Director Financial Aid

About Us

Universal Technical Institute and its family of schools have over 55 years of experience, partnering with 35+ industry-leading brands across 16 campuses and 5 technical schools. The organization is focused on expanding its reach and impact by transforming lives—starting with its employees and students.

About the Role

The Director of Financial Aid oversees campus financial aid operations, including loan default management and student account activities. This role ensures compliance with federal, state, and institutional policies while delivering a student-centered experience that supports retention and success. The Director leads a high-performing team, provides guidance to students and families on financial aid options, collaborates with internal departments and external agencies, and develops strategies to enhance financial aid delivery and operational excellence.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage campus financial aid operations, ensuring compliance with federal, state, and institutional regulations.
• Hire, train, supervise, and evaluate financial aid staff, fostering a positive, student-focused environment.
• Oversee the financial aid and student account administration of funding programs, including grants, loans, scholarships, and work-study opportunities.
• Provide financial aid and literacy guidance to students and families throughout the student journey.
• Collaborate with Admissions, Student Services, Registrar, and other departments to effectively support students.
• Drive a culture of integrity and accountability to ensure compliance with internal policies and external agency regulations.
• Focus on increasing student satisfaction through streamlined and effective financial aid operations.
• Continually improve operational efficiencies to ensure accuracy and compliance with all regulations.
• Prioritize optimizing delivery mechanisms to support seamless financial aid processing and administration.
• Facilitate regular, meaningful two-way communication to achieve productive agreement and solution by defining objectives, addressing issues, and removing potential obstacles for all parties.
• Determine trends and key metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of initiatives and support business goals, adjusting strategies accordingly.
• Identify complex problems, review related information, develop and evaluate options, and implement solutions.
• Establish and maintain a high-performance team of professional, motivated, and engaged staff using effective training, performance management, and career-development activities.
• Recognize and reward employee contributions and achievements.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting, business, or a related field (required).
• Master’s degree in a related field (preferred).
• Ten (10) years of professionally relevant experience within a post-secondary school (required).
• Five (5) years in a supervisory role (required).
• Title IV proprietary education experience (required).
• Five (5) years of experience in Title IV Administration (preferred).
• Must not currently be in default on any Federal Student Loans or go into default while employed.

Skills

• Proficiency in managing financial aid programs and budgets.
• Proficient in financial aid management software and systems.
• Strong knowledge of federal and state funding programs, including Veterans Affairs, loans, grants, and scholarships.
• Change management skills and ability to lead teams through continuous process improvement.
• Exceptional listening and conflict resolution skills.
• Ability to understand the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
• Ability to communicate, think, learn, and reason effectively.
• Proficiency in using computers and computer systems (hardware and software) to process transactions, store documents, enter data, or perform assigned tasks.
• Ability to safely ambulate and maneuver on-site at company locations.
• Demonstrated active listening, inductive reasoning, information ordering, and category flexibility.
• Strong judgment, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and manage sensitive information with discretion.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment with essential deadlines and multiple simultaneous projects.
• Ability to gain, understand, and apply information and data related to essential job functions.
• Ability to foster long-term relationships with stakeholders.

Benefits

• $15,000 sign-on bonus.
• Annual salary range: $115,000–$130,000.
• Paid training.
• Free UTI or Concorde tuition for you and your immediate family.
• Medical, dental, vision, life, short-term disability (STD), and long-term disability (LTD) insurance.
• 401K retirement plan.
• Paid holidays and paid time off (PTO).
• Paid parental leave.