Nishia Ikezoe Heard named senior director of COD's Student Financial Assistance, Veteran Services and Scholarships

In her new role as senior director of Student Financial Assistance, Veteran Services and Scholarships at College of DuPage, Nishia Ikezoe Heard is striving to remove financial barriers to education through an ongoing commitment to empowering and educating students.

The Homewood resident has a passion for helping students navigate the financial aid process due to her own experience as a first-generation college student.

"My parents knew nothing about financial aid when I was applying for college, so when it was time for me to begin that process, it was a maze," said Ikezoe Heard, who joined the college in November. "I remember sitting in the financial aid office signing papers and I had no idea what I was signing or how it was going to impact my financial future."

After her first year of college, Ikezoe Heard took a year off to pay off her student loans. She then decided when she went back to finish her bachelor's degree, she would become an educated consumer.

"I walked into my financial aid meeting armed with questions," she said. "Every time the counselor used an acronym, I stopped her and asked her to explain. I was not going to make the same mistake I had made earlier. I walked out of the office with confidence and was even asked if I would be interested in working in the financial aid office as a student worker."

Ikezoe Heard planned on becoming a mental health counselor, but after her two vastly different financial aid experiences, she decided she could still help others but in a different way than she had imagined.

"I didn't want anyone else to have to go through the experience I went through as a first time financial aid recipient," she said. "My interest in becoming a mental health counselor was my desire to help people, so I decided to take that same passion and use it toward a different, more suitable career path."

Ikezoe Heard earned her master's in interdisciplinary studies at Liberty University and is currently working on her doctorate in education leadership from American College of Education. She has spent the last decade in various financial aid leadership positions in higher education, including interim director of financial aid at Moraine Valley Community College, financial aid counselor at Roosevelt University and manager of student finance at Adtalem Global Education.

"Over the past 10 years, I've been able to keep learning and asking those same hard questions that got me into the financial aid field in the first place," she said. "Working at a community college is near to my heart because we serve many first-generation students, as well as nontraditional students, including veterans."

Diana Del Rosario, assistant provost for Student Affairs, said Ikezoe Heard brings the necessary tenacity, as well as unique skill sets to her new leadership role.

"Nishia brings experience gained from serving as a financial aid professional at three different institutions," she said. "Her commitment toward compliance and customer service, and her familiarity with regulations for Title IV and veterans services, made Nishia stand out. We are excited to have her as part of our student affairs leadership team."

In her new role, Ikezoe Heard said she is looking forward to offering more services to connect with students and further promote financial aid services, scholarships and veterans' benefits.

"I want to make the financial aid process as stress-free as possible for COD students," she said. "It can be intimidating, but financial aid should be an integral part in everyone's college journey, and it should be easy to navigate. We want to ensure we are meeting students where they are at and we are communicating how they want to communicate.

College of DuPage is regionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Serving approximately 21,000 students each term, it is the largest public community college in the state of Illinois. The college grants seven associate degrees and offers more than 170 career and technical certificates in over 50 areas of study.