James Swanson

Director of Financial Aid
Colorado College
Colorado Springs, CO

Biography: For the past 37 years, Jim has lived his passion of helping students, parents, high school counselors and fellow college administrators with the student financial aid process and advocating access to higher education for low income families. He began his financial aid career at Eastern Montana College (now Montana State University- Billings) in 1977. In 1986, he left his home state of Montana to re-locate to Atlanta, Georgia where he worked for the College Board in the Financial Aid Services division conducting financial aid training workshops throughout the US. Jim went back into the trenches of administering financial aid programs and directly helping students by becoming the Director of Financial Aid at Colorado College in 1993. For the past 21 years, he has served in that position assisting students finance their education to attend that small private liberal arts college located in Colorado Springs, CO. Jim has volunteered on numerous state, regional and national association’s committees and task forces as well as on the College Board National Council and Financial Aid Standard and Services Advisory Committee (FASSAC). In leadership positions, Jim has served as president of state and regional financial aid associations and, on the national association level, as a member of the NASFAA Board of Directors as NASFAA Commission Director and Representative-at-Large.

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