With over four decades of experience in higher education enrollment and financial aid leadership, Dan Preston has built a career helping colleges and universities turn financial aid into a strategic advantage. He spent six years as a senior consultant with Ruffalo Noel Levitz’s Advanced Financial Aid Services division, building and monitoring financial aid leveraging models for institutions with entering classes ranging from 200 to 10,000 students, and 35 years before that in progressively senior roles at Linfield College, including Vice President for Enrollment Management, Dean of Enrollment Management, and Director of Financial Aid.

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Dan’s expertise is matched by deep involvement in the field. He is a past Chair of the NCAA Division III Financial Aid Committee, a former President of the Oregon Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, and a longtime presenter on financial aid literacy across the Pacific Northwest, recognized with the Distinguished Service Award from the Oregon Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.

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At Mac Insight Group, Dan serves as Chief SMARTaid Strategist, overseeing the work of the SMARTaid development team. He translates the vision Jen McMahon sets for the platform into clear, actionable direction the developers can build against, drawing on a combination of strong interpersonal skills and deep technical fluency in financial aid that consistently distinguishes his work within the organization.

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Outside of work, Dan loves to golf, hike, and explore Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. He enjoys traveling, volunteers to help reduce the use of plastics, and gives his time to build and deliver beds to local kids who don’t have one of their own. A devoted fan of Seattle’s professional sports teams, he also makes time for reading whenever he can.

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Dan holds a Master of Education in Student Personnel Administration from Western Washington University and a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing from Linfield College.

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Visit Dan’s LinkedIn profile here.