Education OPT Jobs in Washington

Job Summary

Central Washington University is recruiting a Financial Aid Counselor to join our Financial Aid and Scholarships team in Ellensburg, Washington. This role is an important member of our team as they enhance the vision for the University. The role is a campus-based position, which means you get to see the lives you are impacting. We're offering a competitive salary plus the awesome CWU benefits.

Who we are:

We are a team of individuals committed to Changing Students' Lives. No matter what job, each of us plays a part in supporting and empowering our students to fulfill their dreams.

Working in higher education provides career growth and career choice. Think of a university campus like a mini city, operating across 380 acres. You'll find robust academics, libraries, athletics and sporting events, full service and quick serve dining, conferences and events from small to large, recreation centers, housing, health services, police and public safety for the campus population of ~8,300 students.

Central Washington University has been named a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program Top Producing Institution for the 2022-2023 academic year. In addition, for seven out of eight years, CWU was a recipient of the prestigious Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine. RentCafe has also named CWU #13 of the Top 20 Best College Towns in the U.S. in 2025.

Come join us on our journey to encourage, inspire, and create spaces where all identities thrive on campus.

What we offer:

Our investment in you begins the day you join our team, a healthy and successful future for you is important to us. We offer medical, dental, life and disability insurance, retirement and optional savings plans, tuition assistance for you and your dependents, discounts across town, an employee assistance program for individualized counseling, and a wellness incentive program. Learn more: Benefits, Perks, and Leave and Total Rewards Calculator.

The Role:

The Financial Aid Counselor works with applicants, students, and parents regarding financial aid, scholarships, and work-study. The counselor is relied upon to correctly process applications, verify application data, determine eligibility, issue and/or revise awards, and monitor student progress for continued eligibility. In addition, they make professional judgement decisions for satisfactory academic progress, revision requests, and dependency overrides. This position delivers public financial aid presentations for recruitment and retention purposes, serving as an expert on federal, state, and institutional financial aid programs for all constituents. Financial Aid employees directly affect the vision, mission, and values of Central Washington University by practicing responsible stewardship of our financial resources and promoting access and opportunity for all students. All employees are expected to uphold and contribute to CWU's vision, mission, and values, fostering a culture of student success and institutional excellence.

Job Duties

Counseling:

• Provide individualized financial aid counseling to prospective and enrolled students and families regarding eligibility, application requirements, financial aid offers, and available funding options.
• Explain complex financial aid regulations, policies, procedures, and requirements in clear and understandable terms.
• Respond to student inquiries through in-person, telephone, email and other communication methods.
• Counseling includes analyzing the student's circumstances for financial aid eligibility, explaining outcomes and consequences of actions or decisions, and referring students to other offices or resources as warranted by the student's situation.
• Determine when standard procedures may be inadequate to meet the student's situation and advocate for exceptions to policy within the office or with process partners.
• Counsel college and high school students, families and support networks, and other stakeholders on Federal, State, Institutional, and Third-party aid programs (such as College Success Foundation, CWU Foundation, and other organizations that fund scholarships) and explain how they may interact with one another.
• Counsel students and parents regarding educational loan options including federal student loans, private student loans, federal parent loans, and other possible sources of funding.
• Counsel students one-on-one and in groups about grants, scholarships, loans, work study employment, and financial planning.
• Articulate timelines to students and families and support networks. Assist students to secure the best financial package possible in their situation.
• Advise customers on a broad range of financial aid rules, regulations, policies, and procedures, including some U.S. income tax filing rules.
• Serve as team/committee member on review of appeals, special projects, and tasks.

File Processing and Program Management:

• Provide day-to-day support in all aspects of financial aid processing: process applications, verify application data, determine eligibility, issue and/or revise awards, add scholarships and other funds to student awards and adjust other aid according to policy and monitor satisfactory academic progress.
• Accountable for properly following procedures used to process and distribute funds. Analyze high amounts of detailed data and take corrective action under tight time constraints. Contribute to development of system solutions for recurring problems.
• Review a variety of reports, comparing new data to previously recorded data, analyzing data for reasonableness and consistency with other information, contacting outside parties or students when necessary for clarification, making determinations as to how this affects student eligibility, adjusting the aid package and notifying students of changes.
• Take appropriate action if conflicting information or evidence of fraud is discovered. Make corrections to the application and/or ask for additional information as needed and under tight time constraints.
• Utilize professional judgment to counsel students regarding special circumstances. Review special circumstances presented by the student in-person or by means of written requests. Make appropriate revisions to student eligibility, cost of attendance, or financial aid award to accommodate reasonable requests that are within the law, institutional policy, and funding guidelines. Document professional judgments and corrections, compiling documentation to support determinations.
• Award and revise financial aid in accordance with federal, state, and institutional regulations and guidelines. Verify or correct application information, track through automated correction process or enter data directly through the FAFSA Partner Portal (FPP).
• Responsible for an assigned program management area such as oversight of default prevention, consumer information, guaranteed sources, aid for study abroad, scholarships, or reconciling disbursements with program funding source. Serve as the expert on the specific program, train the assigned back-up staff member, and maintain the business process guides that outline the specific processes and procedures. Complete fund reconciliation regularly as required by the assigned program.
• Maintain access to the administrative system (PeopleSoft), and other Financial Aid systems such as Common Origination Disbursement system (COD), National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS), Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), FPP, FAFSA Processing Service (FPS), WSAC secure portal, and ELM (private loan processing Center).
• Be the subject matter expert for assigned program management area(s) such as default prevention, consumer information, aid for study abroad, scholarships, or reconciling disbursements with program funding source. Serve as the expert on the specific program, train the assigned back-up staff member, and maintain the business process guides that outline the specific processes and procedures.

Presentations/Outreach:

• Counselors must be effective and knowledgeable in communicating to diverse groups and larger audiences the financial aid process and requirements, and willing to contribute whenever possible or needed to support CWU outreach activities.
• Perform community outreach at workshops using various types of presentation technology in a variety of settings, including on and off campus, day, evening, and weekend venues. Coordinate presentations with sponsoring groups and other presenters, determine in advance the appropriate equipment needed and handouts and materials to be provided. During peak times, financial aid counselors conduct presentations at least once per week.
• Support the efforts of Student Engagement and Success by participating in weekday, evening and weekend events such as Wildcat Previews Days, Orientation, Welcome Week, etc.

Attend Training:

• Remain current in the field by attending training sessions, both in-person and virtually, provided by the U.S. Department of Education, Washington Student Achievement Council (WSAC) and through research using professional publications, manuals, and internet resources.

• Maintain expert knowledge of regulatory and institutional changes and utilize complex computer systems to meet job requirements. Specific assigned programs may be complex and require specialized training or skills.

• Perform other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience providing exemplary customer service and responding effectively to difficult or sensitive situations with professionalism and discretion.
• Demonstrated ability to use Word, Excel, email, and SIS systems.
• Experience maintaining spreadsheets, organizing projects and tasks.
• Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Demonstrated willingness and/or experience working with students and/or co-workers from a wide range of abilities, backgrounds, and experiences.
• OR applicable combination of education and/or experience which demonstrates the ability to perform the essential functions of the position.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in counseling, higher education, or related field.
• Progressively responsible work experience in higher education financial aid.
• Experience analyzing financial aid and student record data and researching a variety of sources to identify and resolve problems or issues.
• Experience interpreting, explaining, and applying financial aid laws, regulations, and complex policies for multiple or highly specialized programs.
• Bilingual - preferably Spanish.
• Demonstrated participation in programs designed to promote student success.
• Demonstrated commitment to improving access to higher education for students through various activities.

Competencies

• Accountability/Dependability: Accepts responsibility for quality of own work; acknowledges and corrects mistakes. Shows up on time, meets standards, deadlines, and work schedules.
• Judgement: Makes timely, informed decisions. Analyzes options and determines appropriate course of action.
• Teamwork: Promotes cooperation and mutual support to achieve goals. Encourages participation and mutual support.
• Adaptability/Flexibility: Responds positively to changing business needs and responsibilities. Adapts approach and methods to achieve results; recovers quickly from setbacks and finds alternatives.
• Commitment to Belonging: Values the uniqueness of every individual and fosters an environment where everyone feels respected and empowered to thrive.

Don't meet every single requirement? At CWU, we're committed to creating a welcoming and genuine workplace. If you're excited about this role but your experience doesn't align perfectly with every qualification, we still encourage you to apply. This could be the opportunity you're looking for!

Pay, Benefits, & Work Schedule

Salary: The Hiring Department's expected hiring range is $48,000 - $53,000 annually. Individual placement within the hiring range is based on the candidate's current experience, education, skills, and abilities related to the position. In accordance with RCW 49.58.110, the full annual salary range for this position is $42,008 to $58,811.

Schedule/Appointment: Monday - Friday, 8:00am-5:00pm (1 hour lunch) / Occasional evening/weekends

Working Conditions: Work is performed in an indoor office setting with frequent in-person interactions. It is essential to be able to remain at a desk/computer workstation for prolonged periods of time, perform extensive data entry and other computer-related tasks and create/maintain filing systems for departmental records. Some evening or weekend work and/or occasional travel may be required.

Benefits: CWU offers a comprehensive benefits package including medical and dental insurance, retirement and optional savings plans, life and disability insurance, along with vacation and sick leave plans depending on employment classification. For additional information please visit Benefits, Perks, and Leave and Total Rewards Calculator.

An employee of CWU may be eligible for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program if the employee has student loans. To learn more, visit: https://ofm.wa.gov/state-human-resources/public-service-loan-forgiveness-program.

How To Apply

To apply for this position, you must complete the online application and attach:

• A detailed cover letter clearly demonstrating how your education and experience: (a) meet the required (and, as applicable, preferred) qualifications, and (b) demonstrate the ability to perform the responsibilities as described by the posting;
• Resume including work history, education, training; and
• Contact information for three professional references.

Screening Begins: September 24, 2026

Priority will be given to applications received by the screening date. Incomplete applications may not be considered.

Contact Information

Please contact Hiring at Hiring@cwu.edu or 509-963-1202 if you require technical assistance with the online application process or have questions regarding the hiring process.

Conditions of Employment

Background Check/Reference Check Process:

Prior to employment, final candidate(s) will be required to sign a Sexual Misconduct disclosure in pursuant to RCW 28B.112.080 and submit to a background check. All information obtained through background investigations will be strictly confidential and revealed only to those required to have access.

Notice to Prospective Employees:

Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Statement

Central Washington University is an EEO/AA/Title IX Institution. Central Washington University's policies and practices affirm and actively promote the rights of all individuals to equal opportunity in education and employment. Discrimination on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, age, marital status, disability, or status as a protected veteran is prohibited. The university provides an internal procedure for reporting discrimination and affords protection against retaliation for participating in the complaint process. Central Washington University complies with all applicable federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and executive orders including when soliciting bids and in the fulfillment of all contracts with governmental agencies. Direct related inquiries to Civil Rights Compliance, 202 Barge Hall, Ellensburg, WA 98926-7501; Telephone 509-963-2050; or email crc@cwu.edu.

Reasonable Accommodations

Central Washington University provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities who are employees or applicants for employment. Employment opportunities will not be denied because of the need to make reasonable accommodations for a qualified individual with a disability. If you need assistance or accommodation in applying because of a disability, please contact Human Resources at HR@cwu.edu or call 509-963-1202. This job announcement and other material on this site will be made available in alternate formats upon request to an individual with a disability.

Annual Security and Fire Safety Report (Clery Act)

For the Central Washington University Annual Security and Fire Safety Report (i.e. Clery Report) which includes statistics about reported crimes and information about campus security policies, available online here or call CWU Police and Parking Services at 509-963-2959 for a paper copy.