Our October Team Spotlight is on Dustin Grannis, who joined College Aid Services as a Compliance Manager in 2024. He brings 15 years of experience in higher education and has managed teams of financial aid professionals across numerous schools; including four-year public, private, and proprietary schools. Dustin previously served as the Associate Director at UNC Charlotte and is dedicated to improving educational access through financial aid strategies as well as compliance management.
With a master’s degree in political science, he enjoys finding unique solutions to complex problems and combines his academic background with practical expertise to deliver exceptional financial aid services and support to students and their families.
What do you like most about being a compliance manager?
My favorite part about this job is getting to research unusual questions and try and find answers in the regulations. I’m always amazed that even after 15 years in the financial aid profession there are so many questions that I hear from people that I have never thought about. I love that.
What do you enjoy about working for College Aid Services?
It’s completely different than working on a single campus. Because we work with so many different institutions, all with their own needs and questions, you never get bored with your work. Every day has a new challenge or opportunity to learn something new. Not to mention that the people at CAS have been fantastic to collaborate with.
What areas do you specialize in?
I wouldn’t say I have a specialization as I have worked in a lot of areas of aid, but I have always loved Satisfactory Academic Progress, Professional Judgements, and Verification. Finding ways to implement these regulations effectively in a way that is beneficial for students but sustainable for staff is always an interesting challenge.
How do you stay up to date with regulations and policy changes?
I think I’m probably the same as most people. I read the handbook every year and check for new announcements at the start of every day with the FSA Knowledge Center. Attending conferences and webinars is also great because you get different perspectives from our partners in this industry.
What challenges do you see on the horizon in the field?
FAFSA simplification is obviously one of the biggest issues we are all dealing with. Trying to implement new, or even existing regulations, when the systems aren’t working like they need to, makes everything more difficult. Hopefully, as the FAFSA itself improves, we will see improvements with the other systems (Partner Portal, SAVE, etc) as well.
What advice would you give to a new Compliance Manager?
Try your best not to get overwhelmed. Financial aid compliance is such a vast topic that you can easily find yourself overwhelmed with the number of regulations. I try and focus on one or two topics at a time when I start, and then work my way from there. Also talk to other compliance minded people in the industry. There is no need to reinvent the wheel if someone already has a great process in place that you can copy.
What do you like to do when you are not doing Financial Aid?
My wife and I love traveling, relaxing with our West Highland Terrier, Derby, going out to nice restaurants, and watching Broadway plays and musicals.
If you are interested in joining Dustin and the rest of our College Aid Services team, review our current openings here. To learn more about how College Aid Services can help your institution, contact us at info@collegeaidservices.net or by phone toll-free at 833-GETCAS1 (833-438-2271).