Office Support Specialist
Overview
The Office of Undergraduate Financial Aid (UFA) and Student Employment (SE) at Princeton University is a unit within the Office of the Dean of the College (ODOC). The undergraduate financial aid program supports and advances Princeton’s commitment to ensuring that students from all economic backgrounds can afford to attend. The office awards aid to over 4,000 students annually with a scholarship budget of over 325M in FY26. Student Employment facilitates the hiring of 3,000 students annually across both the aid and non-aid populations as well as supporting over 1,000 student employee supervisors.
The Office Support Specialist works across the financial aid and student employment programs by providing customer service support for current and prospective applicants and processing support to the counseling, compliance, and student employment teams.
Responsibilities
As the first point of contact for Student Employment and one of the primary points of contact for UFA, the office support specialist serves as a public face of the office. Responsibilities in this role include responding to and directing walk-in traffic, answering phones, monitoring and responding to office email inquiries for student employment aid aid, making appointments as needed, escalating inquiries to senior staff as needed, troubleshooting and responding to inquiries and communicating technical or other issues impacting students and families while navigating the employment and financial aid processes.
The Office Support Specialist serves as the primary processor of student I-9 forms and Student Employment Verifications, and manages requests to create financial aid histories for students and alumni applying to graduate programs.
Reviews confidential student and financial information to prep over 5000 files for counselor review. This process includes determining completion of the financial aid application by reviewing tax documents to determine missing information and reaching out to students for additional information as needed. In addition, this position reviews financial aid documents submitted as needed as part of federal aid verification.
Assists senior counseling staff with projects as needed including support for student employment projects, scholarship assignments, file notations, address changes, study abroad letters and others as assigned. This position assists the compliance team in troubleshooting issues with mismatches in FAFSA applications, collecting reviewing and certifying verification documents submitted by students for accuracy.
Coordinates the Director and Deputy Director's schedules as needed and prepares meeting materials, presentations and follow-up documents to assist in accomplishing the unit’s objectives. Communicates, handles correspondence, and reply as appropriate to phone, paper, or electronic inquiries on behalf of the Director and Deputy Director. This position performs other tasks as assigned including assisting the Director and Deputy Director with special projects, such as preparing materials to the specifications of external departments (i.e) the Office of Audit and Compliance
Qualifications
ESSENTIAL:
Formal Education (minimal level REQUIRED for this position)
- High school diploma or GED
Work Experience (minimum experience REQUIRED for this position)
- Five or more years
Minimum Required Knowledge, Skills, Competencies, and Abilities
- Outstanding communication skills, both written and oral
- Highly organized with efficient, consistent, and accurate work habits
- Knowledge of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook
- Knowledge of Google Drive, Docs, Forms, and Sheets
PREFERRED:
Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, Experience, and Other Education
- Higher Education experience desired but not required.
Princeton University is an Equal Opportunity Employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.
The University considers factors such as (but not limited to) scope and responsibilities of the position, candidate's qualifications, work experience, education/training, key skills, market, collective bargaining agreements as applicable, and organizational considerations when extending an offer. The posted salary range represents the University's good faith and reasonable estimate for a full-time position; salaries for part-time positions are pro-rated accordingly.
If the salary range on the posted position shows an hourly rate, this is the baseline; the actual hourly rate may be higher, depending on the position and factors listed above.
The University also offers a comprehensive benefit program to eligible employees. Please see this link for more information.