Audit 299417

FY End
2023-06-30
Total Expended
$1.06B
Findings
30
Programs
368
Year: 2023 Accepted: 2024-03-28
Auditor: Kpmg LLP

Organization Exclusion Status:

Checking exclusion status...

Findings

ID Ref Severity Repeat Requirement
387100 2023-001 Material Weakness - ELN
387101 2023-001 Material Weakness - ELN
387102 2023-001 Material Weakness - ELN
387103 2023-001 Material Weakness - ELN
387104 2023-001 Material Weakness - ELN
387105 2023-001 Material Weakness - ELN
387106 2023-001 Material Weakness - ELN
387107 2023-001 Material Weakness - ELN
387108 2023-002 Material Weakness - E
387109 2023-002 Material Weakness - E
387110 2023-003 Material Weakness - L
387111 2023-003 Material Weakness - L
387112 2023-004 Significant Deficiency - N
387113 2023-004 Significant Deficiency - N
387114 2023-005 Material Weakness - I
963542 2023-001 Material Weakness - ELN
963543 2023-001 Material Weakness - ELN
963544 2023-001 Material Weakness - ELN
963545 2023-001 Material Weakness - ELN
963546 2023-001 Material Weakness - ELN
963547 2023-001 Material Weakness - ELN
963548 2023-001 Material Weakness - ELN
963549 2023-001 Material Weakness - ELN
963550 2023-002 Material Weakness - E
963551 2023-002 Material Weakness - E
963552 2023-003 Material Weakness - L
963553 2023-003 Material Weakness - L
963554 2023-004 Significant Deficiency - N
963555 2023-004 Significant Deficiency - N
963556 2023-005 Material Weakness - I

Programs

ALN Program Spent Major Findings
84.268 Federal Direct Student Loans $373.01M Yes 4
84.063 Federal Pell Grant Program $86.58M Yes 4
84.038 Federal Perkins Loans $25.14M Yes 1
21.027 Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds $23.61M Yes 1
93.563 Child Support Enforcement $7.51M - 0
20.531 Technical Assistance and Workforce Development $4.00M Yes 0
84.033 Federal Work-Study Program $3.93M Yes 1
84.007 Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants $3.57M Yes 1
93.389 National Center for Research Resources $2.95M - 0
93.778 Medical Assistance Program $2.92M - 0
93.264 Nurse Faculty Loan Program (nflp) $2.31M Yes 1
93.958 Block Grants for Community Mental Health Services $1.51M - 0
93.224 Consolidated Health Centers (community Health Centers, Migrant Health Centers, Health Care for the Homeless, and Public Housing Primary Care) $1.04M Yes 0
93.142 Niehs Hazardous Waste Worker Health and Safety Training $1.01M - 0
11.472 Unallied Science Program $919,914 - 0
93.928 Special Projects of National Significance $909,118 - 0
20.206 Highway Planning and Construction $898,102 - 0
16.836 Indigent Defense $782,775 - 0
10.561 State Administrative Matching Grants for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program $775,878 - 0
43.008 Education $743,822 - 0
93.387 National and State Tobacco Control Program (b) $737,224 - 0
93.925 Scholarships for Health Professions Students From Disadvantaged Backgrounds $643,346 Yes 1
84.323 Special Education - State Personnel Development $619,303 - 0
93.157 Centers of Excellence $572,611 - 0
84.411 Investing in Innovation (i3) Fund $545,376 - 0
93.234 Traumatic Brain Injury State Demonstration Grant Program $544,483 - 0
93.947 Tuberculosis Demonstration, Research, Public and Professional Education $541,201 - 0
97.044 Assistance to Firefighters Grant $527,669 - 0
93.498 Provider Relief Fund $495,788 - 0
97.039 Hazard Mitigation Grant $460,464 - 0
93.526 Affordable Care Act (aca) Grants for Capital Development in Health Centers $447,999 - 0
93.217 Family Planning_services $407,747 - 0
93.918 Grants to Provide Outpatient Early Intervention Services with Respect to Hiv Disease $395,459 - 0
93.813 Heart Disease & Stroke Prevention Program and Diabetes Prevention Ð State and Local Public Health Actions to Prevent Obesity, Diabetes, and Heart Disease and Stroke $381,039 - 0
93.840 Translation and Implementation Science Research for Heart, Lung, Blood Diseases, and Sleep Disorders $364,955 - 0
93.117 Preventive Medicine Residency $357,690 - 0
93.998 Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, Surveillance, Research, and Prevention $344,128 - 0
98.012 Usaid Development Partnerships for University Cooperation and Development $331,852 - 0
84.326 Special Education_technical Assistance and Dissemination to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities $324,607 - 0
12.598 Centers for Academic Excellence $316,191 - 0
66.460 Nonpoint Source Implementation Grants $313,547 - 0
59.037 Small Business Development Centers $313,208 Yes 0
84.372 Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems $310,804 - 0
93.596 Child Care Mandatory and Matching Funds of the Child Care and Development Fund $310,126 - 0
93.994 Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant to the States $294,867 - 0
11.420 Coastal Zone Management Estuarine Research Reserves $294,788 - 0
91.U00 Various $293,235 - 0
93.121 Oral Diseases and Disorders Research $291,874 - 0
84.116 Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education $280,718 - 0
43.012 Space Technology $275,260 - 0
93.153 Coordinated Services and Access to Research for Women, Infants, Children, and Youth $273,956 - 0
84.426 Randolph-Sheppard – Financial Relief and Restoration Payments $272,358 - 0
93.856 Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Research $271,704 - 0
90.U00 Various $262,537 - 0
93.283 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention_investigations and Technical Assistance $262,004 - 0
16.738 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program $259,876 - 0
93.788 Opioid Str $252,382 - 0
97.005 State and Local Homeland Security National Training Program $249,167 - 0
84.042 Trio_student Support Services $245,077 - 0
10.500 Cooperative Extension Service $244,337 - 0
81.122 Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, Research, Development and Analysis $240,746 - 0
93.396 Cancer Biology Research $239,621 - 0
84.327 Special Education_educational Technology Media, and Materials for Individuals with Disabilities $231,415 - 0
10.217 Higher Education - Institution Challenge Grants Program $208,546 - 0
93.945 Assistance Programs for Chronic Disease Prevention and Control $207,594 - 0
84.047 Trio_upward Bound $205,027 - 0
93.959 Block Grants for Prevention and Treatment of Substance Abuse $203,548 - 0
84.425 Governor's Emergency Eduction Relief Fund $197,465 Yes 0
84.215 Fund for the Improvement of Education $190,842 - 0
11.468 Applied Meteorological Research $190,435 - 0
84.217 Trio_mcnair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement $187,673 - 0
20.509 Formula Grants for Rural Areas and Tribal Transit Program $185,846 - 0
84.044 Trio_talent Search $179,140 - 0
10.329 Crop Protection and Pest Management Competitive Grants Program $177,648 - 0
21.019 Coronavirus Relief Fund $177,242 - 0
14.906 Healthy Homes Technical Studies Grants $175,253 - 0
20.U00 Various $173,596 - 0
93.137 Community Programs to Improve Minority Health Grant Program $165,138 - 0
84.287 Twenty-First Century Community Learning Centers $165,039 - 0
93.495 Community Health Workers for Public Health Response and Resilient $157,841 - 0
84.324 Research in Special Education $156,547 - 0
47.083 Integrative Activities $156,531 - 0
93.172 Human Genome Research $156,274 - 0
93.186 National Research Service Award in Primary Care Medicine $153,447 - 0
11.619 Arrangements for Interdisciplinary Research Infrastructure $152,129 - 0
89.003 National Historical Publications and Records Grants $150,486 - 0
10.175 Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Program (b) $144,072 - 0
84.200 Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need $143,267 - 0
12.355 Pest Management and Vector Control Research $142,974 - 0
93.253 Poison Center Support and Enhancement Grant $141,697 - 0
11.432 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (noaa) Cooperative Institutes $139,802 - 0
93.048 Special Programs for the Aging_title Iv_and Title Ii_discretionary Projects $138,832 - 0
93.917 Hiv Care Formula Grants $136,456 - 0
64.009 Veterans Medical Care Benefits $135,401 - 0
20.200 Highway Research and Development Program $130,621 - 0
20.530 Public Transportation Innovation $129,263 - 0
84.U00 Various $127,542 - 0
93.173 Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders $127,050 - 0
11.020 Cluster Grants $124,409 - 0
15.U00 Various $121,985 - 0
84.305 Education Research, Development and Dissemination $115,396 - 0
66.708 Pollution Prevention Grants Program $115,124 - 0
93.977 Preventive Health Services_sexually Transmitted Diseases Control Grants $114,931 - 0
84.010 Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies $114,821 - 0
84.027 Special Education_grants to States $114,253 - 0
93.073 Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities - Prevention and Surveillance $113,516 - 0
17.285 Apprenticeship USA Grants $113,171 - 0
93.780 Grants to States for Operation of Qualified High-Risk Pools $111,659 - 0
11.431 Climate and Atmospheric Research $109,452 - 0
93.822 Health Careers Opportunity Program $108,961 - 0
93.424 Non-Aca/pphfñbuilding Capacity of the Public Health System to Improve Population Health Through National Nonprofit Organizations $108,707 - 0
66.605 Performance Partnership Grants $101,693 - 0
93.343 Public Health Service Evaluation Funds $100,396 - 0
19.009 Academic Exchange Programs - Undergraduate Programs $95,627 - 0
12.800 Air Force Defense Research Sciences Program $93,321 - 0
84.002 Adult Education - Basic Grants to States $92,887 - 0
47.049 Mathematical and Physical Sciences $91,169 - 0
47.078 Polar Programs $90,301 - 0
12.910 Research and Technology Development $89,310 - 0
10.328 National Food Safety Training, Education, Extension, Outreach, and Technical Assistance Competitive Grants Program $88,654 - 0
16.540 Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention_allocation to States $87,483 - 0
81.086 Conservation Research and Development $84,350 - 0
59.U00 Various $83,380 - 0
93.898 Cancer Prevention and Control Programs for State, Territorial and Tribal Organizations $81,418 - 0
84.425 Supporting Effective Educator Development Program $81,035 Yes 0
10.310 Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (afri) $79,751 - 0
93.143 Niehs Superfund Hazardous Substances_basic Research and Education $78,540 - 0
21.008 Low Income Taxpayer Clinics $78,063 - 0
93.361 Nursing Research $77,603 - 0
93.556 Promoting Safe and Stable Families $77,189 - 0
81.089 Fossil Energy Research and Development $76,366 - 0
20.507 Federal Transit_formula Grants $76,124 - 0
15.657 Endangered Species Conservation Ð Recovery Implementation Funds $75,196 - 0
15.929 Save America's Treasures $74,549 - 0
12.U00 Various $74,373 - 0
20.108 Aviation Research Grants $72,624 - 0
11.017 Ocean Acidification Program (oap) $72,469 - 0
45.149 Promotion of the Humanities_division of Preservation and Access $72,115 - 0
81.121 Nuclear Energy Research, Development and Demonstration $70,850 - 0
15.616 Clean Vessel Act Program $70,178 - 0
93.732 Mental and Behavioral Health Education and Training Grants $69,846 - 0
93.145 Aids Education and Training Centers $69,350 - 0
93.395 Cancer Treatment Research $68,603 - 0
16.838 Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Site-Based Program $68,324 - 0
93.077 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act Regulatory Research $67,655 - 0
47.076 Education and Human Resources $66,876 - 0
93.595 Welfare Reform Research, Evaluations and National Studies $64,560 - 0
93.136 Injury Prevention and Control Research and State and Community Based Programs $63,026 - 0
93.070 Environmental Public Health and Emergency Response $62,114 - 0
93.233 National Center on Sleep Disorders Research $61,993 - 0
93.829 Section 223 Demonstration Programs to Improve Community Mental Health Services $61,631 - 0
11.419 Coastal Zone Management Administration Awards $61,341 - 0
12.750 Uniformed Services University Medical Research Projects $61,274 - 0
11.460 Special Oceanic and Atmospheric Projects $60,639 - 0
66.454 Water Quality Management Planning $60,351 - 0
81.049 Office of Science Financial Assistance Program $59,316 - 0
10.215 Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education $58,815 - 0
20.701 University Transportation Centers Program $58,503 - 0
10.577 Snap Partnership Grant $57,079 - 0
93.838 Lung Diseases Research $56,869 - 0
93.084 Prevention of Disease, Disability, and Death by Infectious Diseases $56,804 - 0
47.070 Computer and Information Science and Engineering $55,715 - 0
93.527 Affordable Care Act (aca) Grants for New and Expanded Services Under the Health Center Program $54,385 Yes 0
45.161 Promotion of the Humanities_research $50,425 - 0
11.417 Sea Grant Support $50,416 - 0
43.003 Exploration $49,887 - 0
43.007 Space Operations $49,693 - 0
81.087 Renewable Energy Research and Development $49,115 - 0
93.397 Cancer Centers Support Grants $48,848 - 0
21.U00 Various $48,821 - 0
93.865 Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research $48,597 - 0
12.002 Procurement Technical Assistance for Business Firms $48,364 - 0
43.001 Science $46,804 - 0
16.560 National Institute of Justice Research, Evaluation, and Development Project Grants $46,447 - 0
10.675 Urban and Community Forestry Program $45,109 - 0
15.423 Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (boem) Environmental Studies Program (esp) $44,772 - 0
11.300 Investments for Public Works and Economic Development Facilities $44,402 - 0
93.398 Cancer Research Manpower $43,400 - 0
66.461 Regional Wetland Program Development Grants $43,339 - 0
81.117 Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Information Dissemination, Outreach, Training and Technical Analysis/assistance $42,799 - 0
20.239 Motor Carrier Research and Technology Programs $42,227 - 0
93.433 Acl National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research $41,803 - 0
64.048 Vha Mental Health Clinics $41,564 - 0
10.225 Community Food Projects $41,471 - 0
84.048 Career and Technical Education -- Basic Grants to States $41,097 - 0
93.110 Maternal and Child Health Federal Consolidated Programs $40,540 - 0
10.311 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program $38,554 - 0
17.268 H-1b Job Training Grants $38,548 - 0
15.677 Hurricane Sandy Disaster Relief Activities-Fws $38,138 - 0
93.912 Rural Health Care Services Outreach, Rural Health Network Development and Small Health Care Provider Quality Improvement $36,298 - 0
93.991 Preventive Health and Health Services Block Grant $36,165 - 0
11.U00 Various $36,136 - 0
16.U00 Various $36,074 - 0
84.018 Overseas Programs_special Bilateral Projects $35,688 - 0
20.313 Railroad Research and Development $35,606 - 0
47.U00 Various $35,529 - 0
10.903 Soil Survey $35,448 - 0
15.808 U.s. Geological Survey_ Research and Data Collection $33,900 - 0
10.212 Small Business Innovation Research $33,479 - 0
66.U00 Various $32,950 - 0
93.113 Environmental Health $32,511 - 0
84.022 Overseas Programs - Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad $32,258 - 0
93.394 Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research $31,991 - 0
19.900 Aeeca/esf Pd Programs $31,300 - 0
93.837 Cardiovascular Diseases Research $31,081 - 0
20.600 State and Community Highway Safety $30,942 - 0
93.867 Vision Research $30,901 - 0
19.021 Investing in People in the Middle East and North Africa $30,559 - 0
93.307 Minority Health and Health Disparities Research $30,329 - 0
10.307 Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative $29,627 - 0
11.999 Marine Debris Program $29,580 - 0
93.566 Refugee and Entrant Assistance_state Administered Programs $28,938 - 0
16.562 Criminal Justice Research and Development_graduate Research Fellowships $28,437 - 0
97.U00 Various $28,393 - 0
20.602 Occupant Protection Incentive Grants $28,288 - 0
93.124 Nurse Anesthetist Traineeships $27,249 - 0
98.001 Usaid Foreign Assistance for Programs Overseas $27,088 - 0
81.003 Granting of Patent Licenses $26,298 - 0
20.513 Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities $25,942 - 0
16.710 Public Safety Partnership and Community Policing Grants $25,931 - 0
10.912 Environmental Quality Incentives Program $24,520 - 0
47.074 Biological Sciences $24,513 - 0
20.205 Highway Planning and Construction $23,777 - 0
16.588 Violence Against Women Formula Grants $23,729 - 0
15.945 Cooperative Research and Training Programs Ð Resources of the National Park System $23,640 - 0
10.156 Federal-State Marketing Improvement Program $22,512 - 0
93.080 Blood Disorder Program: Prevention, Surveillance, and Research $22,502 - 0
93.855 Allergy, Immunology and Transplantation Research $22,058 - 0
12.431 Basic Scientific Research $21,216 - 0
84.016 Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language Programs $20,642 - 0
10.603 Emerging Markets Program $20,594 - 0
93.069 Public Health Emergency Preparedness $20,540 - 0
19.040 Public Diplomacy Programs $20,349 - 0
93.213 Research and Training in Complementary and Integrative Health $20,152 - 0
45.024 Promotion of the Arts_grants to Organizations and Individuals $19,900 - 0
16.582 Crime Victim Assistance/discretionary Grants $19,792 - 0
84.419 Preschool Development Grants $19,698 - 0
93.866 Aging Research $19,416 - 0
64.U00 Various $19,242 - 0
93.279 Drug Abuse and Addiction Research Programs $18,999 - 0
93.273 Alcohol Research Programs $18,891 - 0
59.058 Federal and State Technology Partnership Program $18,823 - 0
47.075 Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences $18,376 - 0
20.724 Pipeline Safety Research Competitive Academic Agreement Program (caap) $17,800 - 0
93.178 Nursing Workforce Diversity $17,711 - 0
12.630 Basic, Applied, and Advanced Research in Science and Engineering $17,694 - 0
11.609 Measurement and Engineering Research and Standards $17,355 - 0
10.U00 Various $17,266 - 0
93.350 National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences $17,211 - 0
10.559 Summer Food Service Program for Children $16,996 - 0
93.877 Autism Collaboration, Accountability, Research, Education, and Support $16,853 - 0
15.611 Wildlife Restoration and Basic Hunter Education $16,517 - 0
14.272 National Resilient Disaster Recovery Competition $16,503 - 0
84.325 Special Education - Personnel Development to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities $15,998 - 0
20.616 National Priority Safety Programs $15,792 - 0
93.323 Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Infectious Diseases (elc) $15,574 - 0
81.135 Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy $15,504 - 0
94.006 Americorps $14,930 - 0
11.307 Economic Adjustment Assistance $14,683 - 0
10.304 Homeland Security_agricultural $14,601 - 0
15.663 Nfwf-Usfws Conservation Partnership $14,224 - 0
93.564 Child Support Enforcement Research $13,841 - 0
47.050 Geosciences $13,725 - 0
10.200 Grants for Agricultural Research, Special Research Grants $12,484 - 0
16.726 Juvenile Mentoring Program $12,447 - 0
93.884 Grants for Primary Care Training and Enhancement $12,212 - 0
11.011 Ocean Exploration $12,187 - 0
93.646 Aca Ð Testing A Model of Data Aggregation Under the Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative $11,935 - 0
64.031 Life Insurance for Veterans - Direct Payments for Insurance $11,309 - 0
81.U00 Various $10,461 - 0
47.079 Office of International Science and Engineering $10,386 - 0
93.268 Immunization Cooperative Agreements $10,111 - 0
10.460 Risk Management Education Partnerships $10,064 - 0
43.002 Aeronautics $9,971 - 0
93.393 Cancer Cause and Prevention Research $9,762 - 0
15.948 National Fire Plan-Wildland Urban Interface Community Fire Assistance $9,606 - 0
93.989 International Research and Research Training $9,129 - 0
45.129 Promotion of the Humanities_federal/state Partnership $9,000 - 0
45.025 Promotion of the Arts_partnership Agreements $8,400 - 0
47.084 Nsf Technology, Innovation and Partnerships $8,362 - 0
15.946 Cultural Resources Management $8,349 - 0
15.658 Natural Resource Damage Assessment, Restoration and Implementation $8,081 - 0
10.309 Specialty Crop Research Initiative $8,058 - 0
93.558 Temporary Assistance for Needy Families $7,898 - 0
93.631 Developmental Disabilities Projects of National Significance $7,864 - 0
93.236 Grants to States to Support Oral Health Workforce Activities $7,826 - 0
93.116 Project Grants and Cooperative Agreements for Tuberculosis Control Programs $7,504 - 0
93.103 Food and Drug Administration_research $7,311 - 0
12.420 Military Medical Research and Development $7,277 - 0
45.162 Promotion of the Humanities_teaching and Learning Resources and Curriculum Development $6,862 - 0
93.575 Child Care and Development Block Grant $6,780 - 0
93.399 Cancer Control $6,763 - 0
93.946 Cooperative Agreements to Support State-Based Safe Motherhood and Infant Health Initiative Programs $6,762 - 0
15.427 Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management State and Tribal Coordination $6,744 - 0
93.243 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services_projects of Regional and National Significance $6,685 Yes 0
16.812 Second Chance Act Reentry Initiative $6,146 - 0
93.359 Nurse Education, Practice Quality and Retention Grants $5,898 - 0
66.509 Science to Achieve Results (star) Research Program $5,847 - 0
93.079 Cooperative Agreements to Promote Adolescent Health Through School-Based Hiv/std Prevention and School-Based Surveillance $5,758 - 0
10.207 Animal Health and Disease Research $5,630 - 0
66.716 Research, Development, Monitoring, Public Education, Training, Demonstrations, and Studies $5,540 - 0
15.805 Assistance to State Water Resources Research Institutes $5,000 - 0
20.315 National Railroad Passenger Corporation Grants $4,631 - 0
43.U00 Various $4,418 - 0
93.910 Family and Community Violence Prevention Program $4,339 - 0
11.012 Integrated Ocean Observing System (ioos) $4,206 - 0
93.286 Discovery and Applied Research for Technological Innovations to Improve Human Health $4,187 - 0
10.170 Specialty Crop Block Grant Program - Farm Bill $4,000 - 0
10.229 Extension Collaborative on Immunization Teaching & Engagement $3,893 - 0
45.169 Promotion of the Humanities_office of Digital Humanities $3,842 - 0
47.041 Engineering $3,428 - 0
94.014 Martin Luther King JR Day of Service Grants $3,365 - 0
12.300 Basic and Applied Scientific Research $3,203 - 0
10.001 Agricultural Research_basic and Applied Research $3,200 - 0
93.104 Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services for Children with Serious Emotional Disturbances (sed) $3,101 - 0
93.853 Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders $2,855 - 0
84.423 Supporting Effective Educator Development Program $2,830 - 0
93.969 Pphf Geriatric Education Centers $2,544 - 0
93.191 Graduate Psychology Education Program and Patient Navigator and Chronic Disease Prevention Program $2,472 - 0
81.041 State Energy Program $1,920 - 0
84.425 Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund $1,879 Yes 0
81.112 Stewardship Science Grant Program $1,873 - 0
93.924 Ryan White Hiv/aids Dental Reimbursement and Community Based Dental Partnership Grants $1,715 - 0
93.516 Affordable Care Act (aca) Public Health Training Centers Program $1,536 - 0
81.105 National Industrial Competitiveness Through Energy, Environment, and Economics $1,287 - 0
10.557 Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children $1,000 - 0
93.310 Trans-Nih Research Support $590 - 0
10.168 Farmers' Market and Local Food Promotion Program $585 - 0
93.U00 Various $497 - 0
93.758 Preventive Health and Health Services Block Grant Funded Solely with Prevention and Public Health Funds (pphf) $237 - 0
11.427 Fisheries Development and Utilization Research and Development Grants and Cooperative Agreements Program $218 - 0
10.025 Plant and Animal Disease, Pest Control, and Animal Care $208 - 0
10.960 Technical Agricultural Assistance $139 - 0
93.242 Mental Health Research Grants $139 - 0
93.747 Elder Abuse Prevention Interventions Program $134 - 0
20.215 Highway Training and Education $130 - 0
93.270 Adult Viral Hepatitis Prevention and Control $118 - 0
17.282 Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (taaccct) Grants $18 - 0
10.202 Cooperative Forestry Research $7 - 0
93.059 Training in General, Pediatric, and Public Health Dentistry $-2 - 0
11.473 Office for Coastal Management $-3 - 0
93.914 Hiv Emergency Relief Project Grants $-30 - 0
93.632 University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research, and Service $-32 - 0
93.846 Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Research $-68 - 0
93.940 Hiv Prevention Activities_health Department Based $-68 - 0
93.767 Children's Health Insurance Program $-72 - 0
93.247 Advanced Nursing Education Grant Program $-86 - 0
17.502 Occupational Safety and Health_susan Harwood Training Grants $-106 - 0
93.855 Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research $-230 - 0
97.032 Crisis Counseling $-248 - 0
16.575 Crime Victim Assistance $-525 - 0
12.104 Flood Plain Management Services $-688 - 0
93.226 Research on Healthcare Costs, Quality and Outcomes $-1,300 - 0
10.203 Payments to Agricultural Experiment Stations Under the Hatch Act $-1,341 - 0
93.239 Policy Research and Evaluation Grants $-1,689 - 0
93.351 Research Infrastructure Programs $-2,252 - 0
97.061 Centers for Homeland Security $-2,358 - 0
11.802 Minority Business Resource Development $-4,223 - 0
93.847 Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research $-5,402 - 0
17.720 Disability Employment Policy Development $-7,063 - 0
97.104 Homeland Security-Related Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (hs Stem) Career Development Program $-11,074 - 0
93.941 Hiv Demonstration, Research, Public and Professional Education Projects $-17,659 - 0
17.U00 Various $-18,839 - 0
93.839 Blood Diseases and Resources Research $-18,917 - 0
84.129 Rehabilitation Long-Term Training $-23,440 - 0
93.262 Occupational Safety and Health Program $-30,267 - 0
93.879 Medical Library Assistance $-44,284 - 0
93.859 Biomedical Research and Research Training $-44,481 - 0

Contacts

Name Title Type
M1LVPE5GLSD9 Michael Gower Auditee
8489324300 Shelly Masi Auditor
No contacts on file

Notes to SEFA

Title: (1) Basis of Presentation Accounting Policies: The purpose of the schedule of expenditures of Federal awards (the Schedule) is to present a summary of those activities of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (the University) for the year ended June 30, 2023, which have been funded by the U.S. Government (Federal awards). For purposes of the Schedule, Federal awards include all Federal assistance and entered into directly between the University and the Federal Government and sub awards from non Federal organizations made under Federally sponsored agreements. The information in this schedule is presented in accordance with the requirements of Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance). Therefore, some amounts presented in this schedule may differ from amounts presented in, or used in the preparation of, the 2023 basic financial statements. Because the Schedule presents only a selected portion of the activities of the University, it is not intended to and does not present either the financial position, changes in financial position, or cash flows of the University. The accounting principles followed by the University in each of these areas and used in preparing the accompanying schedule are as follows: • Student Financial Aid – Disbursements are recognized on the accrual basis of accounting for awards made to students and for allowable administrative expenses of running such programs. • Awards other than Student Financial Aid – Disbursements (expenditures) for direct costs are recognized as incurred using the accrual method of accounting and the cost accounting principles contained in the Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance). Under those cost principles, certain types of expenditures are not allowable or are limited as to reimbursement. Moreover, expenditures include a portion of costs associated with general University activities which are allocated to Federal expenditures under negotiated formulas commonly referred to as facilities and administrative (F&A) costs rates. F&A costs applicable to these cost recoveries are classified as unrestricted expenses in the statements of revenues, expenses, and changes in net position. Credit disbursement amounts typically result from grant or contract closing adjustments or transfers. De Minimis Rate Used: N Rate Explanation: The University has not elected to use the 10‑percent de minimis indirect cost rate allowed under the Uniform Guidance. The purpose of the schedule of expenditures of Federal awards (the Schedule) is to present a summary of those activities of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (the University) for the year ended June 30, 2023, which have been funded by the U.S. Government (Federal awards). For purposes of the Schedule, Federal awards include all Federal assistance and entered into directly between the University and the Federal Government and sub awards from non Federal organizations made under Federally sponsored agreements. The information in this schedule is presented in accordance with the requirements of Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance). Therefore, some amounts presented in this schedule may differ from amounts presented in, or used in the preparation of, the 2023 basic financial statements. Because the Schedule presents only a selected portion of the activities of the University, it is not intended to and does not present either the financial position, changes in financial position, or cash flows of the University. The accounting principles followed by the University in each of these areas and used in preparing the accompanying schedule are as follows: • Student Financial Aid – Disbursements are recognized on the accrual basis of accounting for awards made to students and for allowable administrative expenses of running such programs. • Awards other than Student Financial Aid – Disbursements (expenditures) for direct costs are recognized as incurred using the accrual method of accounting and the cost accounting principles contained in the Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance). Under those cost principles, certain types of expenditures are not allowable or are limited as to reimbursement. Moreover, expenditures include a portion of costs associated with general University activities which are allocated to Federal expenditures under negotiated formulas commonly referred to as facilities and administrative (F&A) costs rates. F&A costs applicable to these cost recoveries are classified as unrestricted expenses in the statements of revenues, expenses, and changes in net position. Credit disbursement amounts typically result from grant or contract closing adjustments or transfers.
Title: (2) Indirect Cost Rate Accounting Policies: The purpose of the schedule of expenditures of Federal awards (the Schedule) is to present a summary of those activities of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (the University) for the year ended June 30, 2023, which have been funded by the U.S. Government (Federal awards). For purposes of the Schedule, Federal awards include all Federal assistance and entered into directly between the University and the Federal Government and sub awards from non Federal organizations made under Federally sponsored agreements. The information in this schedule is presented in accordance with the requirements of Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance). Therefore, some amounts presented in this schedule may differ from amounts presented in, or used in the preparation of, the 2023 basic financial statements. Because the Schedule presents only a selected portion of the activities of the University, it is not intended to and does not present either the financial position, changes in financial position, or cash flows of the University. The accounting principles followed by the University in each of these areas and used in preparing the accompanying schedule are as follows: • Student Financial Aid – Disbursements are recognized on the accrual basis of accounting for awards made to students and for allowable administrative expenses of running such programs. • Awards other than Student Financial Aid – Disbursements (expenditures) for direct costs are recognized as incurred using the accrual method of accounting and the cost accounting principles contained in the Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance). Under those cost principles, certain types of expenditures are not allowable or are limited as to reimbursement. Moreover, expenditures include a portion of costs associated with general University activities which are allocated to Federal expenditures under negotiated formulas commonly referred to as facilities and administrative (F&A) costs rates. F&A costs applicable to these cost recoveries are classified as unrestricted expenses in the statements of revenues, expenses, and changes in net position. Credit disbursement amounts typically result from grant or contract closing adjustments or transfers. De Minimis Rate Used: N Rate Explanation: The University has not elected to use the 10‑percent de minimis indirect cost rate allowed under the Uniform Guidance. The University has not elected to use the 10 percent de minimis indirect cost rate allowed under the Uniform Guidance.
Title: (3) Federal Direct Student Loan Program Accounting Policies: The purpose of the schedule of expenditures of Federal awards (the Schedule) is to present a summary of those activities of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (the University) for the year ended June 30, 2023, which have been funded by the U.S. Government (Federal awards). For purposes of the Schedule, Federal awards include all Federal assistance and entered into directly between the University and the Federal Government and sub awards from non Federal organizations made under Federally sponsored agreements. The information in this schedule is presented in accordance with the requirements of Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance). Therefore, some amounts presented in this schedule may differ from amounts presented in, or used in the preparation of, the 2023 basic financial statements. Because the Schedule presents only a selected portion of the activities of the University, it is not intended to and does not present either the financial position, changes in financial position, or cash flows of the University. The accounting principles followed by the University in each of these areas and used in preparing the accompanying schedule are as follows: • Student Financial Aid – Disbursements are recognized on the accrual basis of accounting for awards made to students and for allowable administrative expenses of running such programs. • Awards other than Student Financial Aid – Disbursements (expenditures) for direct costs are recognized as incurred using the accrual method of accounting and the cost accounting principles contained in the Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance). Under those cost principles, certain types of expenditures are not allowable or are limited as to reimbursement. Moreover, expenditures include a portion of costs associated with general University activities which are allocated to Federal expenditures under negotiated formulas commonly referred to as facilities and administrative (F&A) costs rates. F&A costs applicable to these cost recoveries are classified as unrestricted expenses in the statements of revenues, expenses, and changes in net position. Credit disbursement amounts typically result from grant or contract closing adjustments or transfers. De Minimis Rate Used: N Rate Explanation: The University has not elected to use the 10‑percent de minimis indirect cost rate allowed under the Uniform Guidance. The University is responsible only for the performance of certain administrative duties with respect to the Federal Direct Student Loan Program and, accordingly, these loans are not included in the University’s basic financial statements. It is not practical to determine the balance of loans outstanding to students of the University under this program as of June 30, 2023.
Title: (4) Federal Perkins Loan Program and Nursing Student Loan Program Accounting Policies: The purpose of the schedule of expenditures of Federal awards (the Schedule) is to present a summary of those activities of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (the University) for the year ended June 30, 2023, which have been funded by the U.S. Government (Federal awards). For purposes of the Schedule, Federal awards include all Federal assistance and entered into directly between the University and the Federal Government and sub awards from non Federal organizations made under Federally sponsored agreements. The information in this schedule is presented in accordance with the requirements of Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance). Therefore, some amounts presented in this schedule may differ from amounts presented in, or used in the preparation of, the 2023 basic financial statements. Because the Schedule presents only a selected portion of the activities of the University, it is not intended to and does not present either the financial position, changes in financial position, or cash flows of the University. The accounting principles followed by the University in each of these areas and used in preparing the accompanying schedule are as follows: • Student Financial Aid – Disbursements are recognized on the accrual basis of accounting for awards made to students and for allowable administrative expenses of running such programs. • Awards other than Student Financial Aid – Disbursements (expenditures) for direct costs are recognized as incurred using the accrual method of accounting and the cost accounting principles contained in the Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance). Under those cost principles, certain types of expenditures are not allowable or are limited as to reimbursement. Moreover, expenditures include a portion of costs associated with general University activities which are allocated to Federal expenditures under negotiated formulas commonly referred to as facilities and administrative (F&A) costs rates. F&A costs applicable to these cost recoveries are classified as unrestricted expenses in the statements of revenues, expenses, and changes in net position. Credit disbursement amounts typically result from grant or contract closing adjustments or transfers. De Minimis Rate Used: N Rate Explanation: The University has not elected to use the 10‑percent de minimis indirect cost rate allowed under the Uniform Guidance. The balance of loans outstanding under the Federal Perkins Loan Program and Nursing Student Loan Program at June 30, 2023 were as follows:

Finding Details

Student Financial Assistance Cluster: U.S. Department of Education Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (ALN 84.007) Federal Work-Study Program (ALN 84.033) Federal Perkins Loans (ALN 84.038) Federal Pell Grant Program (ALN 84.063) Federal Direct Student Loans (ALN 84.268) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), DHHS Health Resources and Services Administration Nurse Faculty Loan Program (ALN 93.264) Scholarships for Health Professions Students from Disadvantaged Backgrounds (ALN 93.925) Federal Grant Numbers: E-P007A132602 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-P033A132602 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-P038A132602 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-P063P130272 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), P268K130272 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-01HP28821-02-02, E36HP26092, E36HP25751, E26HP25748, E11HP27284 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), 1T08HP393200100 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), 5 T08HP39320-03-00 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023) Statistically valid sample: No and it was not intended to be. Repeat finding: Not a repeat finding. Finding Type: Material weakness Criteria: In accordance with Federal requirements, the University shall maintain internal controls over Federal programs designed to provide reasonable assurance that transactions are executed in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award that could have a direct and material effect on a Federal program. During fiscal year 2023, the University implemented a new system called Oracle Student Financial Planning (OSFP) which is used to package the students’ financial aid. The system performs the following functions: • Determines eligibility of students using various inputs, including information obtained from the Federal Student Aid Record and student enrollment and demographic information. This information is also used to calculate the cost of attendance, calculated need and the federal award amounts. • Disburses student financial assistance to students. • Reports disbursement information to the Common Origination and Disbursement system. The internal controls over these functions are considered automated controls for the applicable compliance requirements. Condition and Context: In order to gain comfort over the automated application controls, we tested the applicable information technology general controls particularly in the areas of logical access and program changes. During our testwork, it was noted that the University’s standard policies and procedures to monitor appropriate user access and program changes were not followed. Related to user access, it was noted that there are thirty-five users assigned to the role System Administrator. With this level of access users have the capability to change configuration, develop scripts and deploy changes. Additionally, we noted that some of the users develop and deploy code indicating there is no segregation of duties between the developer and the implementer. Related to program changes, it was noted that while changes to OSFP are documented in a project tracking software or a spreadsheet, they are not consistently documented as to which code is deployed to OSFP production, whether the developed code is tested and approved, and who deployed the code. Additionally, any changes that were tracked, were only maintained for 6 months. Cause: The system was new in fiscal year 2023 and the University’s standard policies and procedures were not followed for the system during the fiscal year. Effect: As the general information technology controls over the OSFP system were determined to be ineffective, the related downstream key application controls could not be relied upon or tested. Such key application controls include: calculation of a student’s need, calculation and application of cost of attendance, determination of a student’s eligibility to receive federal and state awards and calculation of awards based on a student’s need and cost of attendance. Additionally, there were no manual controls over these key compliance areas to mitigate the inability to rely upon the application controls. Questioned Costs: No questioned costs were noted as a result of the audit procedures performed as the finding was related only to internal controls and not to non-compliance. Recommendation: We recommend that the University implement all standard policies and procedures for general IT controls for this system, including those related to logical access, program changes and the retention of documentation of program changes to ensure an effective general information technology control environment. Views of Responsible Official: Management agrees with the finding. Management has documented and implemented system release management practices for the OSFP system. All change requests, updates and approvals for the OSFP system will be tracked in a project tracking software. A dedicated OSFP administrator was onboarded, to segregate duties within the technical team, with the capability of deploying changes to production. A new access role was also implemented which will limit some of the permissions, and the majority of the thirty-five users were moved to this more limited role. Finally, a recertification process will be developed and a recertification will be completed annually for the OSFP system.
Student Financial Assistance Cluster: U.S. Department of Education Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (ALN 84.007) Federal Work-Study Program (ALN 84.033) Federal Perkins Loans (ALN 84.038) Federal Pell Grant Program (ALN 84.063) Federal Direct Student Loans (ALN 84.268) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), DHHS Health Resources and Services Administration Nurse Faculty Loan Program (ALN 93.264) Scholarships for Health Professions Students from Disadvantaged Backgrounds (ALN 93.925) Federal Grant Numbers: E-P007A132602 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-P033A132602 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-P038A132602 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-P063P130272 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), P268K130272 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-01HP28821-02-02, E36HP26092, E36HP25751, E26HP25748, E11HP27284 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), 1T08HP393200100 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), 5 T08HP39320-03-00 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023) Statistically valid sample: No and it was not intended to be. Repeat finding: Not a repeat finding. Finding Type: Material weakness Criteria: In accordance with Federal requirements, the University shall maintain internal controls over Federal programs designed to provide reasonable assurance that transactions are executed in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award that could have a direct and material effect on a Federal program. During fiscal year 2023, the University implemented a new system called Oracle Student Financial Planning (OSFP) which is used to package the students’ financial aid. The system performs the following functions: • Determines eligibility of students using various inputs, including information obtained from the Federal Student Aid Record and student enrollment and demographic information. This information is also used to calculate the cost of attendance, calculated need and the federal award amounts. • Disburses student financial assistance to students. • Reports disbursement information to the Common Origination and Disbursement system. The internal controls over these functions are considered automated controls for the applicable compliance requirements. Condition and Context: In order to gain comfort over the automated application controls, we tested the applicable information technology general controls particularly in the areas of logical access and program changes. During our testwork, it was noted that the University’s standard policies and procedures to monitor appropriate user access and program changes were not followed. Related to user access, it was noted that there are thirty-five users assigned to the role System Administrator. With this level of access users have the capability to change configuration, develop scripts and deploy changes. Additionally, we noted that some of the users develop and deploy code indicating there is no segregation of duties between the developer and the implementer. Related to program changes, it was noted that while changes to OSFP are documented in a project tracking software or a spreadsheet, they are not consistently documented as to which code is deployed to OSFP production, whether the developed code is tested and approved, and who deployed the code. Additionally, any changes that were tracked, were only maintained for 6 months. Cause: The system was new in fiscal year 2023 and the University’s standard policies and procedures were not followed for the system during the fiscal year. Effect: As the general information technology controls over the OSFP system were determined to be ineffective, the related downstream key application controls could not be relied upon or tested. Such key application controls include: calculation of a student’s need, calculation and application of cost of attendance, determination of a student’s eligibility to receive federal and state awards and calculation of awards based on a student’s need and cost of attendance. Additionally, there were no manual controls over these key compliance areas to mitigate the inability to rely upon the application controls. Questioned Costs: No questioned costs were noted as a result of the audit procedures performed as the finding was related only to internal controls and not to non-compliance. Recommendation: We recommend that the University implement all standard policies and procedures for general IT controls for this system, including those related to logical access, program changes and the retention of documentation of program changes to ensure an effective general information technology control environment. Views of Responsible Official: Management agrees with the finding. Management has documented and implemented system release management practices for the OSFP system. All change requests, updates and approvals for the OSFP system will be tracked in a project tracking software. A dedicated OSFP administrator was onboarded, to segregate duties within the technical team, with the capability of deploying changes to production. A new access role was also implemented which will limit some of the permissions, and the majority of the thirty-five users were moved to this more limited role. Finally, a recertification process will be developed and a recertification will be completed annually for the OSFP system.
Student Financial Assistance Cluster: U.S. Department of Education Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (ALN 84.007) Federal Work-Study Program (ALN 84.033) Federal Perkins Loans (ALN 84.038) Federal Pell Grant Program (ALN 84.063) Federal Direct Student Loans (ALN 84.268) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), DHHS Health Resources and Services Administration Nurse Faculty Loan Program (ALN 93.264) Scholarships for Health Professions Students from Disadvantaged Backgrounds (ALN 93.925) Federal Grant Numbers: E-P007A132602 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-P033A132602 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-P038A132602 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-P063P130272 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), P268K130272 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-01HP28821-02-02, E36HP26092, E36HP25751, E26HP25748, E11HP27284 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), 1T08HP393200100 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), 5 T08HP39320-03-00 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023) Statistically valid sample: No and it was not intended to be. Repeat finding: Not a repeat finding. Finding Type: Material weakness Criteria: In accordance with Federal requirements, the University shall maintain internal controls over Federal programs designed to provide reasonable assurance that transactions are executed in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award that could have a direct and material effect on a Federal program. During fiscal year 2023, the University implemented a new system called Oracle Student Financial Planning (OSFP) which is used to package the students’ financial aid. The system performs the following functions: • Determines eligibility of students using various inputs, including information obtained from the Federal Student Aid Record and student enrollment and demographic information. This information is also used to calculate the cost of attendance, calculated need and the federal award amounts. • Disburses student financial assistance to students. • Reports disbursement information to the Common Origination and Disbursement system. The internal controls over these functions are considered automated controls for the applicable compliance requirements. Condition and Context: In order to gain comfort over the automated application controls, we tested the applicable information technology general controls particularly in the areas of logical access and program changes. During our testwork, it was noted that the University’s standard policies and procedures to monitor appropriate user access and program changes were not followed. Related to user access, it was noted that there are thirty-five users assigned to the role System Administrator. With this level of access users have the capability to change configuration, develop scripts and deploy changes. Additionally, we noted that some of the users develop and deploy code indicating there is no segregation of duties between the developer and the implementer. Related to program changes, it was noted that while changes to OSFP are documented in a project tracking software or a spreadsheet, they are not consistently documented as to which code is deployed to OSFP production, whether the developed code is tested and approved, and who deployed the code. Additionally, any changes that were tracked, were only maintained for 6 months. Cause: The system was new in fiscal year 2023 and the University’s standard policies and procedures were not followed for the system during the fiscal year. Effect: As the general information technology controls over the OSFP system were determined to be ineffective, the related downstream key application controls could not be relied upon or tested. Such key application controls include: calculation of a student’s need, calculation and application of cost of attendance, determination of a student’s eligibility to receive federal and state awards and calculation of awards based on a student’s need and cost of attendance. Additionally, there were no manual controls over these key compliance areas to mitigate the inability to rely upon the application controls. Questioned Costs: No questioned costs were noted as a result of the audit procedures performed as the finding was related only to internal controls and not to non-compliance. Recommendation: We recommend that the University implement all standard policies and procedures for general IT controls for this system, including those related to logical access, program changes and the retention of documentation of program changes to ensure an effective general information technology control environment. Views of Responsible Official: Management agrees with the finding. Management has documented and implemented system release management practices for the OSFP system. All change requests, updates and approvals for the OSFP system will be tracked in a project tracking software. A dedicated OSFP administrator was onboarded, to segregate duties within the technical team, with the capability of deploying changes to production. A new access role was also implemented which will limit some of the permissions, and the majority of the thirty-five users were moved to this more limited role. Finally, a recertification process will be developed and a recertification will be completed annually for the OSFP system.
Student Financial Assistance Cluster: U.S. Department of Education Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (ALN 84.007) Federal Work-Study Program (ALN 84.033) Federal Perkins Loans (ALN 84.038) Federal Pell Grant Program (ALN 84.063) Federal Direct Student Loans (ALN 84.268) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), DHHS Health Resources and Services Administration Nurse Faculty Loan Program (ALN 93.264) Scholarships for Health Professions Students from Disadvantaged Backgrounds (ALN 93.925) Federal Grant Numbers: E-P007A132602 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-P033A132602 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-P038A132602 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-P063P130272 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), P268K130272 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-01HP28821-02-02, E36HP26092, E36HP25751, E26HP25748, E11HP27284 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), 1T08HP393200100 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), 5 T08HP39320-03-00 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023) Statistically valid sample: No and it was not intended to be. Repeat finding: Not a repeat finding. Finding Type: Material weakness Criteria: In accordance with Federal requirements, the University shall maintain internal controls over Federal programs designed to provide reasonable assurance that transactions are executed in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award that could have a direct and material effect on a Federal program. During fiscal year 2023, the University implemented a new system called Oracle Student Financial Planning (OSFP) which is used to package the students’ financial aid. The system performs the following functions: • Determines eligibility of students using various inputs, including information obtained from the Federal Student Aid Record and student enrollment and demographic information. This information is also used to calculate the cost of attendance, calculated need and the federal award amounts. • Disburses student financial assistance to students. • Reports disbursement information to the Common Origination and Disbursement system. The internal controls over these functions are considered automated controls for the applicable compliance requirements. Condition and Context: In order to gain comfort over the automated application controls, we tested the applicable information technology general controls particularly in the areas of logical access and program changes. During our testwork, it was noted that the University’s standard policies and procedures to monitor appropriate user access and program changes were not followed. Related to user access, it was noted that there are thirty-five users assigned to the role System Administrator. With this level of access users have the capability to change configuration, develop scripts and deploy changes. Additionally, we noted that some of the users develop and deploy code indicating there is no segregation of duties between the developer and the implementer. Related to program changes, it was noted that while changes to OSFP are documented in a project tracking software or a spreadsheet, they are not consistently documented as to which code is deployed to OSFP production, whether the developed code is tested and approved, and who deployed the code. Additionally, any changes that were tracked, were only maintained for 6 months. Cause: The system was new in fiscal year 2023 and the University’s standard policies and procedures were not followed for the system during the fiscal year. Effect: As the general information technology controls over the OSFP system were determined to be ineffective, the related downstream key application controls could not be relied upon or tested. Such key application controls include: calculation of a student’s need, calculation and application of cost of attendance, determination of a student’s eligibility to receive federal and state awards and calculation of awards based on a student’s need and cost of attendance. Additionally, there were no manual controls over these key compliance areas to mitigate the inability to rely upon the application controls. Questioned Costs: No questioned costs were noted as a result of the audit procedures performed as the finding was related only to internal controls and not to non-compliance. Recommendation: We recommend that the University implement all standard policies and procedures for general IT controls for this system, including those related to logical access, program changes and the retention of documentation of program changes to ensure an effective general information technology control environment. Views of Responsible Official: Management agrees with the finding. Management has documented and implemented system release management practices for the OSFP system. All change requests, updates and approvals for the OSFP system will be tracked in a project tracking software. A dedicated OSFP administrator was onboarded, to segregate duties within the technical team, with the capability of deploying changes to production. A new access role was also implemented which will limit some of the permissions, and the majority of the thirty-five users were moved to this more limited role. Finally, a recertification process will be developed and a recertification will be completed annually for the OSFP system.
Student Financial Assistance Cluster: U.S. Department of Education Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (ALN 84.007) Federal Work-Study Program (ALN 84.033) Federal Perkins Loans (ALN 84.038) Federal Pell Grant Program (ALN 84.063) Federal Direct Student Loans (ALN 84.268) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), DHHS Health Resources and Services Administration Nurse Faculty Loan Program (ALN 93.264) Scholarships for Health Professions Students from Disadvantaged Backgrounds (ALN 93.925) Federal Grant Numbers: E-P007A132602 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-P033A132602 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-P038A132602 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-P063P130272 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), P268K130272 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-01HP28821-02-02, E36HP26092, E36HP25751, E26HP25748, E11HP27284 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), 1T08HP393200100 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), 5 T08HP39320-03-00 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023) Statistically valid sample: No and it was not intended to be. Repeat finding: Not a repeat finding. Finding Type: Material weakness Criteria: In accordance with Federal requirements, the University shall maintain internal controls over Federal programs designed to provide reasonable assurance that transactions are executed in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award that could have a direct and material effect on a Federal program. During fiscal year 2023, the University implemented a new system called Oracle Student Financial Planning (OSFP) which is used to package the students’ financial aid. The system performs the following functions: • Determines eligibility of students using various inputs, including information obtained from the Federal Student Aid Record and student enrollment and demographic information. This information is also used to calculate the cost of attendance, calculated need and the federal award amounts. • Disburses student financial assistance to students. • Reports disbursement information to the Common Origination and Disbursement system. The internal controls over these functions are considered automated controls for the applicable compliance requirements. Condition and Context: In order to gain comfort over the automated application controls, we tested the applicable information technology general controls particularly in the areas of logical access and program changes. During our testwork, it was noted that the University’s standard policies and procedures to monitor appropriate user access and program changes were not followed. Related to user access, it was noted that there are thirty-five users assigned to the role System Administrator. With this level of access users have the capability to change configuration, develop scripts and deploy changes. Additionally, we noted that some of the users develop and deploy code indicating there is no segregation of duties between the developer and the implementer. Related to program changes, it was noted that while changes to OSFP are documented in a project tracking software or a spreadsheet, they are not consistently documented as to which code is deployed to OSFP production, whether the developed code is tested and approved, and who deployed the code. Additionally, any changes that were tracked, were only maintained for 6 months. Cause: The system was new in fiscal year 2023 and the University’s standard policies and procedures were not followed for the system during the fiscal year. Effect: As the general information technology controls over the OSFP system were determined to be ineffective, the related downstream key application controls could not be relied upon or tested. Such key application controls include: calculation of a student’s need, calculation and application of cost of attendance, determination of a student’s eligibility to receive federal and state awards and calculation of awards based on a student’s need and cost of attendance. Additionally, there were no manual controls over these key compliance areas to mitigate the inability to rely upon the application controls. Questioned Costs: No questioned costs were noted as a result of the audit procedures performed as the finding was related only to internal controls and not to non-compliance. Recommendation: We recommend that the University implement all standard policies and procedures for general IT controls for this system, including those related to logical access, program changes and the retention of documentation of program changes to ensure an effective general information technology control environment. Views of Responsible Official: Management agrees with the finding. Management has documented and implemented system release management practices for the OSFP system. All change requests, updates and approvals for the OSFP system will be tracked in a project tracking software. A dedicated OSFP administrator was onboarded, to segregate duties within the technical team, with the capability of deploying changes to production. A new access role was also implemented which will limit some of the permissions, and the majority of the thirty-five users were moved to this more limited role. Finally, a recertification process will be developed and a recertification will be completed annually for the OSFP system.
Student Financial Assistance Cluster: U.S. Department of Education Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (ALN 84.007) Federal Work-Study Program (ALN 84.033) Federal Perkins Loans (ALN 84.038) Federal Pell Grant Program (ALN 84.063) Federal Direct Student Loans (ALN 84.268) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), DHHS Health Resources and Services Administration Nurse Faculty Loan Program (ALN 93.264) Scholarships for Health Professions Students from Disadvantaged Backgrounds (ALN 93.925) Federal Grant Numbers: E-P007A132602 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-P033A132602 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-P038A132602 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-P063P130272 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), P268K130272 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-01HP28821-02-02, E36HP26092, E36HP25751, E26HP25748, E11HP27284 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), 1T08HP393200100 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), 5 T08HP39320-03-00 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023) Statistically valid sample: No and it was not intended to be. Repeat finding: Not a repeat finding. Finding Type: Material weakness Criteria: In accordance with Federal requirements, the University shall maintain internal controls over Federal programs designed to provide reasonable assurance that transactions are executed in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award that could have a direct and material effect on a Federal program. During fiscal year 2023, the University implemented a new system called Oracle Student Financial Planning (OSFP) which is used to package the students’ financial aid. The system performs the following functions: • Determines eligibility of students using various inputs, including information obtained from the Federal Student Aid Record and student enrollment and demographic information. This information is also used to calculate the cost of attendance, calculated need and the federal award amounts. • Disburses student financial assistance to students. • Reports disbursement information to the Common Origination and Disbursement system. The internal controls over these functions are considered automated controls for the applicable compliance requirements. Condition and Context: In order to gain comfort over the automated application controls, we tested the applicable information technology general controls particularly in the areas of logical access and program changes. During our testwork, it was noted that the University’s standard policies and procedures to monitor appropriate user access and program changes were not followed. Related to user access, it was noted that there are thirty-five users assigned to the role System Administrator. With this level of access users have the capability to change configuration, develop scripts and deploy changes. Additionally, we noted that some of the users develop and deploy code indicating there is no segregation of duties between the developer and the implementer. Related to program changes, it was noted that while changes to OSFP are documented in a project tracking software or a spreadsheet, they are not consistently documented as to which code is deployed to OSFP production, whether the developed code is tested and approved, and who deployed the code. Additionally, any changes that were tracked, were only maintained for 6 months. Cause: The system was new in fiscal year 2023 and the University’s standard policies and procedures were not followed for the system during the fiscal year. Effect: As the general information technology controls over the OSFP system were determined to be ineffective, the related downstream key application controls could not be relied upon or tested. Such key application controls include: calculation of a student’s need, calculation and application of cost of attendance, determination of a student’s eligibility to receive federal and state awards and calculation of awards based on a student’s need and cost of attendance. Additionally, there were no manual controls over these key compliance areas to mitigate the inability to rely upon the application controls. Questioned Costs: No questioned costs were noted as a result of the audit procedures performed as the finding was related only to internal controls and not to non-compliance. Recommendation: We recommend that the University implement all standard policies and procedures for general IT controls for this system, including those related to logical access, program changes and the retention of documentation of program changes to ensure an effective general information technology control environment. Views of Responsible Official: Management agrees with the finding. Management has documented and implemented system release management practices for the OSFP system. All change requests, updates and approvals for the OSFP system will be tracked in a project tracking software. A dedicated OSFP administrator was onboarded, to segregate duties within the technical team, with the capability of deploying changes to production. A new access role was also implemented which will limit some of the permissions, and the majority of the thirty-five users were moved to this more limited role. Finally, a recertification process will be developed and a recertification will be completed annually for the OSFP system.
Student Financial Assistance Cluster: U.S. Department of Education Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (ALN 84.007) Federal Work-Study Program (ALN 84.033) Federal Perkins Loans (ALN 84.038) Federal Pell Grant Program (ALN 84.063) Federal Direct Student Loans (ALN 84.268) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), DHHS Health Resources and Services Administration Nurse Faculty Loan Program (ALN 93.264) Scholarships for Health Professions Students from Disadvantaged Backgrounds (ALN 93.925) Federal Grant Numbers: E-P007A132602 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-P033A132602 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-P038A132602 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-P063P130272 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), P268K130272 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-01HP28821-02-02, E36HP26092, E36HP25751, E26HP25748, E11HP27284 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), 1T08HP393200100 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), 5 T08HP39320-03-00 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023) Statistically valid sample: No and it was not intended to be. Repeat finding: Not a repeat finding. Finding Type: Material weakness Criteria: In accordance with Federal requirements, the University shall maintain internal controls over Federal programs designed to provide reasonable assurance that transactions are executed in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award that could have a direct and material effect on a Federal program. During fiscal year 2023, the University implemented a new system called Oracle Student Financial Planning (OSFP) which is used to package the students’ financial aid. The system performs the following functions: • Determines eligibility of students using various inputs, including information obtained from the Federal Student Aid Record and student enrollment and demographic information. This information is also used to calculate the cost of attendance, calculated need and the federal award amounts. • Disburses student financial assistance to students. • Reports disbursement information to the Common Origination and Disbursement system. The internal controls over these functions are considered automated controls for the applicable compliance requirements. Condition and Context: In order to gain comfort over the automated application controls, we tested the applicable information technology general controls particularly in the areas of logical access and program changes. During our testwork, it was noted that the University’s standard policies and procedures to monitor appropriate user access and program changes were not followed. Related to user access, it was noted that there are thirty-five users assigned to the role System Administrator. With this level of access users have the capability to change configuration, develop scripts and deploy changes. Additionally, we noted that some of the users develop and deploy code indicating there is no segregation of duties between the developer and the implementer. Related to program changes, it was noted that while changes to OSFP are documented in a project tracking software or a spreadsheet, they are not consistently documented as to which code is deployed to OSFP production, whether the developed code is tested and approved, and who deployed the code. Additionally, any changes that were tracked, were only maintained for 6 months. Cause: The system was new in fiscal year 2023 and the University’s standard policies and procedures were not followed for the system during the fiscal year. Effect: As the general information technology controls over the OSFP system were determined to be ineffective, the related downstream key application controls could not be relied upon or tested. Such key application controls include: calculation of a student’s need, calculation and application of cost of attendance, determination of a student’s eligibility to receive federal and state awards and calculation of awards based on a student’s need and cost of attendance. Additionally, there were no manual controls over these key compliance areas to mitigate the inability to rely upon the application controls. Questioned Costs: No questioned costs were noted as a result of the audit procedures performed as the finding was related only to internal controls and not to non-compliance. Recommendation: We recommend that the University implement all standard policies and procedures for general IT controls for this system, including those related to logical access, program changes and the retention of documentation of program changes to ensure an effective general information technology control environment. Views of Responsible Official: Management agrees with the finding. Management has documented and implemented system release management practices for the OSFP system. All change requests, updates and approvals for the OSFP system will be tracked in a project tracking software. A dedicated OSFP administrator was onboarded, to segregate duties within the technical team, with the capability of deploying changes to production. A new access role was also implemented which will limit some of the permissions, and the majority of the thirty-five users were moved to this more limited role. Finally, a recertification process will be developed and a recertification will be completed annually for the OSFP system.
Student Financial Assistance Cluster: U.S. Department of Education Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (ALN 84.007) Federal Work-Study Program (ALN 84.033) Federal Perkins Loans (ALN 84.038) Federal Pell Grant Program (ALN 84.063) Federal Direct Student Loans (ALN 84.268) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), DHHS Health Resources and Services Administration Nurse Faculty Loan Program (ALN 93.264) Scholarships for Health Professions Students from Disadvantaged Backgrounds (ALN 93.925) Federal Grant Numbers: E-P007A132602 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-P033A132602 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-P038A132602 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-P063P130272 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), P268K130272 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-01HP28821-02-02, E36HP26092, E36HP25751, E26HP25748, E11HP27284 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), 1T08HP393200100 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), 5 T08HP39320-03-00 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023) Statistically valid sample: No and it was not intended to be. Repeat finding: Not a repeat finding. Finding Type: Material weakness Criteria: In accordance with Federal requirements, the University shall maintain internal controls over Federal programs designed to provide reasonable assurance that transactions are executed in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award that could have a direct and material effect on a Federal program. During fiscal year 2023, the University implemented a new system called Oracle Student Financial Planning (OSFP) which is used to package the students’ financial aid. The system performs the following functions: • Determines eligibility of students using various inputs, including information obtained from the Federal Student Aid Record and student enrollment and demographic information. This information is also used to calculate the cost of attendance, calculated need and the federal award amounts. • Disburses student financial assistance to students. • Reports disbursement information to the Common Origination and Disbursement system. The internal controls over these functions are considered automated controls for the applicable compliance requirements. Condition and Context: In order to gain comfort over the automated application controls, we tested the applicable information technology general controls particularly in the areas of logical access and program changes. During our testwork, it was noted that the University’s standard policies and procedures to monitor appropriate user access and program changes were not followed. Related to user access, it was noted that there are thirty-five users assigned to the role System Administrator. With this level of access users have the capability to change configuration, develop scripts and deploy changes. Additionally, we noted that some of the users develop and deploy code indicating there is no segregation of duties between the developer and the implementer. Related to program changes, it was noted that while changes to OSFP are documented in a project tracking software or a spreadsheet, they are not consistently documented as to which code is deployed to OSFP production, whether the developed code is tested and approved, and who deployed the code. Additionally, any changes that were tracked, were only maintained for 6 months. Cause: The system was new in fiscal year 2023 and the University’s standard policies and procedures were not followed for the system during the fiscal year. Effect: As the general information technology controls over the OSFP system were determined to be ineffective, the related downstream key application controls could not be relied upon or tested. Such key application controls include: calculation of a student’s need, calculation and application of cost of attendance, determination of a student’s eligibility to receive federal and state awards and calculation of awards based on a student’s need and cost of attendance. Additionally, there were no manual controls over these key compliance areas to mitigate the inability to rely upon the application controls. Questioned Costs: No questioned costs were noted as a result of the audit procedures performed as the finding was related only to internal controls and not to non-compliance. Recommendation: We recommend that the University implement all standard policies and procedures for general IT controls for this system, including those related to logical access, program changes and the retention of documentation of program changes to ensure an effective general information technology control environment. Views of Responsible Official: Management agrees with the finding. Management has documented and implemented system release management practices for the OSFP system. All change requests, updates and approvals for the OSFP system will be tracked in a project tracking software. A dedicated OSFP administrator was onboarded, to segregate duties within the technical team, with the capability of deploying changes to production. A new access role was also implemented which will limit some of the permissions, and the majority of the thirty-five users were moved to this more limited role. Finally, a recertification process will be developed and a recertification will be completed annually for the OSFP system.
2023 002 Eligibility Student Financial Assistance Cluster: U.S. Department of Education Federal Pell Grant Program (ALN 84.063) Federal Direct Student Loans (ALN 84.268) Federal Grant Numbers: E-P063P130272 (7/1/2022 - 6/30/2023), P268K130272 (7/1/2022 - 6/30/2023) Statistically Valid Sample: No, and it was not intended to be Prior Year Finding: Not a repeat finding. Finding Type: Material Weakness and Noncompliance Criteria: Calculation of Benefits Awards must be coordinated among the various programs and with other federal and nonfederal aid (need and non-need based aid) to ensure that total aid is not awarded in excess of the student’s financial need or cost of attendance (34 CFR 668.42, FWS, and FSEOG, 34 CFR 673.5 and 673.6; Direct Loan, 34 CFR 685.301). The determination of need-based SFA award amounts is based on financial need. Financial need is defined as the student’s cost of attendance (COA) minus the student’s expected family contribution (EFC) (as computed by the central processor and included on the student’s Student Aid Report (SAR)). Once a student is awarded any financial aid, to find remaining financial need one would use the following formula --COA minus EFC minus Estimated Financial Assistance (EFA) (§ 668.2) = remaining need. To avoid overpayments, need-based SFA awards cannot exceed the student’s overall financial need. Non need-based SFA awards are not limited to financial need but cannot exceed the student’s COA. To determine non need-based SFA awards (unsubsidized aid) one would use the following formula – COA minus EFA. For Title IV programs, the COA is generally the sum of the following: tuition and fees; an allowance for books, supplies, transportation, and miscellaneous personal expenses; an allowance for room and board; when applicable, allowances for costs for dependent care; costs associated with study abroad and cooperative education; costs related to disabilities; and fees charged for student loans. There are exceptions for students attending less than halftime, correspondence students, and incarcerated students. The financial aid administrator also has authority to use professional judgment to adjust the COA or alter the data elements used to calculate the EFC on a case-by-case basis to allow for special circumstances. Further, the University must establish and maintain effective internal controls over Federal programs designed to provide reasonable assurance that transactions are executed in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award that could have a direct and material effect on a Federal program. Condition and Context: We selected forty-three students for testwork who received financial aid disbursements during the year and noted the following: • Two students in our sample were awarded non-need based aid that resulted in the students being awarded in excess of their cost of attendance. After further analysis provided by the University, it was determined that a total of ninety-six students were over-awarded by $437,213. The amount is broken down as follows: fifty-six students were over-awarded and over-disbursed Federal aid totaling $263,522 which is considered a questioned cost, thirty-eight students were over-awarded and over-disbursed institutional aid totaling $165,327 and two students were over-awarded and over-disbursed private loans totaling $8,364. • The cost of attendance for one student in our sample was incorrectly calculated. The University has various cost of attendance calculations for different schools and/or programs of study. For this student’s program of study, certain cost components were doubled resulting in an inflated cost of attendance. The student selected for testwork was not awarded in excess of their correct cost of attendance. After further analysis provided by the University, it was determined that this issue impacted a total of eighty-four students (third year students had an additional 13,930 added to their cost of attendance and fourth year students had a total of $10,845 added to their cost of attendance). Of the eighty-four students, forty-two were over-awarded and over-disbursed Federal aid totaling $449,672 which is considered a questioned cost. The remaining forty-two students were not awarded in excess of their correct cost of attendance. In addition, as noted in finding 2023-001, the general information technology controls over the new Oracle Student Financial Planning (OSFP) system were determined to be ineffective and as such the related downstream key application controls could not be relied upon. Therefore, controls related to this compliance requirement could not be tested. Cause: For the two students awarded in excess of cost of attendance, the additional non-need based aid was awarded to the student and manually applied to the student’s account, which resulted in the cost of attendance to be overridden and the student to be awarded in excess of the student’s cost of attendance. For the one student who had an incorrect cost of attendance calculation, certain cost components were doubled for this program of study when entered in the system for student packaging. Effect: For the first issue noted above, fifty-six students were awarded and disbursed Federal aid in excess of their cost of attendance by $437,213. For the second issue noted above, forty-two students were awarded and disbursed Federal aid in excess of their cost of attendance by $449,672. Questioned Costs: As noted above, questioned costs for the Federal Direct Student Loans totaled $713,194. Recommendation: We recommend that the University implement controls to prevent awards to students in excess of their cost of attendance and to ensure that cost of attendance components are correcly entered into the system prior to packaging. The University should ensure that internal controls implemented are functioning as designed including related information technology controls. Views of Responsible Officials: Management agrees with the finding. The over-awards in the first issue were caused by manual intervention in student packaging when additional financial aid funds were added by staff members. In OSFP, manual awarding overrides the system edits in place to prevent over-awarding from occurring. The aid awarded should have been adjusted downward as to not exceed the total cost of attendance. The second issue was a systemic error for eighty-four students enrolled in the International Dental Program. The script used to build the cost of attendance in OSFP doubled one of the cost components in the 2022-2023 academic year.
2023 002 Eligibility Student Financial Assistance Cluster: U.S. Department of Education Federal Pell Grant Program (ALN 84.063) Federal Direct Student Loans (ALN 84.268) Federal Grant Numbers: E-P063P130272 (7/1/2022 - 6/30/2023), P268K130272 (7/1/2022 - 6/30/2023) Statistically Valid Sample: No, and it was not intended to be Prior Year Finding: Not a repeat finding. Finding Type: Material Weakness and Noncompliance Criteria: Calculation of Benefits Awards must be coordinated among the various programs and with other federal and nonfederal aid (need and non-need based aid) to ensure that total aid is not awarded in excess of the student’s financial need or cost of attendance (34 CFR 668.42, FWS, and FSEOG, 34 CFR 673.5 and 673.6; Direct Loan, 34 CFR 685.301). The determination of need-based SFA award amounts is based on financial need. Financial need is defined as the student’s cost of attendance (COA) minus the student’s expected family contribution (EFC) (as computed by the central processor and included on the student’s Student Aid Report (SAR)). Once a student is awarded any financial aid, to find remaining financial need one would use the following formula --COA minus EFC minus Estimated Financial Assistance (EFA) (§ 668.2) = remaining need. To avoid overpayments, need-based SFA awards cannot exceed the student’s overall financial need. Non need-based SFA awards are not limited to financial need but cannot exceed the student’s COA. To determine non need-based SFA awards (unsubsidized aid) one would use the following formula – COA minus EFA. For Title IV programs, the COA is generally the sum of the following: tuition and fees; an allowance for books, supplies, transportation, and miscellaneous personal expenses; an allowance for room and board; when applicable, allowances for costs for dependent care; costs associated with study abroad and cooperative education; costs related to disabilities; and fees charged for student loans. There are exceptions for students attending less than halftime, correspondence students, and incarcerated students. The financial aid administrator also has authority to use professional judgment to adjust the COA or alter the data elements used to calculate the EFC on a case-by-case basis to allow for special circumstances. Further, the University must establish and maintain effective internal controls over Federal programs designed to provide reasonable assurance that transactions are executed in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award that could have a direct and material effect on a Federal program. Condition and Context: We selected forty-three students for testwork who received financial aid disbursements during the year and noted the following: • Two students in our sample were awarded non-need based aid that resulted in the students being awarded in excess of their cost of attendance. After further analysis provided by the University, it was determined that a total of ninety-six students were over-awarded by $437,213. The amount is broken down as follows: fifty-six students were over-awarded and over-disbursed Federal aid totaling $263,522 which is considered a questioned cost, thirty-eight students were over-awarded and over-disbursed institutional aid totaling $165,327 and two students were over-awarded and over-disbursed private loans totaling $8,364. • The cost of attendance for one student in our sample was incorrectly calculated. The University has various cost of attendance calculations for different schools and/or programs of study. For this student’s program of study, certain cost components were doubled resulting in an inflated cost of attendance. The student selected for testwork was not awarded in excess of their correct cost of attendance. After further analysis provided by the University, it was determined that this issue impacted a total of eighty-four students (third year students had an additional 13,930 added to their cost of attendance and fourth year students had a total of $10,845 added to their cost of attendance). Of the eighty-four students, forty-two were over-awarded and over-disbursed Federal aid totaling $449,672 which is considered a questioned cost. The remaining forty-two students were not awarded in excess of their correct cost of attendance. In addition, as noted in finding 2023-001, the general information technology controls over the new Oracle Student Financial Planning (OSFP) system were determined to be ineffective and as such the related downstream key application controls could not be relied upon. Therefore, controls related to this compliance requirement could not be tested. Cause: For the two students awarded in excess of cost of attendance, the additional non-need based aid was awarded to the student and manually applied to the student’s account, which resulted in the cost of attendance to be overridden and the student to be awarded in excess of the student’s cost of attendance. For the one student who had an incorrect cost of attendance calculation, certain cost components were doubled for this program of study when entered in the system for student packaging. Effect: For the first issue noted above, fifty-six students were awarded and disbursed Federal aid in excess of their cost of attendance by $437,213. For the second issue noted above, forty-two students were awarded and disbursed Federal aid in excess of their cost of attendance by $449,672. Questioned Costs: As noted above, questioned costs for the Federal Direct Student Loans totaled $713,194. Recommendation: We recommend that the University implement controls to prevent awards to students in excess of their cost of attendance and to ensure that cost of attendance components are correcly entered into the system prior to packaging. The University should ensure that internal controls implemented are functioning as designed including related information technology controls. Views of Responsible Officials: Management agrees with the finding. The over-awards in the first issue were caused by manual intervention in student packaging when additional financial aid funds were added by staff members. In OSFP, manual awarding overrides the system edits in place to prevent over-awarding from occurring. The aid awarded should have been adjusted downward as to not exceed the total cost of attendance. The second issue was a systemic error for eighty-four students enrolled in the International Dental Program. The script used to build the cost of attendance in OSFP doubled one of the cost components in the 2022-2023 academic year.
2023 003 Reporting (Financial) Student Financial Assistance Cluster: U.S. Department of Education Federal Pell Grant Program (ALN 84.063) Federal Direct Student Loans (ALN 84.268) Federal Grant Numbers: E-P063P130272 (7/1/2022 - 6/30/2023), P268K130272 (7/1/2022 - 6/30/2023) Statistically Valid Sample: No, and it was not intended to be Prior Year Finding: Not a repeat finding. Finding Type: Material Weakness and Noncompliance Criteria: SFA – Title IV Programs Institutions submit Direct Loan, Pell Grant, TEACH Grant, and IASG origination records and disbursement records to the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) system. Origination records can be sent well in advance of any disbursements, as early as the institution chooses to submit them for any student the institution reasonably believes will be eligible for a payment. An institution follows up with a disbursement record for that student no earlier than (1) seven calendar days prior to the disbursement date under the Advance or Heightened Cash Monitoring 1 payment methods, or (2) the date of the disbursement under the Reimbursement or Heightened Cash Monitoring 2 Payment Method (see Federal Register, Volume 86, Number 119, June 24, 2021). The disbursement record reports the actual disbursement date and the amount of the disbursement. ED processes origination and/or disbursement records and returns acknowledgments to the institution. The acknowledgments identify the processing status of each record: Rejected, Accepted with Corrections, or Accepted. In testing the origination and disbursement data, the auditor should be most concerned with the data ED has categorized as accepted or accepted with corrections. Institutions must report student disbursement data within 15 calendar days after the institution makes a disbursement or becomes aware of the need to make an adjustment to previously reported student disbursement data or expected student disbursement data. Institutions may do this by reporting once every 15 calendar days, bi-weekly or weekly, or may set up their own system to ensure that changes are reported in a timely manner. Key items to test on origination records, if applicable, are: Social Security number, award amount, enrollment date, verification status code (when the applicant is selected for verification), transaction number, cost of attendance, and the “Academic Start Date” and “Academic End Date”. Key items to test on disbursement records are disbursement date and amount. Further, the University must establish and maintain effective internal controls over Federal programs designed to provide reasonable assurance that transactions are executed in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award that could have a direct and material effect on a Federal program. Condition and Context: During our testing of the key items on the origination records, we noted the following: • For twenty of the twenty Pell disbursements selected for testwork, the cost of attendance did not agree between University records and the COD system. • For twenty-seven out of the forty-one Direct Loan disbursements selected for testwork, the cost of attendance did not agree between University records and the COD system. • For fourteen of the twenty Pell disbursements selected for testwork, the enrollment date did not agree between University records and the COD system. • For thirty of the forty-one Direct Loan disbursements selected for testwork, the academic start date did not agree between University records and the COD system. In addition, as noted in finding 2023-001, the general information technology controls over the new Oracle Student Financial Planning (OSFP) system were determined to be ineffective and as such the related downstream key application controls could not be relied upon. Therefore, controls related to this compliance requirement could not be tested. Cause: Related to cost of attendance, the incorrect cost of attendance was sent to the COD system due to a system error that existed in the system prior to fiscal year 2024 causing the incorrect cost of attendance to be transmitted to COD. Related to academic start date for the Direct Loan transactions and enrollment date for the Pell transactions, the prior year academic start date was rolled forward for fiscal year 2023, however the first day of classes was not updated. Effect: The cost of attendance and academic start date was reported incorrectly in COD for these students. Questioned Costs: No questioned costs were noted as a result of the audit procedures performed. Recommendation: We recommend that the University ensure that the correct cost of attendance and academic start dates are reported to COD for each student. Views of Responsible Officials: Management agrees with the finding. The incorrect cost of attendance that was reported to COD was the result of a system defect which was reported to OSFP in September of 2023 when a staff member noticed a data mismatch between the University cost of attendance data and COD. OSFP corrected the defect, and the data has been correctly reported since November 23, 2023. The incorrect start date was the result of rolling over the 2021-2022 prior year dates during system start-up. In finalizing the dates for production, the start date year was properly updated but the start day was not updated correctly.
2023 003 Reporting (Financial) Student Financial Assistance Cluster: U.S. Department of Education Federal Pell Grant Program (ALN 84.063) Federal Direct Student Loans (ALN 84.268) Federal Grant Numbers: E-P063P130272 (7/1/2022 - 6/30/2023), P268K130272 (7/1/2022 - 6/30/2023) Statistically Valid Sample: No, and it was not intended to be Prior Year Finding: Not a repeat finding. Finding Type: Material Weakness and Noncompliance Criteria: SFA – Title IV Programs Institutions submit Direct Loan, Pell Grant, TEACH Grant, and IASG origination records and disbursement records to the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) system. Origination records can be sent well in advance of any disbursements, as early as the institution chooses to submit them for any student the institution reasonably believes will be eligible for a payment. An institution follows up with a disbursement record for that student no earlier than (1) seven calendar days prior to the disbursement date under the Advance or Heightened Cash Monitoring 1 payment methods, or (2) the date of the disbursement under the Reimbursement or Heightened Cash Monitoring 2 Payment Method (see Federal Register, Volume 86, Number 119, June 24, 2021). The disbursement record reports the actual disbursement date and the amount of the disbursement. ED processes origination and/or disbursement records and returns acknowledgments to the institution. The acknowledgments identify the processing status of each record: Rejected, Accepted with Corrections, or Accepted. In testing the origination and disbursement data, the auditor should be most concerned with the data ED has categorized as accepted or accepted with corrections. Institutions must report student disbursement data within 15 calendar days after the institution makes a disbursement or becomes aware of the need to make an adjustment to previously reported student disbursement data or expected student disbursement data. Institutions may do this by reporting once every 15 calendar days, bi-weekly or weekly, or may set up their own system to ensure that changes are reported in a timely manner. Key items to test on origination records, if applicable, are: Social Security number, award amount, enrollment date, verification status code (when the applicant is selected for verification), transaction number, cost of attendance, and the “Academic Start Date” and “Academic End Date”. Key items to test on disbursement records are disbursement date and amount. Further, the University must establish and maintain effective internal controls over Federal programs designed to provide reasonable assurance that transactions are executed in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award that could have a direct and material effect on a Federal program. Condition and Context: During our testing of the key items on the origination records, we noted the following: • For twenty of the twenty Pell disbursements selected for testwork, the cost of attendance did not agree between University records and the COD system. • For twenty-seven out of the forty-one Direct Loan disbursements selected for testwork, the cost of attendance did not agree between University records and the COD system. • For fourteen of the twenty Pell disbursements selected for testwork, the enrollment date did not agree between University records and the COD system. • For thirty of the forty-one Direct Loan disbursements selected for testwork, the academic start date did not agree between University records and the COD system. In addition, as noted in finding 2023-001, the general information technology controls over the new Oracle Student Financial Planning (OSFP) system were determined to be ineffective and as such the related downstream key application controls could not be relied upon. Therefore, controls related to this compliance requirement could not be tested. Cause: Related to cost of attendance, the incorrect cost of attendance was sent to the COD system due to a system error that existed in the system prior to fiscal year 2024 causing the incorrect cost of attendance to be transmitted to COD. Related to academic start date for the Direct Loan transactions and enrollment date for the Pell transactions, the prior year academic start date was rolled forward for fiscal year 2023, however the first day of classes was not updated. Effect: The cost of attendance and academic start date was reported incorrectly in COD for these students. Questioned Costs: No questioned costs were noted as a result of the audit procedures performed. Recommendation: We recommend that the University ensure that the correct cost of attendance and academic start dates are reported to COD for each student. Views of Responsible Officials: Management agrees with the finding. The incorrect cost of attendance that was reported to COD was the result of a system defect which was reported to OSFP in September of 2023 when a staff member noticed a data mismatch between the University cost of attendance data and COD. OSFP corrected the defect, and the data has been correctly reported since November 23, 2023. The incorrect start date was the result of rolling over the 2021-2022 prior year dates during system start-up. In finalizing the dates for production, the start date year was properly updated but the start day was not updated correctly.
2023 004 Special Tests (Enrollment Reporting) Student Financial Assistance Cluster: U.S. Department of Education Federal Pell Grant Program (ALN 84.063) Federal Direct Student Loans (ALN 84.268) Federal Grant Numbers: E-P063P130272 (7/1/2022 - 6/30/2023), P268K130272 (7/1/2022 - 6/30/2023) Statistically Valid Sample: No, and it was not intended to be Prior Year Finding: Not a repeat finding. Finding Type: Significant Deficiency and Noncompliance Criteria: Under the Pell grant and the Direct and Federal Family Education Loan programs, institutions are required to report enrollment information via the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) (OMB No. 1845 0035). The administration of the Title IV programs depends heavily on the accuracy and timeliness of the enrollment information reported by institutions. Institutions must review, update and certify student enrollment statuses, program information and effective dates that appear on the Enrollment Reporting Roster file or on the Enrollment Maintenance page of the NSLDS Professional Access (NSLDSFAP) website. The data on the institution’s Enrollment Reporting Roster, or Enrollment Maintenance page, is what NSLDS has as the most recently certified enrollment information. There are two categories of enrollment information; “Campus Level” and “Program Level,” both of which need to be reported accurately and have separate record types. Institutions are responsible for accurately reporting all Campus-Level Record data elements. The Department of Education (ED) considers the following data elements to be high risk: • OPEID number, enrollment effective date, enrollment status and certification date Institutions are responsible for accurately reporting all Program-Level Record data elements. The Department of Education (ED) considers the following data elements to be high risk: • OPEID number, CIP code, CIP year, credential level, published program length measurement, published program length, program begin date, program enrollment status and program enrollment effective date Institutions are responsible for timely reporting, whether they report directly or via a third-party servicer. Institutions must complete and return within 15 days the Enrollment Reporting roster file placed in their Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG) (OMB No. 1845-0002) mailboxes sent by ED via NSLDS. An institution determines how often it receives the Enrollment Reporting roster file with the default set at a minimum of every 60 days. Once received, the institution must update for changes in the data elements for the Campus Record and the Program Record identified above, and submit the changes electronically through the batch method, spreadsheet submittal, or the NSLDS website (Pell, 34 CFR 690.83(b)(2); FFEL, 34 CFR 682.610; Direct Loan, 34 CFR 685.309: Perkins 34 CFR 674.19(f)). Additionally, in accordance with Federal requirements, the University shall maintain internal controls over Federal programs designed to provide reasonable assurance that transactions are executed in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award that could have a direct and material effect on a Federal program. Condition and Context: The University utilizes the National Student Clearinghouse (the Clearinghouse) as a service provider for transmissions of its enrollment reporting changes to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS). The University receives the Enrollment Reporting Roster and updates it for changes in student status. The file is sent to the Clearinghouse who transmits the updated information to NSLDS. There were 40 students selected for testwork. For two of the forty students selected for testwork, the University did not report the student’s status change to NSLDS within 60 days as graduated to NSLDS on the Campus-Level Record. Students were reported 22 – 204 days late. For one of these two students, the degrees for their school were not part of the May submission and were instead posted late in July. After further analysis provided by the University, there were a total of 160 students who were impacted by this issue. Cause: As mentioned above, for one student, the degrees for their school were not part of the May submission and were instead posted late in July. One student graduated and immediately enrolled in a graduate program and therefore the graduation date was not reported timely. Effect: Student status changes not reported in a timely manner will cause the student to not enter into repayment status on a timely basis. Questioned Costs: No questioned costs were noted as a result of the audit procedures performed. Recommendation: We recommend the University review its current policies and procedures to ensure that all status changes are reported to NSLDS timely. Views of Responsible Officials: Management agrees with the finding. For the school where the degrees were not reported timely, there was a total of 160 students whose degree certification information was not reported by the school to the University Registrar in time to be included in the correct batch process. The file reporting May graduates was processed on July 3, 2023 and these students were not included. They were added to the next cycle which was beyond the 60-day requirement. The University Registrar will send a memorandum to all degree certifying officers at the University reminding them that degree certification must be completed by the appropriate date to be certain all students are included on the file that updates NSLDS with the graduation date. The Chancellor Unit registrars will be asked to send out reminders in the weeks leading up to the required submission date and to track the completion of degree certifications. There are instances where students begin enrollment in a new academic program before the degree certification process is completed. Those students are reported as enrolled to prevent them from being incorrectly placed into repayment. That causes the graduation date to be incorrectly reported on the program level record in a timely basis. A process will be developed to allow for the proper reporting of graduation information on the Program-Level Record to NSLDS even when the student remains currently enrolled at the University and is being reported as such on the Campus-Level Record.
2023 004 Special Tests (Enrollment Reporting) Student Financial Assistance Cluster: U.S. Department of Education Federal Pell Grant Program (ALN 84.063) Federal Direct Student Loans (ALN 84.268) Federal Grant Numbers: E-P063P130272 (7/1/2022 - 6/30/2023), P268K130272 (7/1/2022 - 6/30/2023) Statistically Valid Sample: No, and it was not intended to be Prior Year Finding: Not a repeat finding. Finding Type: Significant Deficiency and Noncompliance Criteria: Under the Pell grant and the Direct and Federal Family Education Loan programs, institutions are required to report enrollment information via the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) (OMB No. 1845 0035). The administration of the Title IV programs depends heavily on the accuracy and timeliness of the enrollment information reported by institutions. Institutions must review, update and certify student enrollment statuses, program information and effective dates that appear on the Enrollment Reporting Roster file or on the Enrollment Maintenance page of the NSLDS Professional Access (NSLDSFAP) website. The data on the institution’s Enrollment Reporting Roster, or Enrollment Maintenance page, is what NSLDS has as the most recently certified enrollment information. There are two categories of enrollment information; “Campus Level” and “Program Level,” both of which need to be reported accurately and have separate record types. Institutions are responsible for accurately reporting all Campus-Level Record data elements. The Department of Education (ED) considers the following data elements to be high risk: • OPEID number, enrollment effective date, enrollment status and certification date Institutions are responsible for accurately reporting all Program-Level Record data elements. The Department of Education (ED) considers the following data elements to be high risk: • OPEID number, CIP code, CIP year, credential level, published program length measurement, published program length, program begin date, program enrollment status and program enrollment effective date Institutions are responsible for timely reporting, whether they report directly or via a third-party servicer. Institutions must complete and return within 15 days the Enrollment Reporting roster file placed in their Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG) (OMB No. 1845-0002) mailboxes sent by ED via NSLDS. An institution determines how often it receives the Enrollment Reporting roster file with the default set at a minimum of every 60 days. Once received, the institution must update for changes in the data elements for the Campus Record and the Program Record identified above, and submit the changes electronically through the batch method, spreadsheet submittal, or the NSLDS website (Pell, 34 CFR 690.83(b)(2); FFEL, 34 CFR 682.610; Direct Loan, 34 CFR 685.309: Perkins 34 CFR 674.19(f)). Additionally, in accordance with Federal requirements, the University shall maintain internal controls over Federal programs designed to provide reasonable assurance that transactions are executed in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award that could have a direct and material effect on a Federal program. Condition and Context: The University utilizes the National Student Clearinghouse (the Clearinghouse) as a service provider for transmissions of its enrollment reporting changes to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS). The University receives the Enrollment Reporting Roster and updates it for changes in student status. The file is sent to the Clearinghouse who transmits the updated information to NSLDS. There were 40 students selected for testwork. For two of the forty students selected for testwork, the University did not report the student’s status change to NSLDS within 60 days as graduated to NSLDS on the Campus-Level Record. Students were reported 22 – 204 days late. For one of these two students, the degrees for their school were not part of the May submission and were instead posted late in July. After further analysis provided by the University, there were a total of 160 students who were impacted by this issue. Cause: As mentioned above, for one student, the degrees for their school were not part of the May submission and were instead posted late in July. One student graduated and immediately enrolled in a graduate program and therefore the graduation date was not reported timely. Effect: Student status changes not reported in a timely manner will cause the student to not enter into repayment status on a timely basis. Questioned Costs: No questioned costs were noted as a result of the audit procedures performed. Recommendation: We recommend the University review its current policies and procedures to ensure that all status changes are reported to NSLDS timely. Views of Responsible Officials: Management agrees with the finding. For the school where the degrees were not reported timely, there was a total of 160 students whose degree certification information was not reported by the school to the University Registrar in time to be included in the correct batch process. The file reporting May graduates was processed on July 3, 2023 and these students were not included. They were added to the next cycle which was beyond the 60-day requirement. The University Registrar will send a memorandum to all degree certifying officers at the University reminding them that degree certification must be completed by the appropriate date to be certain all students are included on the file that updates NSLDS with the graduation date. The Chancellor Unit registrars will be asked to send out reminders in the weeks leading up to the required submission date and to track the completion of degree certifications. There are instances where students begin enrollment in a new academic program before the degree certification process is completed. Those students are reported as enrolled to prevent them from being incorrectly placed into repayment. That causes the graduation date to be incorrectly reported on the program level record in a timely basis. A process will be developed to allow for the proper reporting of graduation information on the Program-Level Record to NSLDS even when the student remains currently enrolled at the University and is being reported as such on the Campus-Level Record.
2023 005 Procurement and Suspension and Debarment U.S. Department of Treasury: Pass Through - Office of the Secretary of Higher Education (OSHE) COVID-19 - State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (CSLFRF) (ALN 21.027) Grant Number: 2021-100-074-2400-085 Statistically Valid Sample: No, and it was not intended to be Prior Year Finding: Not a repeat finding. Finding Type: Material Weakness and Noncompliance Criteria: Non-federal entities are prohibited from contracting with or making subawards under covered transactions to parties that are suspended or debarred. “Covered transactions” include contracts for goods and services awarded under a non-procurement transaction (e.g., grant or cooperative agreement) that are expected to equal or exceed $25,000 or meet certain other criteria as specified in 2 CFR section 180.220. When a non-federal entity enters into a covered transaction with an entity at a lower tier, the non-federal entity must verify that the entity, as defined in 2 CFR section 180.995 and agency adopting regulations, is not suspended or debarred or otherwise excluded from participating in the transaction. This verification may be accomplished by (1) checking the System for Award Management (SAM) Exclusions maintained by the General Services Administration (GSA) and available at SAM.gov | Home (click on Search Record, then click on Advanced Search Exclusions) (Note: The OMB guidance at 2 CFR Part 180 and agency implementing regulations still refer to the SAM Exclusions as the Excluded Parties List System (EPLS)), (2) collecting a certification from the entity, or (3) adding a clause or condition to the covered transaction with that entity (2 CFR section 180.300). Additionally, in accordance with Federal requirements, the University shall maintain internal controls over Federal programs designed to provide reasonable assurance that transactions are executed in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award that could have a direct and material effect on a Federal program. Condition and Context: The University received federal grant funds passed through the State of New Jersey as an Appropriation in fiscal year 2023 and a portion of these funds were provided to a third party. Because of the dollar value of the funds provided, the University entered into a covered transaction with this third party. The University did not verify that the entity was not suspended or debarred prior to entering into the covered transaction. Cause: The transaction did not follow the University’s standard grants management process or normal procurement process because of the source of the funding. Both of these processes include a suspension and debarment check prior to payment, and therefore a check was not performed. Effect: Funds could have been provided to an entity who was suspended or debarred. Questioned Costs: We confirmed that the entity was not suspended or debarred. No questioned costs were noted as a result of the audit procedures performed. Recommendation: We recommend the University review its current policies and procedures to ensure that a suspension and debarment check is performed for all covered transactions prior to entering into the covered transaction. Views of Responsible Officials: Management agrees with the finding as the University did not perform a suspension and debarment check on the Developer, NJ Innovation Associates Urban Renewal LLC prior to entering into a covered transaction. It should be noted that the University has the appropriate procedures in place to ensure that suspension and debarment checks are performed for all covered transactions, prior to entering into the covered transaction, in the University’s normal course of business. However, the transaction in question was a non-typical event relating to a capital project and Master Lease Agreement, which is partially funded by Federal funds. Due to timing of approvals, including the Master Lease Agreements, and closing date of the property acquisition, the University had to initiate its “Emergency Domestic Wire Request” process for the land and closing transaction dated May 22, 2023, in the amount of $23,606,527.03. If it was not necessary to initiate this process, then the University’s typical procedures to check suspension and debarment would have occurred. The University will review it procedures for “Emergency Domestic Wire Requests” to ensure that when covered transactions involving Federal funds fall into this process, a suspension and debarment check is performed on covered transactions prior to entering into the covered transaction.
Student Financial Assistance Cluster: U.S. Department of Education Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (ALN 84.007) Federal Work-Study Program (ALN 84.033) Federal Perkins Loans (ALN 84.038) Federal Pell Grant Program (ALN 84.063) Federal Direct Student Loans (ALN 84.268) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), DHHS Health Resources and Services Administration Nurse Faculty Loan Program (ALN 93.264) Scholarships for Health Professions Students from Disadvantaged Backgrounds (ALN 93.925) Federal Grant Numbers: E-P007A132602 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-P033A132602 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-P038A132602 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-P063P130272 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), P268K130272 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-01HP28821-02-02, E36HP26092, E36HP25751, E26HP25748, E11HP27284 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), 1T08HP393200100 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), 5 T08HP39320-03-00 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023) Statistically valid sample: No and it was not intended to be. Repeat finding: Not a repeat finding. Finding Type: Material weakness Criteria: In accordance with Federal requirements, the University shall maintain internal controls over Federal programs designed to provide reasonable assurance that transactions are executed in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award that could have a direct and material effect on a Federal program. During fiscal year 2023, the University implemented a new system called Oracle Student Financial Planning (OSFP) which is used to package the students’ financial aid. The system performs the following functions: • Determines eligibility of students using various inputs, including information obtained from the Federal Student Aid Record and student enrollment and demographic information. This information is also used to calculate the cost of attendance, calculated need and the federal award amounts. • Disburses student financial assistance to students. • Reports disbursement information to the Common Origination and Disbursement system. The internal controls over these functions are considered automated controls for the applicable compliance requirements. Condition and Context: In order to gain comfort over the automated application controls, we tested the applicable information technology general controls particularly in the areas of logical access and program changes. During our testwork, it was noted that the University’s standard policies and procedures to monitor appropriate user access and program changes were not followed. Related to user access, it was noted that there are thirty-five users assigned to the role System Administrator. With this level of access users have the capability to change configuration, develop scripts and deploy changes. Additionally, we noted that some of the users develop and deploy code indicating there is no segregation of duties between the developer and the implementer. Related to program changes, it was noted that while changes to OSFP are documented in a project tracking software or a spreadsheet, they are not consistently documented as to which code is deployed to OSFP production, whether the developed code is tested and approved, and who deployed the code. Additionally, any changes that were tracked, were only maintained for 6 months. Cause: The system was new in fiscal year 2023 and the University’s standard policies and procedures were not followed for the system during the fiscal year. Effect: As the general information technology controls over the OSFP system were determined to be ineffective, the related downstream key application controls could not be relied upon or tested. Such key application controls include: calculation of a student’s need, calculation and application of cost of attendance, determination of a student’s eligibility to receive federal and state awards and calculation of awards based on a student’s need and cost of attendance. Additionally, there were no manual controls over these key compliance areas to mitigate the inability to rely upon the application controls. Questioned Costs: No questioned costs were noted as a result of the audit procedures performed as the finding was related only to internal controls and not to non-compliance. Recommendation: We recommend that the University implement all standard policies and procedures for general IT controls for this system, including those related to logical access, program changes and the retention of documentation of program changes to ensure an effective general information technology control environment. Views of Responsible Official: Management agrees with the finding. Management has documented and implemented system release management practices for the OSFP system. All change requests, updates and approvals for the OSFP system will be tracked in a project tracking software. A dedicated OSFP administrator was onboarded, to segregate duties within the technical team, with the capability of deploying changes to production. A new access role was also implemented which will limit some of the permissions, and the majority of the thirty-five users were moved to this more limited role. Finally, a recertification process will be developed and a recertification will be completed annually for the OSFP system.
Student Financial Assistance Cluster: U.S. Department of Education Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (ALN 84.007) Federal Work-Study Program (ALN 84.033) Federal Perkins Loans (ALN 84.038) Federal Pell Grant Program (ALN 84.063) Federal Direct Student Loans (ALN 84.268) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), DHHS Health Resources and Services Administration Nurse Faculty Loan Program (ALN 93.264) Scholarships for Health Professions Students from Disadvantaged Backgrounds (ALN 93.925) Federal Grant Numbers: E-P007A132602 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-P033A132602 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-P038A132602 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-P063P130272 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), P268K130272 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-01HP28821-02-02, E36HP26092, E36HP25751, E26HP25748, E11HP27284 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), 1T08HP393200100 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), 5 T08HP39320-03-00 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023) Statistically valid sample: No and it was not intended to be. Repeat finding: Not a repeat finding. Finding Type: Material weakness Criteria: In accordance with Federal requirements, the University shall maintain internal controls over Federal programs designed to provide reasonable assurance that transactions are executed in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award that could have a direct and material effect on a Federal program. During fiscal year 2023, the University implemented a new system called Oracle Student Financial Planning (OSFP) which is used to package the students’ financial aid. The system performs the following functions: • Determines eligibility of students using various inputs, including information obtained from the Federal Student Aid Record and student enrollment and demographic information. This information is also used to calculate the cost of attendance, calculated need and the federal award amounts. • Disburses student financial assistance to students. • Reports disbursement information to the Common Origination and Disbursement system. The internal controls over these functions are considered automated controls for the applicable compliance requirements. Condition and Context: In order to gain comfort over the automated application controls, we tested the applicable information technology general controls particularly in the areas of logical access and program changes. During our testwork, it was noted that the University’s standard policies and procedures to monitor appropriate user access and program changes were not followed. Related to user access, it was noted that there are thirty-five users assigned to the role System Administrator. With this level of access users have the capability to change configuration, develop scripts and deploy changes. Additionally, we noted that some of the users develop and deploy code indicating there is no segregation of duties between the developer and the implementer. Related to program changes, it was noted that while changes to OSFP are documented in a project tracking software or a spreadsheet, they are not consistently documented as to which code is deployed to OSFP production, whether the developed code is tested and approved, and who deployed the code. Additionally, any changes that were tracked, were only maintained for 6 months. Cause: The system was new in fiscal year 2023 and the University’s standard policies and procedures were not followed for the system during the fiscal year. Effect: As the general information technology controls over the OSFP system were determined to be ineffective, the related downstream key application controls could not be relied upon or tested. Such key application controls include: calculation of a student’s need, calculation and application of cost of attendance, determination of a student’s eligibility to receive federal and state awards and calculation of awards based on a student’s need and cost of attendance. Additionally, there were no manual controls over these key compliance areas to mitigate the inability to rely upon the application controls. Questioned Costs: No questioned costs were noted as a result of the audit procedures performed as the finding was related only to internal controls and not to non-compliance. Recommendation: We recommend that the University implement all standard policies and procedures for general IT controls for this system, including those related to logical access, program changes and the retention of documentation of program changes to ensure an effective general information technology control environment. Views of Responsible Official: Management agrees with the finding. Management has documented and implemented system release management practices for the OSFP system. All change requests, updates and approvals for the OSFP system will be tracked in a project tracking software. A dedicated OSFP administrator was onboarded, to segregate duties within the technical team, with the capability of deploying changes to production. A new access role was also implemented which will limit some of the permissions, and the majority of the thirty-five users were moved to this more limited role. Finally, a recertification process will be developed and a recertification will be completed annually for the OSFP system.
Student Financial Assistance Cluster: U.S. Department of Education Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (ALN 84.007) Federal Work-Study Program (ALN 84.033) Federal Perkins Loans (ALN 84.038) Federal Pell Grant Program (ALN 84.063) Federal Direct Student Loans (ALN 84.268) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), DHHS Health Resources and Services Administration Nurse Faculty Loan Program (ALN 93.264) Scholarships for Health Professions Students from Disadvantaged Backgrounds (ALN 93.925) Federal Grant Numbers: E-P007A132602 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-P033A132602 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-P038A132602 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-P063P130272 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), P268K130272 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-01HP28821-02-02, E36HP26092, E36HP25751, E26HP25748, E11HP27284 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), 1T08HP393200100 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), 5 T08HP39320-03-00 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023) Statistically valid sample: No and it was not intended to be. Repeat finding: Not a repeat finding. Finding Type: Material weakness Criteria: In accordance with Federal requirements, the University shall maintain internal controls over Federal programs designed to provide reasonable assurance that transactions are executed in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award that could have a direct and material effect on a Federal program. During fiscal year 2023, the University implemented a new system called Oracle Student Financial Planning (OSFP) which is used to package the students’ financial aid. The system performs the following functions: • Determines eligibility of students using various inputs, including information obtained from the Federal Student Aid Record and student enrollment and demographic information. This information is also used to calculate the cost of attendance, calculated need and the federal award amounts. • Disburses student financial assistance to students. • Reports disbursement information to the Common Origination and Disbursement system. The internal controls over these functions are considered automated controls for the applicable compliance requirements. Condition and Context: In order to gain comfort over the automated application controls, we tested the applicable information technology general controls particularly in the areas of logical access and program changes. During our testwork, it was noted that the University’s standard policies and procedures to monitor appropriate user access and program changes were not followed. Related to user access, it was noted that there are thirty-five users assigned to the role System Administrator. With this level of access users have the capability to change configuration, develop scripts and deploy changes. Additionally, we noted that some of the users develop and deploy code indicating there is no segregation of duties between the developer and the implementer. Related to program changes, it was noted that while changes to OSFP are documented in a project tracking software or a spreadsheet, they are not consistently documented as to which code is deployed to OSFP production, whether the developed code is tested and approved, and who deployed the code. Additionally, any changes that were tracked, were only maintained for 6 months. Cause: The system was new in fiscal year 2023 and the University’s standard policies and procedures were not followed for the system during the fiscal year. Effect: As the general information technology controls over the OSFP system were determined to be ineffective, the related downstream key application controls could not be relied upon or tested. Such key application controls include: calculation of a student’s need, calculation and application of cost of attendance, determination of a student’s eligibility to receive federal and state awards and calculation of awards based on a student’s need and cost of attendance. Additionally, there were no manual controls over these key compliance areas to mitigate the inability to rely upon the application controls. Questioned Costs: No questioned costs were noted as a result of the audit procedures performed as the finding was related only to internal controls and not to non-compliance. Recommendation: We recommend that the University implement all standard policies and procedures for general IT controls for this system, including those related to logical access, program changes and the retention of documentation of program changes to ensure an effective general information technology control environment. Views of Responsible Official: Management agrees with the finding. Management has documented and implemented system release management practices for the OSFP system. All change requests, updates and approvals for the OSFP system will be tracked in a project tracking software. A dedicated OSFP administrator was onboarded, to segregate duties within the technical team, with the capability of deploying changes to production. A new access role was also implemented which will limit some of the permissions, and the majority of the thirty-five users were moved to this more limited role. Finally, a recertification process will be developed and a recertification will be completed annually for the OSFP system.
Student Financial Assistance Cluster: U.S. Department of Education Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (ALN 84.007) Federal Work-Study Program (ALN 84.033) Federal Perkins Loans (ALN 84.038) Federal Pell Grant Program (ALN 84.063) Federal Direct Student Loans (ALN 84.268) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), DHHS Health Resources and Services Administration Nurse Faculty Loan Program (ALN 93.264) Scholarships for Health Professions Students from Disadvantaged Backgrounds (ALN 93.925) Federal Grant Numbers: E-P007A132602 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-P033A132602 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-P038A132602 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-P063P130272 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), P268K130272 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-01HP28821-02-02, E36HP26092, E36HP25751, E26HP25748, E11HP27284 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), 1T08HP393200100 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), 5 T08HP39320-03-00 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023) Statistically valid sample: No and it was not intended to be. Repeat finding: Not a repeat finding. Finding Type: Material weakness Criteria: In accordance with Federal requirements, the University shall maintain internal controls over Federal programs designed to provide reasonable assurance that transactions are executed in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award that could have a direct and material effect on a Federal program. During fiscal year 2023, the University implemented a new system called Oracle Student Financial Planning (OSFP) which is used to package the students’ financial aid. The system performs the following functions: • Determines eligibility of students using various inputs, including information obtained from the Federal Student Aid Record and student enrollment and demographic information. This information is also used to calculate the cost of attendance, calculated need and the federal award amounts. • Disburses student financial assistance to students. • Reports disbursement information to the Common Origination and Disbursement system. The internal controls over these functions are considered automated controls for the applicable compliance requirements. Condition and Context: In order to gain comfort over the automated application controls, we tested the applicable information technology general controls particularly in the areas of logical access and program changes. During our testwork, it was noted that the University’s standard policies and procedures to monitor appropriate user access and program changes were not followed. Related to user access, it was noted that there are thirty-five users assigned to the role System Administrator. With this level of access users have the capability to change configuration, develop scripts and deploy changes. Additionally, we noted that some of the users develop and deploy code indicating there is no segregation of duties between the developer and the implementer. Related to program changes, it was noted that while changes to OSFP are documented in a project tracking software or a spreadsheet, they are not consistently documented as to which code is deployed to OSFP production, whether the developed code is tested and approved, and who deployed the code. Additionally, any changes that were tracked, were only maintained for 6 months. Cause: The system was new in fiscal year 2023 and the University’s standard policies and procedures were not followed for the system during the fiscal year. Effect: As the general information technology controls over the OSFP system were determined to be ineffective, the related downstream key application controls could not be relied upon or tested. Such key application controls include: calculation of a student’s need, calculation and application of cost of attendance, determination of a student’s eligibility to receive federal and state awards and calculation of awards based on a student’s need and cost of attendance. Additionally, there were no manual controls over these key compliance areas to mitigate the inability to rely upon the application controls. Questioned Costs: No questioned costs were noted as a result of the audit procedures performed as the finding was related only to internal controls and not to non-compliance. Recommendation: We recommend that the University implement all standard policies and procedures for general IT controls for this system, including those related to logical access, program changes and the retention of documentation of program changes to ensure an effective general information technology control environment. Views of Responsible Official: Management agrees with the finding. Management has documented and implemented system release management practices for the OSFP system. All change requests, updates and approvals for the OSFP system will be tracked in a project tracking software. A dedicated OSFP administrator was onboarded, to segregate duties within the technical team, with the capability of deploying changes to production. A new access role was also implemented which will limit some of the permissions, and the majority of the thirty-five users were moved to this more limited role. Finally, a recertification process will be developed and a recertification will be completed annually for the OSFP system.
Student Financial Assistance Cluster: U.S. Department of Education Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (ALN 84.007) Federal Work-Study Program (ALN 84.033) Federal Perkins Loans (ALN 84.038) Federal Pell Grant Program (ALN 84.063) Federal Direct Student Loans (ALN 84.268) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), DHHS Health Resources and Services Administration Nurse Faculty Loan Program (ALN 93.264) Scholarships for Health Professions Students from Disadvantaged Backgrounds (ALN 93.925) Federal Grant Numbers: E-P007A132602 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-P033A132602 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-P038A132602 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-P063P130272 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), P268K130272 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-01HP28821-02-02, E36HP26092, E36HP25751, E26HP25748, E11HP27284 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), 1T08HP393200100 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), 5 T08HP39320-03-00 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023) Statistically valid sample: No and it was not intended to be. Repeat finding: Not a repeat finding. Finding Type: Material weakness Criteria: In accordance with Federal requirements, the University shall maintain internal controls over Federal programs designed to provide reasonable assurance that transactions are executed in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award that could have a direct and material effect on a Federal program. During fiscal year 2023, the University implemented a new system called Oracle Student Financial Planning (OSFP) which is used to package the students’ financial aid. The system performs the following functions: • Determines eligibility of students using various inputs, including information obtained from the Federal Student Aid Record and student enrollment and demographic information. This information is also used to calculate the cost of attendance, calculated need and the federal award amounts. • Disburses student financial assistance to students. • Reports disbursement information to the Common Origination and Disbursement system. The internal controls over these functions are considered automated controls for the applicable compliance requirements. Condition and Context: In order to gain comfort over the automated application controls, we tested the applicable information technology general controls particularly in the areas of logical access and program changes. During our testwork, it was noted that the University’s standard policies and procedures to monitor appropriate user access and program changes were not followed. Related to user access, it was noted that there are thirty-five users assigned to the role System Administrator. With this level of access users have the capability to change configuration, develop scripts and deploy changes. Additionally, we noted that some of the users develop and deploy code indicating there is no segregation of duties between the developer and the implementer. Related to program changes, it was noted that while changes to OSFP are documented in a project tracking software or a spreadsheet, they are not consistently documented as to which code is deployed to OSFP production, whether the developed code is tested and approved, and who deployed the code. Additionally, any changes that were tracked, were only maintained for 6 months. Cause: The system was new in fiscal year 2023 and the University’s standard policies and procedures were not followed for the system during the fiscal year. Effect: As the general information technology controls over the OSFP system were determined to be ineffective, the related downstream key application controls could not be relied upon or tested. Such key application controls include: calculation of a student’s need, calculation and application of cost of attendance, determination of a student’s eligibility to receive federal and state awards and calculation of awards based on a student’s need and cost of attendance. Additionally, there were no manual controls over these key compliance areas to mitigate the inability to rely upon the application controls. Questioned Costs: No questioned costs were noted as a result of the audit procedures performed as the finding was related only to internal controls and not to non-compliance. Recommendation: We recommend that the University implement all standard policies and procedures for general IT controls for this system, including those related to logical access, program changes and the retention of documentation of program changes to ensure an effective general information technology control environment. Views of Responsible Official: Management agrees with the finding. Management has documented and implemented system release management practices for the OSFP system. All change requests, updates and approvals for the OSFP system will be tracked in a project tracking software. A dedicated OSFP administrator was onboarded, to segregate duties within the technical team, with the capability of deploying changes to production. A new access role was also implemented which will limit some of the permissions, and the majority of the thirty-five users were moved to this more limited role. Finally, a recertification process will be developed and a recertification will be completed annually for the OSFP system.
Student Financial Assistance Cluster: U.S. Department of Education Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (ALN 84.007) Federal Work-Study Program (ALN 84.033) Federal Perkins Loans (ALN 84.038) Federal Pell Grant Program (ALN 84.063) Federal Direct Student Loans (ALN 84.268) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), DHHS Health Resources and Services Administration Nurse Faculty Loan Program (ALN 93.264) Scholarships for Health Professions Students from Disadvantaged Backgrounds (ALN 93.925) Federal Grant Numbers: E-P007A132602 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-P033A132602 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-P038A132602 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-P063P130272 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), P268K130272 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-01HP28821-02-02, E36HP26092, E36HP25751, E26HP25748, E11HP27284 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), 1T08HP393200100 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), 5 T08HP39320-03-00 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023) Statistically valid sample: No and it was not intended to be. Repeat finding: Not a repeat finding. Finding Type: Material weakness Criteria: In accordance with Federal requirements, the University shall maintain internal controls over Federal programs designed to provide reasonable assurance that transactions are executed in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award that could have a direct and material effect on a Federal program. During fiscal year 2023, the University implemented a new system called Oracle Student Financial Planning (OSFP) which is used to package the students’ financial aid. The system performs the following functions: • Determines eligibility of students using various inputs, including information obtained from the Federal Student Aid Record and student enrollment and demographic information. This information is also used to calculate the cost of attendance, calculated need and the federal award amounts. • Disburses student financial assistance to students. • Reports disbursement information to the Common Origination and Disbursement system. The internal controls over these functions are considered automated controls for the applicable compliance requirements. Condition and Context: In order to gain comfort over the automated application controls, we tested the applicable information technology general controls particularly in the areas of logical access and program changes. During our testwork, it was noted that the University’s standard policies and procedures to monitor appropriate user access and program changes were not followed. Related to user access, it was noted that there are thirty-five users assigned to the role System Administrator. With this level of access users have the capability to change configuration, develop scripts and deploy changes. Additionally, we noted that some of the users develop and deploy code indicating there is no segregation of duties between the developer and the implementer. Related to program changes, it was noted that while changes to OSFP are documented in a project tracking software or a spreadsheet, they are not consistently documented as to which code is deployed to OSFP production, whether the developed code is tested and approved, and who deployed the code. Additionally, any changes that were tracked, were only maintained for 6 months. Cause: The system was new in fiscal year 2023 and the University’s standard policies and procedures were not followed for the system during the fiscal year. Effect: As the general information technology controls over the OSFP system were determined to be ineffective, the related downstream key application controls could not be relied upon or tested. Such key application controls include: calculation of a student’s need, calculation and application of cost of attendance, determination of a student’s eligibility to receive federal and state awards and calculation of awards based on a student’s need and cost of attendance. Additionally, there were no manual controls over these key compliance areas to mitigate the inability to rely upon the application controls. Questioned Costs: No questioned costs were noted as a result of the audit procedures performed as the finding was related only to internal controls and not to non-compliance. Recommendation: We recommend that the University implement all standard policies and procedures for general IT controls for this system, including those related to logical access, program changes and the retention of documentation of program changes to ensure an effective general information technology control environment. Views of Responsible Official: Management agrees with the finding. Management has documented and implemented system release management practices for the OSFP system. All change requests, updates and approvals for the OSFP system will be tracked in a project tracking software. A dedicated OSFP administrator was onboarded, to segregate duties within the technical team, with the capability of deploying changes to production. A new access role was also implemented which will limit some of the permissions, and the majority of the thirty-five users were moved to this more limited role. Finally, a recertification process will be developed and a recertification will be completed annually for the OSFP system.
Student Financial Assistance Cluster: U.S. Department of Education Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (ALN 84.007) Federal Work-Study Program (ALN 84.033) Federal Perkins Loans (ALN 84.038) Federal Pell Grant Program (ALN 84.063) Federal Direct Student Loans (ALN 84.268) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), DHHS Health Resources and Services Administration Nurse Faculty Loan Program (ALN 93.264) Scholarships for Health Professions Students from Disadvantaged Backgrounds (ALN 93.925) Federal Grant Numbers: E-P007A132602 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-P033A132602 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-P038A132602 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-P063P130272 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), P268K130272 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-01HP28821-02-02, E36HP26092, E36HP25751, E26HP25748, E11HP27284 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), 1T08HP393200100 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), 5 T08HP39320-03-00 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023) Statistically valid sample: No and it was not intended to be. Repeat finding: Not a repeat finding. Finding Type: Material weakness Criteria: In accordance with Federal requirements, the University shall maintain internal controls over Federal programs designed to provide reasonable assurance that transactions are executed in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award that could have a direct and material effect on a Federal program. During fiscal year 2023, the University implemented a new system called Oracle Student Financial Planning (OSFP) which is used to package the students’ financial aid. The system performs the following functions: • Determines eligibility of students using various inputs, including information obtained from the Federal Student Aid Record and student enrollment and demographic information. This information is also used to calculate the cost of attendance, calculated need and the federal award amounts. • Disburses student financial assistance to students. • Reports disbursement information to the Common Origination and Disbursement system. The internal controls over these functions are considered automated controls for the applicable compliance requirements. Condition and Context: In order to gain comfort over the automated application controls, we tested the applicable information technology general controls particularly in the areas of logical access and program changes. During our testwork, it was noted that the University’s standard policies and procedures to monitor appropriate user access and program changes were not followed. Related to user access, it was noted that there are thirty-five users assigned to the role System Administrator. With this level of access users have the capability to change configuration, develop scripts and deploy changes. Additionally, we noted that some of the users develop and deploy code indicating there is no segregation of duties between the developer and the implementer. Related to program changes, it was noted that while changes to OSFP are documented in a project tracking software or a spreadsheet, they are not consistently documented as to which code is deployed to OSFP production, whether the developed code is tested and approved, and who deployed the code. Additionally, any changes that were tracked, were only maintained for 6 months. Cause: The system was new in fiscal year 2023 and the University’s standard policies and procedures were not followed for the system during the fiscal year. Effect: As the general information technology controls over the OSFP system were determined to be ineffective, the related downstream key application controls could not be relied upon or tested. Such key application controls include: calculation of a student’s need, calculation and application of cost of attendance, determination of a student’s eligibility to receive federal and state awards and calculation of awards based on a student’s need and cost of attendance. Additionally, there were no manual controls over these key compliance areas to mitigate the inability to rely upon the application controls. Questioned Costs: No questioned costs were noted as a result of the audit procedures performed as the finding was related only to internal controls and not to non-compliance. Recommendation: We recommend that the University implement all standard policies and procedures for general IT controls for this system, including those related to logical access, program changes and the retention of documentation of program changes to ensure an effective general information technology control environment. Views of Responsible Official: Management agrees with the finding. Management has documented and implemented system release management practices for the OSFP system. All change requests, updates and approvals for the OSFP system will be tracked in a project tracking software. A dedicated OSFP administrator was onboarded, to segregate duties within the technical team, with the capability of deploying changes to production. A new access role was also implemented which will limit some of the permissions, and the majority of the thirty-five users were moved to this more limited role. Finally, a recertification process will be developed and a recertification will be completed annually for the OSFP system.
Student Financial Assistance Cluster: U.S. Department of Education Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (ALN 84.007) Federal Work-Study Program (ALN 84.033) Federal Perkins Loans (ALN 84.038) Federal Pell Grant Program (ALN 84.063) Federal Direct Student Loans (ALN 84.268) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), DHHS Health Resources and Services Administration Nurse Faculty Loan Program (ALN 93.264) Scholarships for Health Professions Students from Disadvantaged Backgrounds (ALN 93.925) Federal Grant Numbers: E-P007A132602 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-P033A132602 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-P038A132602 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-P063P130272 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), P268K130272 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), E-01HP28821-02-02, E36HP26092, E36HP25751, E26HP25748, E11HP27284 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), 1T08HP393200100 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023), 5 T08HP39320-03-00 (7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023) Statistically valid sample: No and it was not intended to be. Repeat finding: Not a repeat finding. Finding Type: Material weakness Criteria: In accordance with Federal requirements, the University shall maintain internal controls over Federal programs designed to provide reasonable assurance that transactions are executed in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award that could have a direct and material effect on a Federal program. During fiscal year 2023, the University implemented a new system called Oracle Student Financial Planning (OSFP) which is used to package the students’ financial aid. The system performs the following functions: • Determines eligibility of students using various inputs, including information obtained from the Federal Student Aid Record and student enrollment and demographic information. This information is also used to calculate the cost of attendance, calculated need and the federal award amounts. • Disburses student financial assistance to students. • Reports disbursement information to the Common Origination and Disbursement system. The internal controls over these functions are considered automated controls for the applicable compliance requirements. Condition and Context: In order to gain comfort over the automated application controls, we tested the applicable information technology general controls particularly in the areas of logical access and program changes. During our testwork, it was noted that the University’s standard policies and procedures to monitor appropriate user access and program changes were not followed. Related to user access, it was noted that there are thirty-five users assigned to the role System Administrator. With this level of access users have the capability to change configuration, develop scripts and deploy changes. Additionally, we noted that some of the users develop and deploy code indicating there is no segregation of duties between the developer and the implementer. Related to program changes, it was noted that while changes to OSFP are documented in a project tracking software or a spreadsheet, they are not consistently documented as to which code is deployed to OSFP production, whether the developed code is tested and approved, and who deployed the code. Additionally, any changes that were tracked, were only maintained for 6 months. Cause: The system was new in fiscal year 2023 and the University’s standard policies and procedures were not followed for the system during the fiscal year. Effect: As the general information technology controls over the OSFP system were determined to be ineffective, the related downstream key application controls could not be relied upon or tested. Such key application controls include: calculation of a student’s need, calculation and application of cost of attendance, determination of a student’s eligibility to receive federal and state awards and calculation of awards based on a student’s need and cost of attendance. Additionally, there were no manual controls over these key compliance areas to mitigate the inability to rely upon the application controls. Questioned Costs: No questioned costs were noted as a result of the audit procedures performed as the finding was related only to internal controls and not to non-compliance. Recommendation: We recommend that the University implement all standard policies and procedures for general IT controls for this system, including those related to logical access, program changes and the retention of documentation of program changes to ensure an effective general information technology control environment. Views of Responsible Official: Management agrees with the finding. Management has documented and implemented system release management practices for the OSFP system. All change requests, updates and approvals for the OSFP system will be tracked in a project tracking software. A dedicated OSFP administrator was onboarded, to segregate duties within the technical team, with the capability of deploying changes to production. A new access role was also implemented which will limit some of the permissions, and the majority of the thirty-five users were moved to this more limited role. Finally, a recertification process will be developed and a recertification will be completed annually for the OSFP system.
2023 002 Eligibility Student Financial Assistance Cluster: U.S. Department of Education Federal Pell Grant Program (ALN 84.063) Federal Direct Student Loans (ALN 84.268) Federal Grant Numbers: E-P063P130272 (7/1/2022 - 6/30/2023), P268K130272 (7/1/2022 - 6/30/2023) Statistically Valid Sample: No, and it was not intended to be Prior Year Finding: Not a repeat finding. Finding Type: Material Weakness and Noncompliance Criteria: Calculation of Benefits Awards must be coordinated among the various programs and with other federal and nonfederal aid (need and non-need based aid) to ensure that total aid is not awarded in excess of the student’s financial need or cost of attendance (34 CFR 668.42, FWS, and FSEOG, 34 CFR 673.5 and 673.6; Direct Loan, 34 CFR 685.301). The determination of need-based SFA award amounts is based on financial need. Financial need is defined as the student’s cost of attendance (COA) minus the student’s expected family contribution (EFC) (as computed by the central processor and included on the student’s Student Aid Report (SAR)). Once a student is awarded any financial aid, to find remaining financial need one would use the following formula --COA minus EFC minus Estimated Financial Assistance (EFA) (§ 668.2) = remaining need. To avoid overpayments, need-based SFA awards cannot exceed the student’s overall financial need. Non need-based SFA awards are not limited to financial need but cannot exceed the student’s COA. To determine non need-based SFA awards (unsubsidized aid) one would use the following formula – COA minus EFA. For Title IV programs, the COA is generally the sum of the following: tuition and fees; an allowance for books, supplies, transportation, and miscellaneous personal expenses; an allowance for room and board; when applicable, allowances for costs for dependent care; costs associated with study abroad and cooperative education; costs related to disabilities; and fees charged for student loans. There are exceptions for students attending less than halftime, correspondence students, and incarcerated students. The financial aid administrator also has authority to use professional judgment to adjust the COA or alter the data elements used to calculate the EFC on a case-by-case basis to allow for special circumstances. Further, the University must establish and maintain effective internal controls over Federal programs designed to provide reasonable assurance that transactions are executed in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award that could have a direct and material effect on a Federal program. Condition and Context: We selected forty-three students for testwork who received financial aid disbursements during the year and noted the following: • Two students in our sample were awarded non-need based aid that resulted in the students being awarded in excess of their cost of attendance. After further analysis provided by the University, it was determined that a total of ninety-six students were over-awarded by $437,213. The amount is broken down as follows: fifty-six students were over-awarded and over-disbursed Federal aid totaling $263,522 which is considered a questioned cost, thirty-eight students were over-awarded and over-disbursed institutional aid totaling $165,327 and two students were over-awarded and over-disbursed private loans totaling $8,364. • The cost of attendance for one student in our sample was incorrectly calculated. The University has various cost of attendance calculations for different schools and/or programs of study. For this student’s program of study, certain cost components were doubled resulting in an inflated cost of attendance. The student selected for testwork was not awarded in excess of their correct cost of attendance. After further analysis provided by the University, it was determined that this issue impacted a total of eighty-four students (third year students had an additional 13,930 added to their cost of attendance and fourth year students had a total of $10,845 added to their cost of attendance). Of the eighty-four students, forty-two were over-awarded and over-disbursed Federal aid totaling $449,672 which is considered a questioned cost. The remaining forty-two students were not awarded in excess of their correct cost of attendance. In addition, as noted in finding 2023-001, the general information technology controls over the new Oracle Student Financial Planning (OSFP) system were determined to be ineffective and as such the related downstream key application controls could not be relied upon. Therefore, controls related to this compliance requirement could not be tested. Cause: For the two students awarded in excess of cost of attendance, the additional non-need based aid was awarded to the student and manually applied to the student’s account, which resulted in the cost of attendance to be overridden and the student to be awarded in excess of the student’s cost of attendance. For the one student who had an incorrect cost of attendance calculation, certain cost components were doubled for this program of study when entered in the system for student packaging. Effect: For the first issue noted above, fifty-six students were awarded and disbursed Federal aid in excess of their cost of attendance by $437,213. For the second issue noted above, forty-two students were awarded and disbursed Federal aid in excess of their cost of attendance by $449,672. Questioned Costs: As noted above, questioned costs for the Federal Direct Student Loans totaled $713,194. Recommendation: We recommend that the University implement controls to prevent awards to students in excess of their cost of attendance and to ensure that cost of attendance components are correcly entered into the system prior to packaging. The University should ensure that internal controls implemented are functioning as designed including related information technology controls. Views of Responsible Officials: Management agrees with the finding. The over-awards in the first issue were caused by manual intervention in student packaging when additional financial aid funds were added by staff members. In OSFP, manual awarding overrides the system edits in place to prevent over-awarding from occurring. The aid awarded should have been adjusted downward as to not exceed the total cost of attendance. The second issue was a systemic error for eighty-four students enrolled in the International Dental Program. The script used to build the cost of attendance in OSFP doubled one of the cost components in the 2022-2023 academic year.
2023 002 Eligibility Student Financial Assistance Cluster: U.S. Department of Education Federal Pell Grant Program (ALN 84.063) Federal Direct Student Loans (ALN 84.268) Federal Grant Numbers: E-P063P130272 (7/1/2022 - 6/30/2023), P268K130272 (7/1/2022 - 6/30/2023) Statistically Valid Sample: No, and it was not intended to be Prior Year Finding: Not a repeat finding. Finding Type: Material Weakness and Noncompliance Criteria: Calculation of Benefits Awards must be coordinated among the various programs and with other federal and nonfederal aid (need and non-need based aid) to ensure that total aid is not awarded in excess of the student’s financial need or cost of attendance (34 CFR 668.42, FWS, and FSEOG, 34 CFR 673.5 and 673.6; Direct Loan, 34 CFR 685.301). The determination of need-based SFA award amounts is based on financial need. Financial need is defined as the student’s cost of attendance (COA) minus the student’s expected family contribution (EFC) (as computed by the central processor and included on the student’s Student Aid Report (SAR)). Once a student is awarded any financial aid, to find remaining financial need one would use the following formula --COA minus EFC minus Estimated Financial Assistance (EFA) (§ 668.2) = remaining need. To avoid overpayments, need-based SFA awards cannot exceed the student’s overall financial need. Non need-based SFA awards are not limited to financial need but cannot exceed the student’s COA. To determine non need-based SFA awards (unsubsidized aid) one would use the following formula – COA minus EFA. For Title IV programs, the COA is generally the sum of the following: tuition and fees; an allowance for books, supplies, transportation, and miscellaneous personal expenses; an allowance for room and board; when applicable, allowances for costs for dependent care; costs associated with study abroad and cooperative education; costs related to disabilities; and fees charged for student loans. There are exceptions for students attending less than halftime, correspondence students, and incarcerated students. The financial aid administrator also has authority to use professional judgment to adjust the COA or alter the data elements used to calculate the EFC on a case-by-case basis to allow for special circumstances. Further, the University must establish and maintain effective internal controls over Federal programs designed to provide reasonable assurance that transactions are executed in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award that could have a direct and material effect on a Federal program. Condition and Context: We selected forty-three students for testwork who received financial aid disbursements during the year and noted the following: • Two students in our sample were awarded non-need based aid that resulted in the students being awarded in excess of their cost of attendance. After further analysis provided by the University, it was determined that a total of ninety-six students were over-awarded by $437,213. The amount is broken down as follows: fifty-six students were over-awarded and over-disbursed Federal aid totaling $263,522 which is considered a questioned cost, thirty-eight students were over-awarded and over-disbursed institutional aid totaling $165,327 and two students were over-awarded and over-disbursed private loans totaling $8,364. • The cost of attendance for one student in our sample was incorrectly calculated. The University has various cost of attendance calculations for different schools and/or programs of study. For this student’s program of study, certain cost components were doubled resulting in an inflated cost of attendance. The student selected for testwork was not awarded in excess of their correct cost of attendance. After further analysis provided by the University, it was determined that this issue impacted a total of eighty-four students (third year students had an additional 13,930 added to their cost of attendance and fourth year students had a total of $10,845 added to their cost of attendance). Of the eighty-four students, forty-two were over-awarded and over-disbursed Federal aid totaling $449,672 which is considered a questioned cost. The remaining forty-two students were not awarded in excess of their correct cost of attendance. In addition, as noted in finding 2023-001, the general information technology controls over the new Oracle Student Financial Planning (OSFP) system were determined to be ineffective and as such the related downstream key application controls could not be relied upon. Therefore, controls related to this compliance requirement could not be tested. Cause: For the two students awarded in excess of cost of attendance, the additional non-need based aid was awarded to the student and manually applied to the student’s account, which resulted in the cost of attendance to be overridden and the student to be awarded in excess of the student’s cost of attendance. For the one student who had an incorrect cost of attendance calculation, certain cost components were doubled for this program of study when entered in the system for student packaging. Effect: For the first issue noted above, fifty-six students were awarded and disbursed Federal aid in excess of their cost of attendance by $437,213. For the second issue noted above, forty-two students were awarded and disbursed Federal aid in excess of their cost of attendance by $449,672. Questioned Costs: As noted above, questioned costs for the Federal Direct Student Loans totaled $713,194. Recommendation: We recommend that the University implement controls to prevent awards to students in excess of their cost of attendance and to ensure that cost of attendance components are correcly entered into the system prior to packaging. The University should ensure that internal controls implemented are functioning as designed including related information technology controls. Views of Responsible Officials: Management agrees with the finding. The over-awards in the first issue were caused by manual intervention in student packaging when additional financial aid funds were added by staff members. In OSFP, manual awarding overrides the system edits in place to prevent over-awarding from occurring. The aid awarded should have been adjusted downward as to not exceed the total cost of attendance. The second issue was a systemic error for eighty-four students enrolled in the International Dental Program. The script used to build the cost of attendance in OSFP doubled one of the cost components in the 2022-2023 academic year.
2023 003 Reporting (Financial) Student Financial Assistance Cluster: U.S. Department of Education Federal Pell Grant Program (ALN 84.063) Federal Direct Student Loans (ALN 84.268) Federal Grant Numbers: E-P063P130272 (7/1/2022 - 6/30/2023), P268K130272 (7/1/2022 - 6/30/2023) Statistically Valid Sample: No, and it was not intended to be Prior Year Finding: Not a repeat finding. Finding Type: Material Weakness and Noncompliance Criteria: SFA – Title IV Programs Institutions submit Direct Loan, Pell Grant, TEACH Grant, and IASG origination records and disbursement records to the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) system. Origination records can be sent well in advance of any disbursements, as early as the institution chooses to submit them for any student the institution reasonably believes will be eligible for a payment. An institution follows up with a disbursement record for that student no earlier than (1) seven calendar days prior to the disbursement date under the Advance or Heightened Cash Monitoring 1 payment methods, or (2) the date of the disbursement under the Reimbursement or Heightened Cash Monitoring 2 Payment Method (see Federal Register, Volume 86, Number 119, June 24, 2021). The disbursement record reports the actual disbursement date and the amount of the disbursement. ED processes origination and/or disbursement records and returns acknowledgments to the institution. The acknowledgments identify the processing status of each record: Rejected, Accepted with Corrections, or Accepted. In testing the origination and disbursement data, the auditor should be most concerned with the data ED has categorized as accepted or accepted with corrections. Institutions must report student disbursement data within 15 calendar days after the institution makes a disbursement or becomes aware of the need to make an adjustment to previously reported student disbursement data or expected student disbursement data. Institutions may do this by reporting once every 15 calendar days, bi-weekly or weekly, or may set up their own system to ensure that changes are reported in a timely manner. Key items to test on origination records, if applicable, are: Social Security number, award amount, enrollment date, verification status code (when the applicant is selected for verification), transaction number, cost of attendance, and the “Academic Start Date” and “Academic End Date”. Key items to test on disbursement records are disbursement date and amount. Further, the University must establish and maintain effective internal controls over Federal programs designed to provide reasonable assurance that transactions are executed in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award that could have a direct and material effect on a Federal program. Condition and Context: During our testing of the key items on the origination records, we noted the following: • For twenty of the twenty Pell disbursements selected for testwork, the cost of attendance did not agree between University records and the COD system. • For twenty-seven out of the forty-one Direct Loan disbursements selected for testwork, the cost of attendance did not agree between University records and the COD system. • For fourteen of the twenty Pell disbursements selected for testwork, the enrollment date did not agree between University records and the COD system. • For thirty of the forty-one Direct Loan disbursements selected for testwork, the academic start date did not agree between University records and the COD system. In addition, as noted in finding 2023-001, the general information technology controls over the new Oracle Student Financial Planning (OSFP) system were determined to be ineffective and as such the related downstream key application controls could not be relied upon. Therefore, controls related to this compliance requirement could not be tested. Cause: Related to cost of attendance, the incorrect cost of attendance was sent to the COD system due to a system error that existed in the system prior to fiscal year 2024 causing the incorrect cost of attendance to be transmitted to COD. Related to academic start date for the Direct Loan transactions and enrollment date for the Pell transactions, the prior year academic start date was rolled forward for fiscal year 2023, however the first day of classes was not updated. Effect: The cost of attendance and academic start date was reported incorrectly in COD for these students. Questioned Costs: No questioned costs were noted as a result of the audit procedures performed. Recommendation: We recommend that the University ensure that the correct cost of attendance and academic start dates are reported to COD for each student. Views of Responsible Officials: Management agrees with the finding. The incorrect cost of attendance that was reported to COD was the result of a system defect which was reported to OSFP in September of 2023 when a staff member noticed a data mismatch between the University cost of attendance data and COD. OSFP corrected the defect, and the data has been correctly reported since November 23, 2023. The incorrect start date was the result of rolling over the 2021-2022 prior year dates during system start-up. In finalizing the dates for production, the start date year was properly updated but the start day was not updated correctly.
2023 003 Reporting (Financial) Student Financial Assistance Cluster: U.S. Department of Education Federal Pell Grant Program (ALN 84.063) Federal Direct Student Loans (ALN 84.268) Federal Grant Numbers: E-P063P130272 (7/1/2022 - 6/30/2023), P268K130272 (7/1/2022 - 6/30/2023) Statistically Valid Sample: No, and it was not intended to be Prior Year Finding: Not a repeat finding. Finding Type: Material Weakness and Noncompliance Criteria: SFA – Title IV Programs Institutions submit Direct Loan, Pell Grant, TEACH Grant, and IASG origination records and disbursement records to the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) system. Origination records can be sent well in advance of any disbursements, as early as the institution chooses to submit them for any student the institution reasonably believes will be eligible for a payment. An institution follows up with a disbursement record for that student no earlier than (1) seven calendar days prior to the disbursement date under the Advance or Heightened Cash Monitoring 1 payment methods, or (2) the date of the disbursement under the Reimbursement or Heightened Cash Monitoring 2 Payment Method (see Federal Register, Volume 86, Number 119, June 24, 2021). The disbursement record reports the actual disbursement date and the amount of the disbursement. ED processes origination and/or disbursement records and returns acknowledgments to the institution. The acknowledgments identify the processing status of each record: Rejected, Accepted with Corrections, or Accepted. In testing the origination and disbursement data, the auditor should be most concerned with the data ED has categorized as accepted or accepted with corrections. Institutions must report student disbursement data within 15 calendar days after the institution makes a disbursement or becomes aware of the need to make an adjustment to previously reported student disbursement data or expected student disbursement data. Institutions may do this by reporting once every 15 calendar days, bi-weekly or weekly, or may set up their own system to ensure that changes are reported in a timely manner. Key items to test on origination records, if applicable, are: Social Security number, award amount, enrollment date, verification status code (when the applicant is selected for verification), transaction number, cost of attendance, and the “Academic Start Date” and “Academic End Date”. Key items to test on disbursement records are disbursement date and amount. Further, the University must establish and maintain effective internal controls over Federal programs designed to provide reasonable assurance that transactions are executed in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award that could have a direct and material effect on a Federal program. Condition and Context: During our testing of the key items on the origination records, we noted the following: • For twenty of the twenty Pell disbursements selected for testwork, the cost of attendance did not agree between University records and the COD system. • For twenty-seven out of the forty-one Direct Loan disbursements selected for testwork, the cost of attendance did not agree between University records and the COD system. • For fourteen of the twenty Pell disbursements selected for testwork, the enrollment date did not agree between University records and the COD system. • For thirty of the forty-one Direct Loan disbursements selected for testwork, the academic start date did not agree between University records and the COD system. In addition, as noted in finding 2023-001, the general information technology controls over the new Oracle Student Financial Planning (OSFP) system were determined to be ineffective and as such the related downstream key application controls could not be relied upon. Therefore, controls related to this compliance requirement could not be tested. Cause: Related to cost of attendance, the incorrect cost of attendance was sent to the COD system due to a system error that existed in the system prior to fiscal year 2024 causing the incorrect cost of attendance to be transmitted to COD. Related to academic start date for the Direct Loan transactions and enrollment date for the Pell transactions, the prior year academic start date was rolled forward for fiscal year 2023, however the first day of classes was not updated. Effect: The cost of attendance and academic start date was reported incorrectly in COD for these students. Questioned Costs: No questioned costs were noted as a result of the audit procedures performed. Recommendation: We recommend that the University ensure that the correct cost of attendance and academic start dates are reported to COD for each student. Views of Responsible Officials: Management agrees with the finding. The incorrect cost of attendance that was reported to COD was the result of a system defect which was reported to OSFP in September of 2023 when a staff member noticed a data mismatch between the University cost of attendance data and COD. OSFP corrected the defect, and the data has been correctly reported since November 23, 2023. The incorrect start date was the result of rolling over the 2021-2022 prior year dates during system start-up. In finalizing the dates for production, the start date year was properly updated but the start day was not updated correctly.
2023 004 Special Tests (Enrollment Reporting) Student Financial Assistance Cluster: U.S. Department of Education Federal Pell Grant Program (ALN 84.063) Federal Direct Student Loans (ALN 84.268) Federal Grant Numbers: E-P063P130272 (7/1/2022 - 6/30/2023), P268K130272 (7/1/2022 - 6/30/2023) Statistically Valid Sample: No, and it was not intended to be Prior Year Finding: Not a repeat finding. Finding Type: Significant Deficiency and Noncompliance Criteria: Under the Pell grant and the Direct and Federal Family Education Loan programs, institutions are required to report enrollment information via the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) (OMB No. 1845 0035). The administration of the Title IV programs depends heavily on the accuracy and timeliness of the enrollment information reported by institutions. Institutions must review, update and certify student enrollment statuses, program information and effective dates that appear on the Enrollment Reporting Roster file or on the Enrollment Maintenance page of the NSLDS Professional Access (NSLDSFAP) website. The data on the institution’s Enrollment Reporting Roster, or Enrollment Maintenance page, is what NSLDS has as the most recently certified enrollment information. There are two categories of enrollment information; “Campus Level” and “Program Level,” both of which need to be reported accurately and have separate record types. Institutions are responsible for accurately reporting all Campus-Level Record data elements. The Department of Education (ED) considers the following data elements to be high risk: • OPEID number, enrollment effective date, enrollment status and certification date Institutions are responsible for accurately reporting all Program-Level Record data elements. The Department of Education (ED) considers the following data elements to be high risk: • OPEID number, CIP code, CIP year, credential level, published program length measurement, published program length, program begin date, program enrollment status and program enrollment effective date Institutions are responsible for timely reporting, whether they report directly or via a third-party servicer. Institutions must complete and return within 15 days the Enrollment Reporting roster file placed in their Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG) (OMB No. 1845-0002) mailboxes sent by ED via NSLDS. An institution determines how often it receives the Enrollment Reporting roster file with the default set at a minimum of every 60 days. Once received, the institution must update for changes in the data elements for the Campus Record and the Program Record identified above, and submit the changes electronically through the batch method, spreadsheet submittal, or the NSLDS website (Pell, 34 CFR 690.83(b)(2); FFEL, 34 CFR 682.610; Direct Loan, 34 CFR 685.309: Perkins 34 CFR 674.19(f)). Additionally, in accordance with Federal requirements, the University shall maintain internal controls over Federal programs designed to provide reasonable assurance that transactions are executed in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award that could have a direct and material effect on a Federal program. Condition and Context: The University utilizes the National Student Clearinghouse (the Clearinghouse) as a service provider for transmissions of its enrollment reporting changes to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS). The University receives the Enrollment Reporting Roster and updates it for changes in student status. The file is sent to the Clearinghouse who transmits the updated information to NSLDS. There were 40 students selected for testwork. For two of the forty students selected for testwork, the University did not report the student’s status change to NSLDS within 60 days as graduated to NSLDS on the Campus-Level Record. Students were reported 22 – 204 days late. For one of these two students, the degrees for their school were not part of the May submission and were instead posted late in July. After further analysis provided by the University, there were a total of 160 students who were impacted by this issue. Cause: As mentioned above, for one student, the degrees for their school were not part of the May submission and were instead posted late in July. One student graduated and immediately enrolled in a graduate program and therefore the graduation date was not reported timely. Effect: Student status changes not reported in a timely manner will cause the student to not enter into repayment status on a timely basis. Questioned Costs: No questioned costs were noted as a result of the audit procedures performed. Recommendation: We recommend the University review its current policies and procedures to ensure that all status changes are reported to NSLDS timely. Views of Responsible Officials: Management agrees with the finding. For the school where the degrees were not reported timely, there was a total of 160 students whose degree certification information was not reported by the school to the University Registrar in time to be included in the correct batch process. The file reporting May graduates was processed on July 3, 2023 and these students were not included. They were added to the next cycle which was beyond the 60-day requirement. The University Registrar will send a memorandum to all degree certifying officers at the University reminding them that degree certification must be completed by the appropriate date to be certain all students are included on the file that updates NSLDS with the graduation date. The Chancellor Unit registrars will be asked to send out reminders in the weeks leading up to the required submission date and to track the completion of degree certifications. There are instances where students begin enrollment in a new academic program before the degree certification process is completed. Those students are reported as enrolled to prevent them from being incorrectly placed into repayment. That causes the graduation date to be incorrectly reported on the program level record in a timely basis. A process will be developed to allow for the proper reporting of graduation information on the Program-Level Record to NSLDS even when the student remains currently enrolled at the University and is being reported as such on the Campus-Level Record.
2023 004 Special Tests (Enrollment Reporting) Student Financial Assistance Cluster: U.S. Department of Education Federal Pell Grant Program (ALN 84.063) Federal Direct Student Loans (ALN 84.268) Federal Grant Numbers: E-P063P130272 (7/1/2022 - 6/30/2023), P268K130272 (7/1/2022 - 6/30/2023) Statistically Valid Sample: No, and it was not intended to be Prior Year Finding: Not a repeat finding. Finding Type: Significant Deficiency and Noncompliance Criteria: Under the Pell grant and the Direct and Federal Family Education Loan programs, institutions are required to report enrollment information via the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) (OMB No. 1845 0035). The administration of the Title IV programs depends heavily on the accuracy and timeliness of the enrollment information reported by institutions. Institutions must review, update and certify student enrollment statuses, program information and effective dates that appear on the Enrollment Reporting Roster file or on the Enrollment Maintenance page of the NSLDS Professional Access (NSLDSFAP) website. The data on the institution’s Enrollment Reporting Roster, or Enrollment Maintenance page, is what NSLDS has as the most recently certified enrollment information. There are two categories of enrollment information; “Campus Level” and “Program Level,” both of which need to be reported accurately and have separate record types. Institutions are responsible for accurately reporting all Campus-Level Record data elements. The Department of Education (ED) considers the following data elements to be high risk: • OPEID number, enrollment effective date, enrollment status and certification date Institutions are responsible for accurately reporting all Program-Level Record data elements. The Department of Education (ED) considers the following data elements to be high risk: • OPEID number, CIP code, CIP year, credential level, published program length measurement, published program length, program begin date, program enrollment status and program enrollment effective date Institutions are responsible for timely reporting, whether they report directly or via a third-party servicer. Institutions must complete and return within 15 days the Enrollment Reporting roster file placed in their Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG) (OMB No. 1845-0002) mailboxes sent by ED via NSLDS. An institution determines how often it receives the Enrollment Reporting roster file with the default set at a minimum of every 60 days. Once received, the institution must update for changes in the data elements for the Campus Record and the Program Record identified above, and submit the changes electronically through the batch method, spreadsheet submittal, or the NSLDS website (Pell, 34 CFR 690.83(b)(2); FFEL, 34 CFR 682.610; Direct Loan, 34 CFR 685.309: Perkins 34 CFR 674.19(f)). Additionally, in accordance with Federal requirements, the University shall maintain internal controls over Federal programs designed to provide reasonable assurance that transactions are executed in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award that could have a direct and material effect on a Federal program. Condition and Context: The University utilizes the National Student Clearinghouse (the Clearinghouse) as a service provider for transmissions of its enrollment reporting changes to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS). The University receives the Enrollment Reporting Roster and updates it for changes in student status. The file is sent to the Clearinghouse who transmits the updated information to NSLDS. There were 40 students selected for testwork. For two of the forty students selected for testwork, the University did not report the student’s status change to NSLDS within 60 days as graduated to NSLDS on the Campus-Level Record. Students were reported 22 – 204 days late. For one of these two students, the degrees for their school were not part of the May submission and were instead posted late in July. After further analysis provided by the University, there were a total of 160 students who were impacted by this issue. Cause: As mentioned above, for one student, the degrees for their school were not part of the May submission and were instead posted late in July. One student graduated and immediately enrolled in a graduate program and therefore the graduation date was not reported timely. Effect: Student status changes not reported in a timely manner will cause the student to not enter into repayment status on a timely basis. Questioned Costs: No questioned costs were noted as a result of the audit procedures performed. Recommendation: We recommend the University review its current policies and procedures to ensure that all status changes are reported to NSLDS timely. Views of Responsible Officials: Management agrees with the finding. For the school where the degrees were not reported timely, there was a total of 160 students whose degree certification information was not reported by the school to the University Registrar in time to be included in the correct batch process. The file reporting May graduates was processed on July 3, 2023 and these students were not included. They were added to the next cycle which was beyond the 60-day requirement. The University Registrar will send a memorandum to all degree certifying officers at the University reminding them that degree certification must be completed by the appropriate date to be certain all students are included on the file that updates NSLDS with the graduation date. The Chancellor Unit registrars will be asked to send out reminders in the weeks leading up to the required submission date and to track the completion of degree certifications. There are instances where students begin enrollment in a new academic program before the degree certification process is completed. Those students are reported as enrolled to prevent them from being incorrectly placed into repayment. That causes the graduation date to be incorrectly reported on the program level record in a timely basis. A process will be developed to allow for the proper reporting of graduation information on the Program-Level Record to NSLDS even when the student remains currently enrolled at the University and is being reported as such on the Campus-Level Record.
2023 005 Procurement and Suspension and Debarment U.S. Department of Treasury: Pass Through - Office of the Secretary of Higher Education (OSHE) COVID-19 - State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (CSLFRF) (ALN 21.027) Grant Number: 2021-100-074-2400-085 Statistically Valid Sample: No, and it was not intended to be Prior Year Finding: Not a repeat finding. Finding Type: Material Weakness and Noncompliance Criteria: Non-federal entities are prohibited from contracting with or making subawards under covered transactions to parties that are suspended or debarred. “Covered transactions” include contracts for goods and services awarded under a non-procurement transaction (e.g., grant or cooperative agreement) that are expected to equal or exceed $25,000 or meet certain other criteria as specified in 2 CFR section 180.220. When a non-federal entity enters into a covered transaction with an entity at a lower tier, the non-federal entity must verify that the entity, as defined in 2 CFR section 180.995 and agency adopting regulations, is not suspended or debarred or otherwise excluded from participating in the transaction. This verification may be accomplished by (1) checking the System for Award Management (SAM) Exclusions maintained by the General Services Administration (GSA) and available at SAM.gov | Home (click on Search Record, then click on Advanced Search Exclusions) (Note: The OMB guidance at 2 CFR Part 180 and agency implementing regulations still refer to the SAM Exclusions as the Excluded Parties List System (EPLS)), (2) collecting a certification from the entity, or (3) adding a clause or condition to the covered transaction with that entity (2 CFR section 180.300). Additionally, in accordance with Federal requirements, the University shall maintain internal controls over Federal programs designed to provide reasonable assurance that transactions are executed in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award that could have a direct and material effect on a Federal program. Condition and Context: The University received federal grant funds passed through the State of New Jersey as an Appropriation in fiscal year 2023 and a portion of these funds were provided to a third party. Because of the dollar value of the funds provided, the University entered into a covered transaction with this third party. The University did not verify that the entity was not suspended or debarred prior to entering into the covered transaction. Cause: The transaction did not follow the University’s standard grants management process or normal procurement process because of the source of the funding. Both of these processes include a suspension and debarment check prior to payment, and therefore a check was not performed. Effect: Funds could have been provided to an entity who was suspended or debarred. Questioned Costs: We confirmed that the entity was not suspended or debarred. No questioned costs were noted as a result of the audit procedures performed. Recommendation: We recommend the University review its current policies and procedures to ensure that a suspension and debarment check is performed for all covered transactions prior to entering into the covered transaction. Views of Responsible Officials: Management agrees with the finding as the University did not perform a suspension and debarment check on the Developer, NJ Innovation Associates Urban Renewal LLC prior to entering into a covered transaction. It should be noted that the University has the appropriate procedures in place to ensure that suspension and debarment checks are performed for all covered transactions, prior to entering into the covered transaction, in the University’s normal course of business. However, the transaction in question was a non-typical event relating to a capital project and Master Lease Agreement, which is partially funded by Federal funds. Due to timing of approvals, including the Master Lease Agreements, and closing date of the property acquisition, the University had to initiate its “Emergency Domestic Wire Request” process for the land and closing transaction dated May 22, 2023, in the amount of $23,606,527.03. If it was not necessary to initiate this process, then the University’s typical procedures to check suspension and debarment would have occurred. The University will review it procedures for “Emergency Domestic Wire Requests” to ensure that when covered transactions involving Federal funds fall into this process, a suspension and debarment check is performed on covered transactions prior to entering into the covered transaction.