Meet
Adina
A Message from the Owner
With more than 17 years of experience in financial aid leadership, I have worked across for-profit colleges, community colleges, and private institutions, bringing a broad perspective to the operational, regulatory, and strategic challenges institutions face. My work has included executive committee service, compliance leadership, process redesign, change management, and institutional transformation. Across these environments, one issue has remained consistent, financial aid is often underutilized as a strategic voice, even though its impact reaches directly into enrollment, retention, compliance, revenue stability, and the overall student experience.
Higher Aid was built on the belief that financial aid should not operate on the margins of institutional strategy. It should be positioned as a core advisory function that informs executive decision-making, strengthens cross-functional alignment, reduces institutional risk, and advances student-centered outcomes. When financial aid is fully integrated into planning and operations, institutions are better equipped to respond to change, improve service delivery, and make more informed decisions that support long-term sustainability.
As a consulting partner, Higher Aid helps colleges and universities elevate institutional strategy to a new level and empower students in a whole new way. We will assess current practices, identify opportunities for improvement, strengthen compliance infrastructure, and elevate the role of financial aid within the broader institutional framework. Our work is designed to help leaders move beyond transactional operations and build financial aid functions that are strategic, collaborative, accountable, and aligned with institutional goals.
About
Higher Aid
Higher Aid was founded to elevate institutional strategy via one of the most influential yet overlooked perspectives in higher education leadership; the financial aid lens. Financial aid is the powerhouse of the institution, and Institutions that intentionally include financial aid in executive decision making are better positioned for long-term success with students who have better overall experiences with the institution as they matriculate through their programs.
Our Approach
We stay with you. Higher Aid is more than a compliance consulting firm. We don't simply take work off your plate. Once we help you complete the foundational work and establish the necessary culture change at your institution, we stay with you. We help you facilitate next steps. There is short-term and long-term work associated with our approach. It’s both a sprint AND a marathon and we will stick with you every step of the way. Our work is specialized, we are teaching institutions to UNLEARN decades long misconceptions, but our work is collaborative so we may even make recommendations to partners at times to help facilitate tasks along the way, and move your institution toward the proverbial finishline.
Certifications
FAAC®
Certified Financial Aid Administrator
Memberships
NCASFAA (North Carolina Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators)
SASFAA (Southern Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators)
NASFAA (National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators)