Deputy Commissioner for Financial Aid, College Access, and Student Success

The Massachusetts Public Higher Education System

The Massachusetts Public Higher Education System enrolls approximately 260,000 students in credit-bearing programs annually. The System comprises 15 community colleges, 9 state universities, and 5 University of Massachusetts campuses under the oversight of the Board of Higher Education (BHE). Together with institutional boards of trustees, the BHE upholds high standards of performance and accountability for students, faculty, and staff.

The BHE is the Commonwealth’s higher education authority with coordinating and regulatory responsibility for all public and private higher education institutions operating in the Commonwealth and authorized to grant degrees. The BHE is staffed by the Department of Higher Education (DHE), which is run by a Commissioner who serves as the executive and administrative head of the department. The BHE and DHE are the leading advocates for postsecondary education in the Commonwealth.

In addition, the BHE and DHE’s authority includes administering state financial aid and federal grant programs; managing and responding to consumer complaints; conducting financial assessments of institutions; managing employee relations and benefits for public higher education employees; managing collective bargaining contracts with state university and community college employees; and approving degree-granting authority for all public and most private higher education institutions operating within the Commonwealth. Currently, there are 80 private institutions of higher education operating in the Commonwealth and authorized to grant degrees.

The DHE is committed to the Values of Equity, Accountability, Community, Empowerment, Intentionality, and Teamwork, and seeks applicants who value the full diversity of Massachusetts students and who share a sensitivity to and understanding of the academic, socio-economic, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds of the populations served. We employ a hybrid hoteling work model with a fixed weekly team day schedule.

Summary of Major Powers and Duties: https://www.mass.edu/bhe/powers.asp

Position Overview

The Department of Higher Education (DHE) seeks a strategic, operationally focused, equity-minded leader to serve as Deputy Commissioner of Financial Aid, College Access, and Student Success. Reporting to the Commissioner and serving on the Department’s executive leadership team, the Deputy Commissioner leads a portfolio of state policies, programs, services, and investments that help Massachusetts students access, afford, and complete high-quality postsecondary education.

The Deputy Commissioner provides executive leadership for state financial aid, college access and affordability, postsecondary transitions, and evidence-based student success and completion strategies. With primary responsibility for overseeing the Office of Student Financial Assistance (OSFA) and the Commonwealth’s state financial aid programs, the Deputy Commissioner sets strategic and policy direction and leads an experienced team of senior leaders responsible for financial aid administration, OSFA operations, college access, GEAR UP, transformation, and student success.

The Deputy Commissioner strengthens organizational capacity to advance a learner-centered agenda focused on access and degree completion and is accountable for OSFA’s program integrity, administration, operating performance, service, modernization, risk management, and stakeholder confidence.

The Deputy Commissioner works with DHE, the Executive Office of Education, public and independent institutions, state agencies, practitioners, advocates, and community partners to build an integrated, learner-centered system that meets students where they are, from exploration and enrollment through transfer, reengagement, completion, and economic mobility.

The successful candidate combines financial aid and higher education expertise with executive and operational leadership. This leader stewards significant state and federal investments and translates ambitious policies into programs that are accessible, workable, fiscally responsible, and demonstrably effective.

The Deputy Commissioner is responsible for the BHE’s Student Success and Financial Aid priority and is a crucial partner in advancing the Board priorities of Economic Mobility, Public Good, and Innovation. The position will align investments, programs, and performance measures so that the BHE’s priorities produce clear, measurable benefits for learners and the Commonwealth.

Essential Job Functions

Leadership

Serve as the Department’s executive leader accountable for financial aid and OSFA, overseeing college access, affordability, postsecondary transitions, and student success initiatives that meet learners where they are to help them persist, return to, and complete high-quality postsecondary education programs.

Advise the Commissioner, BHE, DHE leadership, and state leaders on policies and investments affecting college affordability, access, persistence, and student success.

Establish clear roles, delegated authority, priorities, performance expectations, decision-making processes, escalation paths, and accountability, while strengthening organizational capacity, succession planning, staff development, cross-functional collaboration, and governance.

Partner with DHE Administration, Finance, and Operations (AFO), Policy and Research, Academic Affairs, Legal, Strategy and Technology, and Communications leaders to align financial aid and affordability policies with evidence-based strategies that support learners at different stages of their journeys, advancing persistence, credit accumulation, attainment, and post-college outcomes.

Provide executive program and performance oversight for contracts, grants, vendors, and external partnerships, working with AFO on fiscal stewardship and assurance, and with technology leadership on architecture, security, integration, and technical delivery.

Brief the BHE and represent the Commissioner in public settings, fiscal and budget discussions, stakeholder forums, and media engagements as appropriate. In partnership with the Commissioner, AFO, and legislative affairs, advocate for sustained and increased investment in state financial aid and related priorities.

Project Management and Accountability Culture

Ensure a culture of clear ownership, shared accountability, and follow-through. Use the responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed (RACI) framework to define roles and decision-making authority for major decisions, deliverables, and cross-functional work.

Set project and program management standards covering project charters, responsibilities, milestones, resources, risks, decision-making, escalation, and reporting. Use portfolio reviews and dashboards to surface problems, resolve barriers, manage risk, reallocate resources, and hold teams accountable while supporting collaboration and continuous improvement.

Require critical OSFA processes to have clear ownership and backup coverage, documented workflows and procedures, appropriate controls and evidence, escalation paths, and regular review.

Financial Aid Administration

Oversee OSFA and state financial aid programs, including administration, service delivery, workforce, modernization, institutional relationships, and material risk management.

Ensure accurate, timely, equitable, accessible, and fiscally responsible administration of more than $400 million in annual state funding delivered across more than 30 state financial aid programs serving more than 300,000 students, subject to current-year validation, in compliance with state and federal laws.

Serve as executive sponsor for continued improvements and modernization of financial aid operations, translating assessments, national benchmarking, recommendations, and roadmaps into DHE decisions and implementation. The Special Assistant for Financial Aid Transformation leads business and product ownership, while strategy and technology leadership is responsible for technical delivery.

Ensure financial aid programs are accessible and responsive to students and families throughout their learning journeys by reducing administrative barriers to high-quality postsecondary education.

Ensure strong program controls, fiscal monitoring, operational risk management, audit readiness, corrective action, and accountability. OSFA leaders are responsible for implementation and remediation of program controls; AFO is independently responsible for allocations, reconciliations, fiscal-control design and testing, audit, procurement, and financial assurance.

Use executive dashboards and governance processes to monitor financial, operational, service, compliance, workforce, modernization, and student outcomes measures and make or recommend adjustments within delegated authority.

Serve as DHE’s executive liaison to the financial aid community, maintaining strong partnerships with campus financial aid leaders and the Financial Aid Advisory Group. Coordinate with DHE colleagues to engage other institutional officials, students and families, advocates, agencies, and other stakeholders responsible for or affected by state programs that are managed by DHE staff.

Financial Aid Outreach and Engagement

Build strong relationships with financial aid offices at public and independent colleges and universities, K-12 partners, community-based organizations, public-agency partners, and advocates to lead a year-round statewide financial aid outreach and engagement strategy. Through outreach activities, increase awareness, understanding, applications, and use of Massachusetts financial aid programs.

Partner with DHE Strategic Communications, institutions, and community partners on coordinated, accessible, culturally responsive campaigns, materials, and outreach. Strategic Communications retains leadership of media relations, social media, web content, advertising, and public-information strategy.

Establish measurable outreach goals and use application, participation, geographic, equity, and partner feedback data to target and improve outreach.

Co-lead statewide college access and transition strategies with DHE and other partners, supporting high school students, returning adults, transfer students, and other learners, with particular attention to historically underserved populations.

Develop and implement admissions and access policies that increase college-going rates and reduce administrative and informational barriers, including approaches such as direct admissions, adult reengagement, FAFSA and MASFA completion, high-quality college access guidance, and Early College participation and successful transition expansion.

Oversee DHE college-access initiatives, federal grants, and partnerships, including the seven-year, $35 million federal GEAR UP grant, with accountability for leadership, staffing, partnerships, compliance, evaluation, performance, and measurable student outcomes.

Improve access to information, tools, and assistance for students and families to make informed postsecondary education decisions throughout their learning journeys.

Student Success and Completion

Lead evidence-based statewide strategies to improve persistence, credit accumulation, retention, completion, economic mobility, and related outcomes, including state-university success initiatives and other assigned programs.

Provide policy leadership to improve transfer pathways, modernize MassTransfer, and partner with academic affairs, technology, innovation, institutions, and other accountable leaders.

Lead and scale evidence-based student-success models that integrate academic, financial, advising, basic needs, career, and other supports.

Partner with institutions and DHE to identify, evaluate, share, and scale effective practices, including work-based learning and other strategies that connect education with career pathways.

Align financial aid policy and student-success goals so that public investments support access, persistence, completion, and greater economic mobility.

Identify and address policy and administrative barriers that impede student progress.

OSFA Leadership and Supervision

Supervise senior financial aid leaders: the Associate Commissioner for Financial Aid Administration, responsible for OSFA program administration and practitioner engagement; and the Senior Associate Commissioner for OSFA, who serves as a strategic advisor on institutional knowledge, compliance, continuity, and improvement opportunities.

Supervise the Special Assistant for Financial Aid Transformation, who leads business and product ownership for modernization in matrix partnership with strategy and technology leadership.

Provide clear direction, performance expectations, coaching, long-term planning, and accountability for leaders responsible for student financial assistance, OSFA operations, P-16 alignment and outreach, GEAR UP, financial aid transformation, and other assigned access and student-success functions.

Align the portfolio through shared learner outcomes, evidence, and coordinated governance without weakening distinct program expertise, federal-grant compliance, fiscal controls, technology authority, or institutional partnerships.

Preferred Qualifications

At least 10 years of progressively responsible experience in financial aid administration, higher education, public benefit administration, or a related field, including leadership responsibility for complex policies, programs, operations, or institutional implementation.

At least five years of senior management experience, including supervision of managers or multidisciplinary professional teams and leadership of complex initiatives or organizational change.

Demonstrated success building a culture of accountability, using RACI or comparable frameworks to clarify ownership and decision-making authority, and applying sound project-management practices to move complex work from strategy through implementation.

Demonstrated ability to use Asana or comparable project-management tools to improve coordination, transparency, and follow-through.

Experience overseeing significant public funds, budgets, grants, contracts, vendors, and controls, with demonstrated fiscal stewardship and accountability.

Substantial knowledge of federal and state financial aid and higher education access and affordability, with the ability to lead effectively across college-transition and student-success priorities.

Demonstrated success improving or transforming complex, regulated, technology-enabled operations while maintaining service and managing operational risk.

Experience leading financial aid or comparably complex public programs involving policy implementation, institutional participation, operations, data, service, and accountability.

Demonstrated ability to build trust with practitioners, institutions, policymakers, agencies, advocates, communities, and executive leaders, and engage effectively with media in collaboration with communications professionals.

Experience developing public-information, outreach, or engagement strategies with communications, institutional, or community partners and using evidence to assess results.

Ability to collaborate across organizational boundaries, build consensus, and make progress on complex issues.

Demonstrated commitment to public higher education and educational equity and justice.

High ethical standards and a commitment to transparency and integrity.

Reporting Location and Travel

135 Santilli Highway, Everett, Massachusetts

In-state hybrid work and travel to campus and partner organizations

Out-of-state travel to attend national conferences and events

To Apply

Interested candidates should submit the following with their application:

Resume

Cover letter outlining your relevant experience and interest in the position

MINIMUM ENTRANCE REQUIREMENTS

Applicants must have at least (A) eight (8) years of full-time or, equivalent part-time, professional, administrative, supervisory, or managerial experience in business administration, business management, public administration, public management, clinical administration or clinical management of which (B) at least five (5) years must have been in a managerial capacity.

Comprehensive Benefits

When you embark on a career with the Commonwealth, you are offered an outstanding suite of employee benefits that add to the overall value of your compensation package. We take pride in providing a work experience that supports you, your loved ones, and your future.

Want the specifics?Explore our Employee Benefits and Rewards!

An Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action Employer. Females, minorities, veterans, and persons with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply.

The Commonwealth is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, disability, national origin, veteran status, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. Research suggests that qualified women, Black, Indigenous, and Persons of Color (BIPOC) may self-select out of opportunities if they don't meet 100% of the job requirements. We encourage individuals who believe they have the skills necessary to thrive to apply for this role.