Job Details

Vice President Of Student Financial Affairs

The Vice President of Student Financial Affairs serves as the System's senior leader for student finance, financial aid, title IV regulatory compliance, student accounts, external student funding partnerships. Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer, this role is pivotal in advancing a One System model of radical cooperation and excellencealigning six colleges and universities under a shared vision of student-first service, operational excellence, and regulatory accountability.

This leader directs a division that bridges compliance, student finance, and student experienceareas that collectively shape the student journey and directly influence access, persistence, and success. The Vice President must balance regulatory rigor with innovation and empathy, ensuring that all financial aid and student accounts operations reflect best practices, technological advancement while remaining compliant, agile, and responsive within a complex and continually changing U.S. Department of Education (ED) regulatory environment.

The role also oversees the development of new funding pathways through external lending partnerships, institutional and donor-funded scholarship programs, and international student financing strategiesexpanding affordability and access across all colleges and universities.

The Community Solution Education System is committed to advancing a culture that integrates compliance, innovation, and collaboration. The Vice President of Student Financial Affairs will:

• Provide senior leadership for a centralized area that includes the Associate Vice President of Compliance and Student Finance (audits, ED reporting, reconciliation, quality assurance, and student accounts), the Senior Director of Financial Aid (systemwide financial aid operations), and their respective teams.
• Lead within a One System mindset, ensuring that each of our colleges and universities is served with consistency and excellence in the spirit of radical cooperation, while also recognizing institutional nuances and diverse student population needs.
• Advance best practices in student financial servicesaward packaging and monitoring, Return to Title IV (R2T4) accuracy and timeliness, disbursement reconciliation, overpayment resolution, and accounts receivable managementwhile maintaining a student-first, equitable approach.
• Oversee external lending and third-party partnership management, ensuring that all relationships (e.g., alternative loan providers, tuition payment plan vendors, private loan aggregators) are compliant, student-centered, and monitored for quality, transparency, and financial responsibility.
• Develop and lead a comprehensive scholarship and institutional aid strategy, including stewardship of donor-funded, merit-based, and need-based programs across institutions. Ensure consistent criteria, tracking, reporting, and impact assessment aligned with equity and enrollment goals.
• Expand international student funding opportunities, collaborating with global enrollment and compliance teams to identify and manage partnerships with government sponsors, banks, and alternative funding organizations to support international student success.
• Ensure agility in policy and process updates in response to ED rulemakings and guidance (e.g., Regulatory Changes and Title IV program updates, Financial Value Transparency/Gainful Employment (FVT/GE) disclosures and reporting, cash-management rules, verification flexibilities, Professional Judgment (PJ) standards) through a policy governance cadence and rapid implementation playbooks.
• Lead systemwide policy governance related to student financial services, ensuring timely alignment with new federal and state regulations, accreditation standards, and consistent adoption across institutions. Maintain a centralized repository for policies and procedures with version control.
• Partner with colleagues in Enrollment, Registrar, Student Affairs, Academic Affairs, Finance, HR, Legal/Compliance, and IT to create seamless, student-centered journeys (admit ? package ? counsel ? enroll ? persist ? graduate) with clear handoffs and shared Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
• Champion a culture of transparency, accountability, and compassionboth in how employees experience their workplace and in how students experience financial servicesby modeling collaborative leadership, integrity, and excellence.
• In partnership with the COO and IT, oversee the technology roadmapstudent information system (SIS)/financial aid modules, Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) and National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) integrations, self-service portals, workflow tools, customer relationship management (CRM)/ticketing, payment solutions, and analytics dashboardsto reduce friction, errors, and wait times.
• Elevate financial wellness through student-facing education (cost clarity, borrowing literacy, payment options, debt counseling, repayment planning) that supports retention and long-term outcomes.
• Serve as the System's primary liaison to federal and state regulatory agencies, single auditor and accrediting bodies on all matters related to student finance and compliance. Represent the System in professional associations such as the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) to ensure awareness of emerging policies and advocacy opportunities.

Position responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

Leadership and Culture

• Provide senior leadership for the Student Financial Affairs business units across the System Office and its colleges and universities.
• Model and embed a culture that prioritizes student success, employee empowerment, and compliance integrity.
• Direct, supervise, and mentor employees to foster a high-performance, accountable, and collaborative workplace culture.
• Champion professional development, growth, and cross-training to strengthen team capacity and morale.
• Establish systematic feedback mechanisms with colleges, universities, employees, and students to ensure continuous improvement of services.
• Conduct academic cycle debriefs (fall, spring, summer) to review results, capture lessons learned, and implement changes, ensuring services remain responsive to institutional needs.
• Use feedback loops to align services with institutional priorities and embed continuous calibration into the division's operating rhythm.
• Brings a solutions-oriented mindset, remaining open to feedback and discussion, and focusing on collective outcomes over silos.

Strategic and Operational Oversight

• Lead strategic planning, goal-setting, and continuous improvement for student financial services across the system; develop a three-year roadmap with annual Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) and annual business reviews.
• Align financial aid and student accounts operations with institutional enrollment, net tuition revenue, and retention strategies through collaboration with leaders across the System.
• Develop a comprehensive knowledge base and standardized operating procedures, and implement a tiered support and escalation framework to ensure efficient issue resolution.
• Establish a strong control framework (segregation of duties, monitoring, exception reporting) to mitigate risk and ensure compliance.
• Partner with institutional research and finance teams to develop predictive models that monitor financial aid utilization, student borrowing patterns, and retention correlations.
• Use data analytics to identify equity gaps and recommend policy or program changes that advance affordability and access.

Compliance and Risk Management

• Ensure all financial aid and student accounts operations meet federal (Title IV), state, accreditor, and institutional requirements.
• Oversee audits, title IV program participation, and program reviews: drive exception-free outcomes through proactive quality assurance sampling, reconciliation calendars, and issue remediation playbooks.
• Maintain and periodically test R2T4 accuracy and timeliness; ensure 90-day resolution targets for returns/overpayments.
• Ensure compliant cash-management (e.g., disbursement timing, credit balance refunds, authorization handling), Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) data privacy, Payment Card Industry (PCI) requirements, and records-retention standards.
• Operationalize ED changes (e.g., FAFSA/processing updates, FVT/GE disclosures and reporting, Professional Judgements, verification) with documented impact assessments, training, and go-live checklists.
• Conduct annual risk assessments specific to student financial operations and develop mitigation plans to address risk.

External Funding, Scholarships, and International Financing

• Develop, manage, and expand external lending partnerships with third-party providers to increase financing access and maintain regulatory compliance.
• Negotiate terms and performance standards for external loan programs, ensuring transparency, student protection, and ethical marketing.
• Lead the creation and administration of Systemwide scholarship programs in partnership with institutional advancement, enrollment, and finance teams.
• Oversee equitable award structures and ensure alignment with donor intent, diversity goals, and financial sustainability.
• Design and manage strategies for international student funding, including sponsorships, global lending, and institutional support programs.
• Build reporting mechanisms and dashboards to monitor scholarship utilization, external partnership performance, and student impact.

Student-Centered Financial Services

• Advance student satisfaction and retention by ensuring financial aid processes are timely, transparent, and accessible.
• Oversee award packaging, verification, professional judgement reviews, and timely disbursements; publish a processing calendar visible to all institutions.
• Ensure students are well-informed about eligibility, aid options, and account status through plain-language