Financial Aid Consultant

• Are you a former financial aid officer or college financial aid whiz looking to add part-time work to your plate? 
• Do you enjoy demystifying the financial aid process for families?
• Are you looking for the resources and support to do the very best financial aid advising of your career?

Collegewise is looking for part-time financial aid advisor with experience in financial aid or financial planning to join us. Work will take place remotely for the foreseeable future, and we're open to applicants from anywhere in the US.  

Who We Are
Collegewise is a college counseling and test prep company that guides high school students through the college admissions process. Since 1999, we've helped more than 25,000 "A" students, "C" students, and everyone in between apply and get accepted to schools—sometimes famous, often not—that they're excited to attend. And we do it all with just the right mix of advice, encouragement, and occasional cheerleading to ensure their college admissions process goes smoothly and thoughtfully. We also speak in public, write, and continuously look for ways to spread relevant college planning information to anyone who needs it—whether or not they join our programs. 

What We Do
To learn more about our inspiring work, check out this short video.

How We Work
To get a solid intro to our culture and our colleagues, watch this short video.

What's the Job?
As a part-time financial aid consultant, you'll work with a small caseload, comprised of junior and senior students, meeting virtually (via Zoom) with them and their families to navigate the financial aid process. The number of hours you'll work per week will depend on the number of students you choose to take on.

Here's what much of your work with students will focus on:

• Building and managing personalized timelines for families
  What does the student need to do and when do they need to do it? What additional requirements might be required by their colleges?
• Financial aid forms
  Advise families and review financial aid forms including the FAFSA and CSS Profile, and institutional forms
• Award letter analysis
  Help families compare financial aid award letters and understand the true cost of attendance
• Student loan counseling
  Help students understand what borrowing money for college means, so they can make informed decisions
• Aid award appeals
  When families have extenuating circumstances, review appeal letters and support their communication with the financial aid officers
• Webinars and group classes
  In addition to one-to-one advising, you’ll lead several webinars covering financial aid topics for students, families, and counselors.

It’s about navigating the system, not cheating it

We think every student applying to college should avail themselves of the financial aid they qualify for, whatever the amount. But we’re not looking for someone to help wealthy families hide their assets or otherwise avoid paying what they can reasonably afford. The system only works if everyone in it plays by the same rules. And promising candidates will have a track record that blends expertise with ethics. Let’s do work we’re all proud to stand by.

Our employees have taught us that part-time hours don’t necessarily mean part-time effort. This is less about the number of hours you work and more about the heart you bring to that work. And that engagement will go both ways. You'll have a dedicated manager who's committed to your success. You'll be treated like a valuable addition to our team, you'll be invited to our company holiday party, and you'll be considered for some of our most iconic annual awards. In fact, some of our most indispensable colleagues are part-timers who have found their place here and now thrive doing their very best work.

You'll also work hard, often in the evenings and on weekends when students and their families are available. But you'll be helping kids and parents, working with smart, passionate coworkers, and doing it all at an organization that has absolutely no reverence for U.S. News & World Report college rankings.

Doing the right thing, making a difference, and treating people right
You wouldn't be crossing over to the for-profit dark side of the advising world here. We’ve earned an excellent reputation with both high school counselors and admissions officers. We present at NACAC, local ACACs, and at high schools and community events. We're partnered with Michelle Obama's Reach Higher organization, and we partner with under-resourced students and programs with college advising support. We share our free resources liberally, including Runway, our course we built for students applying to college. We tell the truth, treat people right, recycle, and have at least five confirmed vegetarians and two vegans here. We're biased, but really, this is a pretty great place to work.

Who We're Looking For (You)

• You believe that great financial aid advice is important to every family, and you put your knowledge to the very best use to help kids. You can unpack the confusing (and sometimes overwhelming) financial aid process into concrete, thoughtful advice for families. 
• You currently have room for a part-time role in your life, and you'd rather be challenged by something important than phone it in for something mundane. 
• You earn a reputation as someone who can be counted on. When you promise you'll show up, literally or figuratively, you always do. And you don't need a list of policies to know you should be on time, prepared, and professional.  
• You understand parents and their high school-aged students. You speak their figurative language fluently. And you've run in the circles you're seeking to serve, either as a parent, a high school counselor/director, or a professional who's worked closely with those populations. You're inspired—not intimidated or annoyed—by the prospect of working with families who want to engage with a college admissions service like ours.
• You're comfortable flying solo, but you also love lending a hand and being helpful to others. You enjoy success together with a team as much as—or even more than—you do alone. 
• You win people over easily and earn trust quickly. Whether you're answering tricky FAFSA questions, meeting with a student about their academic plan, or talking to a concerned parent on the phone, people enjoy and benefit from their interactions with you.  
• Most importantly, you believe in the vision of Collegewise. You've seen or experienced the anxiety that the college admissions & financial aid processes can wreak on families. You want to be a supportive guide and an enthusiastic source of support for kids and parents. You're passionate about what Collegewise stands for and our drive to help as many families as possible transform their journey to college. 

Compensation, Hours, and Caseload 
Part-time advisors are paid $75 an hour. You'll ultimately have the autonomy to decide the size of your caseload based on your availability and your desire for work, but we envision part-time advisors no more than 5-15 hours per week.

What if you currently have a full-time job? 
If you're willing and able to schedule student meetings and attend relevant Collegewise trainings, we're comfortable working with advisors who have existing full-time commitments.  

Start Date
We want our consultant to start as soon as possible, so you'll have the opportunity to work with seniors applying to college, but we're flexible for the right person.

How to Apply
If your interest is piqued, please start by writing us a cover letter that tells your story. What role has financial aid and/or advising played in your professional life? What excites you about this opportunity? 

And you're more interesting than a generic "insert-name-of-company-here" letter. So please be yourself and use your letter to help us get to know the real you. You might also consider checking out our five tips for job seekers.

Then submit your information to the right. When you paste your cover letter into the text box, your formatting will hold up when we see it (but if it doesn't, we'll blame the text box, not you). 
If you're excited about this opportunity but unsure if you're the right fit, we hope you'll take a shot. There is no such thing as a perfect applicant (or a perfect gig, for that matter). And we promise to give a fair and thorough read to every applicant who takes the time to submit a thoughtful application to us.

And finally, we understand that the more we embrace diversity of age, gender identity, race, sexual orientation, physical or mental ability, ethnicity, and perspective, the stronger the company we'll build together. Creating an environment where everyone, from any background, can do their best work is the right thing to do. And we hope you're excited to embrace and contribute to our efforts.

Questions? 

Feel free to email us at [email protected] (no phone calls, please). We promise to respond to you quickly.

Thanks for reading our post. We'd love to hear from you, but if we don't, we hope you find the perfect professional fit someplace else.