How To Become A Finance Aid Officer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a finance aid officer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

The primary responsibility of a finance aid officer is to evaluate, approve or deny, and award financial aid to students per federal, state, and university regulations, policies, and operating guidelines.They assess students' financial needs and advise students and parents regarding financial aid options, processes, and requirements. Eventually, finance aid officers also evaluate students' academic progress and arbitrate academic progress appeals.

This role requires a high school diploma or GED alongside at least five years of experience in a related field. Nevertheless, a completed degree(s) from an accredited institution that is above the minimum education requirement may be substituted for experience on a year for year basis. Financial aid officers, on average, earn $38,881 per year. However, this figure can vary significantly depending upon academic qualification, having previous experience, and possession of the aforementioned skills.

ScoreFinance Aid OfficerUS Average

Salary

3.0

Avg. Salary $38,163

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.0

Growth rate 7%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.48%

Asian 6.38%

Black or African American 9.18%

Hispanic or Latino 15.92%

Unknown 4.64%

White 63.42%

Gender

female 72.47%

male 27.53%

Age - 44

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 44

Stress level

8.0

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.7

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.8

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a finance aid officer

Explore finance aid officer education requirements

Most common finance aid officer degrees

Bachelor's

58.9 %

Associate

19.2 %

Master's

11.5 %

Start to develop specific finance aid officer skills

Skills	Percentages
Financial Aid	19.22%
Customer Service	13.81%
FAFSA	7.88%
Title IV	6.23%
Student Loans	5.13%

Complete relevant finance aid officer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New finance aid officers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a finance aid officer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real finance aid officer resumes.

Research finance aid officer duties and responsibilities

Manage project for the development and implementation of a university-wide scholarship database, STAARS.
Update CampusVue portal with detail notes concerning briefings, issue students thumb drive and review financial aid documentation in detail.
Assist students and parents in the financial aid application procedure, process and prepare all student-funding requests using CampusVue software.
Review and evaluate ISIR information to ensure accurate financial aid processing.

Prepare your finance aid officer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your finance aid officer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a finance aid officer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable finance aid officer resume templates

Build a professional finance aid officer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your finance aid officer resume.