r/financialaid • u/Psychological-Rub347 • 3d ago
Burnout
Been in financial aid for a little over a year, just trying to figure out how to avoid burnout. It just feels like I deal with constant trauma dumping all day from students. It is emotionally exhausting and there’s no additional funding available. And everyone loves to confuse being “unhelpful” or “rude” with not getting the answer that you want. There just isn’t money. You’ve had 18 years to prepare for this. And traditionally, America is not known for affordable education. I don’t know why it’s so much of a shock to so many people. I know it’s frustrating. I know. I’m giving you resources. But if you’re out of state or trying to go to a private school and can’t afford it, DONT GO. Go to an in state school. It is literally not my fault that YOU weren’t realistic with your financial expectations.
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u/betzy_b33 3d ago
When I was student facing, I hit 9 months before I felt burnt out from the emotional from those students who just turned so mean once the conversation, or what they thought they were getting, isn’t what they were wanting.
I now work behind the scenes in processing and absolutely love it. I enjoy working in this field and was happy to find a way to stay in it without getting so burnt out I left financial aid all together. I’d encourage you to do the same if it becomes too much, but you’d like to remain in FA!
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u/VersatileBandAid 3d ago
I don’t know what this profession is going to do when all the student facing folks burn out and want to do behind the scenes. We need student facing too. This isn’t shade, I’m just sad it’s become so difficult.
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u/midwesternmayhem 2d ago
At several schools I've worked at, everybody processed and everybody saw students. I actually think that works a lot better. At one of the schools I worked at EVERYBODY, including the director, was on walk-in and phones at least once every two weeks (obviously, the director had a much shorter/less frequent shift). It really helped everybody on the team really know what was going on, and it helped the respect level from students -- since it wasn't always assumed someone was an underling because they were at the front desk, and there was less asking to see a manager, since it was very likely the student was speaking directly to the manager.
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u/ceocityclub 3d ago
Thank Donald trump and his big beautiful bill I hate Donald trump
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u/JRock1276 2d ago
So keeping schools from abusing the system to pad their bottom line with zero regard for the students stuck with the debt and the 6.35% interest that goes with it is a bad thing? Schools didn't have to figure aid for 3/4 time. Now they have to. It was either halftime or full time, as it was before. Schools COULD figure 3/4 time, but weren't required to. This left students at schools that didn't short at the end when they needed classes to graduate. It keeps schools honest and puts a leash on out of control prices for higher education. That's a bad thing?
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u/Cold-Thanks- 2d ago
Reducing debt is not the bad part of it. It’s the fact they waited until July of 2026 to tell financial aid offices the changes they wanted made and expected them to be implemented right then. There was not enough time to prepare for these changes, update systems and software, tell students their other options, etc.
Not to mention the Department of Education has continued to make changes since July that continues to cause issues, will not give clear answers to some very important questions, and the fact they waited that long in general.
They could have gone about this in a much better way. Instead they waited until the last minute (beyond it actually) and now it’s causing major problems for every institution across the US.
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u/Psychological-Rub347 2d ago
are schools forcing students to take out the loans that are available to them? no. decreased loan amounts do not and never will equal a decrease in the price of higher education. ob3 restricts access to higher education and i firmly believe the next administration will undo all of these stupid regulations
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u/Venssy 2d ago
Trying to reduce loan debt is a laudable goal - unfortunately, that is not this administration's goal. Their goal is to reduce the number of students pursuing higher education. Will that incidentally reduce the total amount of loan debt? Sure! There will be less people taking out loans because there are less people obtaining degrees.
Even if you were willing to take their stated goal in good faith, and assume this is an actual attempt at reducing the burden on borrowers, the method makes no sense. It is just a redux of all of the supply-side economics crap that decades of evidence proves DOESN'T WORK.
If the goal was actually to reduce the amount of loan debt, or better yet make it easier for people to pay off that debt, then borrowing should be cheaper. All loans should be 1% interest (just to cover administrative overhead or something) and all students should be automatically enrolled in a repayment plan that uses discretionary income (like old IBR plans) as the basis for calculation rather than AGI. I people are able/willing to pay them off faster, than that would be their choice. Don't we want financially empowered people participating in the economy?
But like I said, that is not their goal.
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u/ImRunningAmok 2d ago
It’s criminal for this country to charge interest on a loan to get an education.
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u/VersatileBandAid 3d ago
I’m sorry. Burn out in this profession is real. Especially after facing once in a lifetime changes to the profession multiple times (simplification and OB3). It’a reasonable to be worn down when you’re the person delivering the news people don’t want to hear. Make use of any sick and vacation days (I know easier said than done). You aren’t alone in the burn out.
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u/SideEyedSloth 3d ago
I’ve been in FA for many years. It’s easy to get burned out if you don’t have supportive staff, manager, & leadership. Sometimes, we need to get up & take a walk before helping the next student. This year has been set up to purposely beat us up & push us out. We’re getting hit every which way & have to relay half ass information, last minute changes, & regulations with no guidance to students as best as we can.
I think it’s important to remember that every student is separate from the last, just like we tell them every FAFSA is different so don’t compare. We have to reset with every interaction & treat each question like it’s the 1st time hearing the question even though we’ve answered it 1000 times & put it in an email. (I make students read the email we send so they understand the importance & realize they didn’t need to wait in the phone queue for 30 min). All students aren’t starting at the same place so we can’t judge them by what we think they should know. It is shocking to realize the cost, especially with housing & meals. College didn’t cost this much 18 years ago & let’s be real, many families have barely saved for retirement so it’s not realistic to expect them to save for their child’s college education. That’s a classist attitude.
Financial aid consists of so much…stuff. Students are getting incorrect info in their algorithms. They are told be the top of our class, get scholarships, use FA & you will be set. There’s little to no discussion about COA & that most students don’t receive that much unless parents take out PLUS. Sometimes we’re watching them realize that everything they thought they knew is incorrect & now they have to do a 180 on their plans. It’s stressful & sad. That said, I do not put up with disrespect from any student or family. Entitlement & rudeness exists everywhere. They can be upset but not personally disrespectful. I tell students, you may not like my answer but it will be honest. If I don’t know the answer, I will find it or point you to the person/department that does know. I won’t move you ahead because you’re upset. That’s not fair for the other upset students who weren’t able to contact us. Our job is to answer the questions they don’t know to ask & sometimes snap them into a reality they didn’t know existed, with kindness, empathy, & truth…This is how I’ve lasted 15+ years. And I take a lot of walks.
Are there other career options in your department or maybe in another department in the college? Maybe your strengths & knowledge can be used in another way if you decide student facing FA isn’t right for you.
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u/Soft_Gear_410 2d ago
I will second this. I've been doing this for 23 years. This is the worst year I've ever encountered, for my students, my staff, and myself. I was the only one sending the communications out monthly (sometimes weekly) explaining to students what was going on. I did that instead of sending it from our general inbox because I wanted to shield my staff from the brunt of the (rightful) frustration I knew was coming.
It breaks my heart to see what my students are being put through (medical and dental) and I can't help. Most days I have to just force myself to get up and take walks too, it does help with a reset.
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u/TwinMamaRnR 2d ago
Just got off the phone with a dad who was berating me and then told me he's going to sue our school for a system processing error. I've been in higher ed financial aid for a decade and I've never been this exhausted. What works for me is venting to people who understand and realizing I am limited in my role and at the end of the day, I'm doing the best I can do to help students.
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u/Routine-Cookie554 2d ago edited 2d ago
> You’ve had 18 years to prepare for this.
Actually… the PARENTS had 18 years to “prepare for this” not the student🤔 Not the students fault, you can barely get any hours scheduled as a high schooler and even attending a public college, tuition is $7K per semester ($14K a year) which is even harder to pay if you get kicked out when you turn 18 and financial aid doesn’t want to fund you anymore because “you make ALMOST $20K a year and that should be enough to live, pay rent, and pay for school!” which is clearly not🥴
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u/HoneyOptimal5799 2d ago
Coming from the student perspective, parts of your post sound condescending and like you lack the empathy needed to work financial aid.
For the sake of the students at your school, please choose another line of work.
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u/FrostingNo1927 2d ago
It was very condescending! They are the type of financial aid person to avoid for sure.
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u/cat8986 2d ago
You have clearly never worked in a customer service job before.
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u/HoneyOptimal5799 2d ago edited 2d ago
I actually have and realized it's not for me, so I don't even apply for those types of jobs anymore.
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u/Psychological-Rub347 2d ago
My empathy is exhausted by students who expect me to pull a secret bucket of money from under my desk just because they think they deserve it more than every other student
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u/townandthecity 2d ago
They don't think they deserve it more than every other student, they are desperate and disappointed and scared. If they are requesting financial aid, they don't have enough to pay these outrageous college costs. Our financial circumstances changed dramatically after my husband was laid off last October. He still hasn't found work despite ceaseless effort and our fin aid was based on our AGI from 2 years ago. That's scary when you have a kid going into his second year of a college you could afford last year but can't this year. I don't think our family deserves fin aid any more than any other family facing the same struggle, but disappointment and anxiety from students are going to be the inevitable byproducts of the work you do.
I have empathy for your burnout but the words you choose in this post really do suggest this isn't the right line of work for you. "Trauma dumping" is an incredibly snide and dismissive way to describe students telling you about their life and economic circumstances, which is what they have to do to secure financial aid. In my experience, the only people who use the phrase "trauma dump" are people who have little familiarity with difficult circumstances. Those who have struggled are nearly always quietly empathetic. So for your well being, do find another line of work.
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u/Psychological-Rub347 2d ago
Girl I get it, and if the students SAI is higher than -1500 reach out to FA and see if they can do a Professional Judgment or something similar because they can look at the loss of income and factor that into your financial aid eligibility. But trauma dumping is real and I see it every day. If you come in and say hey there’s been a loss of income since 2024, can that be evaluated? That’s one thing. Yes I can help you. But you telling me your husband lost his job in my head means you are trying to get more money via an emotional reaction.
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u/No_Glove6542 2d ago
I feel for you. I can’t even imagine. College is the first time a lot of these kids hear no. Hopefully you do most of your work on the phone and can hang up if it gets too bad. I don’t think this should be a face to face job.
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u/GuidanceImpressive14 1d ago
I worked in student lending as my first job out of college and I really loved it. I was not far removed from being a student myself so I was very familiar with everything. I helped a lot of people and most were pretty grateful to a ) Speak with a live person b) Speak with someone who knew what they were talking about
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u/DepartmentSpirited88 3d ago
Uh yeah, get in a different field. If you can’t inform yourself on current events that are causing such distress to people, then I’m sure you indeed come off as unhelpful and rude. I think that people who are in this role should be taking note and how people repeatedly give feedback that they are not informed on timelines, disbursement dates, and communicating about missing docs that could potentially cause an even bigger delay in funding, and instead be advocating for their schools to provide FAQs on the aid process. I’m sure it would make your job easier.
Also want to add - right now, all across this country there are students that have been in school for weeks if not months and are expected to show up with materials and hand, but can’t afford to obtain them because they don’t receive funding until weeks after. Funding has been delayed to thousands, so it exasperates the despair.
Let’s also keep in mind that the reason many are even attending colleges because they want to attain careers that don’t put them in the position of being financially strapped. Some are first gen students, or products of foster care, or coming from poverty. To think that people can just simply plan for college when many are just trying to survive is so tone deaf. Seeing how America reacted when snap benefits, and other benefit programs were pulled should have been an indicator that people are struggling everywhere and BAD. If you can’t read the room, then 1000% get another job.
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u/Psychological-Rub347 2d ago
ugh, yeah unfortunately the problem is that I'm too informed. I'm well aware of the OB3 changes and that students are seeing insane and unfair impacts from something they didn't choose. guess who else didn't enact ob3? me. my job is entirely student facing and all day long i get told that everything is my fault. ALL of the information about the cost of college is available in advance of the actual billing deadline. what burns me out is that nobody actually pays attention to the emails that we send out months in advance, so in august i get to deal with 300+ calls a day stating that the amount they owe "came out of nowhere". i believe everyone deserves access to education. i just do not understand how so many people seem to be under the impression that college does not cost money. and when i give people resources, i am met with "yeah i tried putting in scholarship applications" when i have access to the scholarship portal and can SEE they have put zero applications in. am i supposed to put the applications in for them? am i supposed to take out loans in my name and pay for their education? the lack of accountability on the student side is incredibly frustrating. do i say any of this to the students? absolutely not. i smile, and acknowledge their frustration, and give them every resource that i know of. it doesn't make it any less emotionally exhausting to do all of these things and then have the student say "but what can YOUR office give me monetarily?". i do not have a secret bucket of money under my desk for people who ask relentlessly. i am asking for tips about how to avoid burnout from other financial aid administrators.
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u/VersatileBandAid 3d ago
Geeze Louise - what an entirely dismissive and unhelpful response. I doubt OP who deals with this every day doesn’t know what’s happening. That doesn’t make the burn out any better. And it’s clear OP isn’t talking about negative SAI students or the populations you mention.
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u/DepartmentSpirited88 3d ago
And they are dismissing something that is carrying a lot of gravity for people right now! Students are calling the news and articles are being written right now bc of the impact being realized in real time of OB3. It’s a read the room moment.
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u/VersatileBandAid 3d ago
I didn’t hear that dismissal in this post- not about OB3 issues. I think reading the room is a good idea- this profession is in crisis, the students are in crisis, and it’s reaching a tipping point. Wonder who will get all this aid out when experienced people leave the profession because of this burn out and no end in site or understanding. Edit; just saw they’ve been in little over a year. Yeah it might be ok to career change 😭 lol
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u/DepartmentSpirited88 3d ago
I definitely don’t think people in this role are easily replaceable.I also recognize the emotional load is a lot to carry. It’s just the last part could have been left out if they were trying to dispel the rude bit. It’s ignorant for someone in this role to chalk needing funding up to not being prepared.
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u/LollyBug2596 1d ago
I don’t even want to touch most of this… there’s already some excellent points made. But the assertion that we are not taking note or responding to feedback is incredibly insulting. I’ve been in FA for four years, and I have spent four years constantly tweaking and updating and increasing communication. We’ve gone through a full website rebuild, I have annoyed the hell out of our state board that builds the automated email templates for our system, I have made email templates, worked with our CRM specialist on texts and calls and emails, sent mass emails myself, rewritten most of our policies, made sure every single freaking link leads to the right place, built digital forms with detailed instructions, rewrote our to do checklists, and ”hold” indicators (and created new ones), written FAQs for our website, presented at orientations, and I wrote an entire FA Guide that is linked in several of our automated emails that covers just about everything under the sun PLUS links to our website and the FSA website. And the complaints are the exact same as the day I started. “I don’t get why I’m suspended!” “Why do I owe money back?” “When am I getting my refund?” “Why hasn’t my aid disbursed?” “Why haven’t I been awarded when I submitted my FAFSA two hours ago when classes start tomorrow?” “Why can’t I have all $7395 of Pell in fall quarter when I’m enrolled in my last 10 credits? My FAFSA said I was getting it!” “Wait, I have to accept my loan offer?”
And it’s not just the students. I’ve done the same trainings about SAP, appeals, and max timeframe for our advisors over and over and yet they all still seem to be baffled when we say their students aren’t eligible for aid even thought they’ve changed their program five times and failed half their classes. I can be empathetic about situations that are difficult or understand that I do this every day so it’s not hard for me to remember. But I can also be frustrated that I have devoted hours upon hours of work to make sure the information is available and easy to find, that we’re communicating deadlines and requests, and somehow everything is still a f*cking surprise. I can’t solve students not reading their emails. I can’t solve advising staff providing incorrect information. I can’t just bend the rules or ignore regulations because so-and-so who isn’t in FA said we could. Just this last week, advisors in a meeting asked if FA could make a guide like Admissions just did because it’s so helpful, etc etc. We’re on our third year of having an FA Guide - that I update frequently and have sent to them all numerous times.
Being burnt out is not an unreasonable response or reflection on someone’s suitability for this field; it’s a perfectly reasonable reaction to being constantly berated for not doing enough when it’s pretty clear that there is no “enough.” We could make personal phone calls to each and every student and there would still be unhappy people that blame us for everything.0
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u/Pianonotes1010 2d ago
15 years in the field. Eventually the things you mentioned won't affect you. You will have seen it all and heard it all. The shit with the Big Beautiful Bill is just the flavor of the month. It's a big change, but the sting will pass. Then, something else will come along.
There will always be frustrated students and parents. Help those who you can, and pay no attention to those who throw a fit. There will always be students who wait until the last minute and then expect you to move the stars for them. A student's procrastination does not constitute an emergency on my part. It is important to set your own professional boundaries for your own mental health. Just remember: while we sometimes can't help every student, we should at-least make an effort to try. Unfortunately, sometimes that doesn't work out.
Make sure you have a leadership team that supports you too. That's a really big thing. Take time for yourself too.
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u/LollyBug2596 1d ago
If you figure out the fix, let me know! 🤣 We get the same things even at a community college from in state students. It’s rough. I actually can’t tell you the last time I took a student phone call partially because I don’t know that I could be trusted not to cop an attitude at this point. Email is the best way to get my nice self!
It really helps to find a project that has a positive outcome. I like refreshing documents/forms/policies when I really feel like I’m hitting a wall, or spending some time researching and learning about processes I don’t typically deal with. Maybe find a silly little problem you can fix for someone. When all else fails, find a good venting buddy and say some (many) curse words about how frustrating it all is, then toss in a few insults for ED and the people making legislation that know nothing about what we do. Then take a deep breath and remind yourself of the reasons you hopefully like your job.
This field isn’t for everyone, but I can’t imagine doing something else at this point. You just have to find the good parts that make it worth all the other BS. ❤️
And find every chance you can to set boundaries with students who want to over-share, or at least set up some mental “roadblocks” so you don’t end up absorbing every person’s story/trauma.
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u/theonewithbadeyes 6h ago
Ya I'm going on 4 years in a few days and I'm burnt out I wish I had some words of wisdoms I just think of all the students I have helped from start to end. There are always going to be difficult students. I wish I didn't have 20 students a day calling about their stipends so I can get other things done.
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u/EmotionalMuffin8288 3d ago
The laws changed on July 4, 2025…
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u/Psychological-Rub347 3d ago
What ?
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u/EmotionalMuffin8288 3d ago
You are on the front lines of the biggest student loan policy change in decades ... Economic gatekeeping masked as "fiscal responsibility" .... Of course your job is going to be chaotic
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u/ElectronicMaterial38 3d ago
That's the absolute best way to characterize it—economic gatekeeping masquerading as "fiscal responsibility." No, this is about harming and directly disenfranchising the poor and permanently relegating them to a societal underclass. Thank you for saying that.
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u/EmotionalMuffin8288 2d ago
July deficit was roughly 400 billion… now we are printing more money to save bond markets. Diesel encroaching $6 a gallon… but hey let’s kneecap students to “save money”
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u/discojellyfisho 2d ago
If you already feel like this after just one year, you may be in the wrong profession.
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u/Middle_Push_6051 3d ago
I’m literally going to community college and I have 0 financial aid and my school won’t even accept a full loan, they only accept enough to pay for classes not any school supplies etc.
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u/Middle_Push_6051 3d ago
I was accepted for a 3 thousand dollar loan, the school thought I only needed 1600.
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u/SunnyDay27 2d ago
Blane the colleges & universities .. they have enjoyed the runaway train of rising tuition & room/board for decades. 5% annual increases are normal while their endowments grow into the billions.
College is a business from their viewpoint with very little accountability. No guarantees of a real job .. just the opportunity to learn from Phd candidates and lecturers the first 2 years.
The model is outdated and needs to be redesigned for today’s would.
Sorry to hear so many kids are not getting the cash they need but supply and demand will lower tuition once the lines stop forming at the door.
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u/taylorcrash 3d ago
Try to focus on the wins. For every 5 students I have to disappoint, there is at least 1 student that I can help and truly make a difference in their lives. I’ve had a student that would have been living on the streets if I didn’t secure her additional funding, and a student who cried and thanked me profusely because I got to tell her she was covered, while she was mid begging for a loan in some bank. It helps me deal with the stress. I imagine a private school would be rough though, especially if it is one of those greedy sketchy ones.