David B. Gray

David B. Gray, president and co-founder of Financial Aid Services, is an industry leader and technology innovator in the financial aid profession. David began his financial aid career in 1976 with the Georgia Student Scholarship Commission, and later served as director and associate director of financial aid and scholarships at the Georgia Institute of Technology. From 1988-1991, he was director of the Georgia Student Finance Authority.

During his over 40-year career, David has been a visionary in adapting ground- breaking new technology – including the use of the Internet — as a resource for improving productivity, efficiency and introducing new services to the administration of financial aid. His focus has always been to improve and enhance the financial aid process to benefit institutions, students and their families.

In 1981, as associate director of financial aid and scholarships at Georgia Tech, David recognized the potential of the newly introduced IBM personal computer to positively impact the financial aid process. Using Lotus 123, he created the first PC-based need analysis program.

Later, seeking to reduce the four-six week time interval it took for students to receive their financial aid data from the College Board, David participated in the pilot program that transmitted data electronically to Georgia Tech. As a result, the university became the first in the nation to receive student data electronically, reducing the wait time to just 48 hours.

Spearheading another improvement in financial aid delivery, David sought a way to automate the student loan process so students could receive funds more quickly. He formed a pilot program with a Florida bank and an Indiana guarantor to create the first nationwide, student loan process. As a result, loans were awarded, certified, guaranteed, and funds disbursed in days rather than weeks.

After hearing about the possibilities of the UUnet (forerunner to the Internet) in the 1980s, David began thinking of ways to apply this future system of computer networks to improve the financial aid process. In 1988, as director of the Georgia State Finance Authority, he worked with his Information Technology (IT) staff to create a statewide electronic network of colleges, universities and lending institutions for processing state scholarships, grants and loans.

As a financial aid director, David long recognized the need to have an extra set of highly skilled, trained hands to help during peak periods. In 1991, inspired to offer services to meet these growing needs, he and Gay Gray founded The Financial Aid Office, Inc. which later became Financial Aid Services (FAS).

Throughout its over 25-year history, FAS has differentiated itself with outstanding service and an exceptional depth of commitment to its clients. The FAS consultant team, with years of knowledge and expertise in financial aid, focuses on the firm’s mission of providing institutions with the capability to achieve their ideal financial aid operation on behalf of students and their families.