work ethic, and a willingness to work a boarding school schedule
Possess strong communication skills, an enthusiasm for working with young people, a desire to travel domestically and abroad, and the ability to connect with a diverse group of students and families
Minimum Qualifications:
Bachelor’s degree required and graduate degree preferred
Several years of admissions and financial aid or related administrative/managerial experience, with an emphasis on business management and computerized systems is preferred
The energy and ability to travel overnight, both domestically and internationally Flexibility to work weekends, early mornings, and evenings when necessary
Must have a working knowledge of databases, preferably Veracross and Clarity, and a strong level of comfort with spreadsheets and data analysis
Physical Demands:
The conditions herein are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential job functions.
Environment: Work is performed in an indoor/office environment where the noise level ranges from quiet to moderate. Work will also be performed outside an office environment to visit prospective students and families. These environments will vary.
Physical: Primary functions require sufficient physical ability and mobility to walk, stand, and sit for prolonged periods of time; to travel in all modes of transportation; sufficient manual dexterity and eye-hand coordination to operate office machinery; and to verbally communicate to exchange information with both English-speaking and non-English speaking contacts.
Vision: See in the normal visual range with or without correction.
Hearing: Hear in the normal audio range with or without correction.
An independent college-preparatory school in south-central Pennsylvania, Mercersburg Academy offers a rigorous academic program to 440 boarding and day students from 27 states and 36 countries.