Federal Program Information: Federal Pell Grant Program (ALN#: 84.063)
Criteria or Specific Requirement: L. Reporting – Common Origination and Disbursement System
Reporting: Institutions submit Federal Direct Loan Program, Federal Pell Grant Program, and TEACH Grant 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. The disbursement record reports the actual disbursement date and the amount of the disbursement. The U.S. Department of Education (the “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. 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.
Condition: The University failed to timely report Pell payment data for 1 of 25 selections.
Cause: Insufficient internal control and administrative oversight with respect to COD reporting.
Effect or Possible Effect: The University was not in compliance with the COD reporting requirements.
Questioned Costs: None.
Context: For 1 out of 25 Pell disbursement records selected for testing, the disbursement was not reported to COD within 15 calendar days.
Identification of Repeat Finding: There was a similar finding, 2023-001, identified during the
prior year.
Recommendation: We recommend the University enhance its procedures over disbursement record submissions to ensure timely and accurate reporting to COD.
Views of Responsible Officials: The student that was not reported within 15 calendar days was before we had a process in place to prevent this issue from happening. As a result of this finding, Financial Aid and Accounting are reconciling weekly to mitigate this issue.
Federal Program Information: Federal Direct Student Loan Program (ALN#: 84.268), Federal Pell Grant Program (ALN#: 84.063)
Criteria or Specific Requirement: N. Special Tests and Provisions – Campus Level Enrollment Reporting Institutions are required to report enrollment information under the Pell grant and the Direct and FFEL loan programs via the NSLDS (OMB No. 1845-0035), although FFEL loans are no longer made or a part of the SFA Cluster, a student may have a FFEL loan from previous years that would require enrollment reporting for that student (Pell, 34 CFR 690.83(b)(2); FFEL, 34 CFR 682.610; Direct Loan, 34 CFR 685.309; Perkins 34 CFR 674.19(f)). 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 which the financial aid administrator can access for the auditor. The data on the
institution’s Enrollment Reporting Roster, or Enrollment Maintenance page, is what NSLDS has as the most recently certified enrollment. 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.
Condition: The University failed to timely report student enrollment changes for 6 out of 25 selections.
Cause: Insufficient internal control and administrative oversight with respect to Campus Level enrollment reporting compliance requirements.
Effect or Possible Effect: The University was not in compliance with the Campus Level enrollment reporting compliance requirements.
Questioned Costs: None.
Context: For 6 out of 25 students selected for testing, the student enrollment status was not reported timely to NSLDS.
Identification of Repeat Finding: There was a similar finding, 2023-002, identified during the prior year.
Recommendation: We recommend the University enhance its procedures to ensure Campus Level enrollment reporting is submitted timely.
Views of Responsible Officials: Methodist University will enroll in the National Student Clearinghouse G from DV Process, which will eliminate the need to transmit a Graduates Only file. The student enrollment record will be updated to a graduated (G) status based on the transmission of the Degree Verify file only (see process workflow graphic below). Additionally, we will review the G status records generated from the Degree Verify file to ensure that the status was accurately applied to each student's enrollment record. Any status not applied will be updated manually by an office team member. Our goal for enrollment in this program is 12/13/2024 in order to pilot for the fall 2024 degree conferral date. Lastly, we will update our end-of-term processing documents to remove the NSC Graduates Only file transmission and add the updated
enrollment status review component once the Degree Verify file has been transmitted and processed by the NSC.
Federal Program Information: Federal Direct Student Loan Program (ALN#: 84.268), Federal
Pell Grant Program (ALN#: 84.063)
Criteria or Specific Requirement: Special Tests and Provisions – Disbursements to or on Behalf of
Students – Federal Student Aid (“FSA”) Credit Balances - Where disbursements created a credit balance in the student account and the student or parent did not provide an authorization for the institution to retain funds, the institution must provide the credit balance amount to the student within 14 days of the date the balance was created (34 CFR 668.164(h)).
Condition: Instance was identified where the University did not issue a refund within the required timeframe.
Cause: Administrative oversight with respect to disbursement to or on behalf of students.
Effect or Possible Effect: The University was not in compliance with disbursement to or on behalf of students.
Questioned Costs: None.
Context: For 1 of 25 students selected for testing, the University did not issue the refund within the required 14 days.
Identification of Repeat Finding: There was no similar finding identified during the prior year.
Recommendation: We recommend the University complete a timely review of credit balances in order to issue all refunds with respect to FSA credit balances within the required timeframe.
Views of Responsible Officials: We recently discovered an issue with our Title IV funds refunding report which impacted this student. The report viewing eligible Title IV recipients has been corrected.
Federal Program Information: Federal Direct Student Loan Program (ALN#: 84.268), Federal Pell Grant Program (ALN#: 84.063)
Criteria or Specific Requirement: N. Special Tests and Provisions – Campus Level Enrollment Reporting Institutions are required to report enrollment information under the Pell grant and the Direct and FFEL loan programs via the NSLDS (OMB No. 1845-0035), although FFEL loans are no longer made or a part of the SFA Cluster, a student may have a FFEL loan from previous years that would require enrollment reporting for that student (Pell, 34 CFR 690.83(b)(2); FFEL, 34 CFR 682.610; Direct Loan, 34 CFR 685.309; Perkins 34 CFR 674.19(f)). 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 which the financial aid administrator can access for the auditor. The data on the
institution’s Enrollment Reporting Roster, or Enrollment Maintenance page, is what NSLDS has as the most recently certified enrollment. 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.
Condition: The University failed to timely report student enrollment changes for 6 out of 25 selections.
Cause: Insufficient internal control and administrative oversight with respect to Campus Level enrollment reporting compliance requirements.
Effect or Possible Effect: The University was not in compliance with the Campus Level enrollment reporting compliance requirements.
Questioned Costs: None.
Context: For 6 out of 25 students selected for testing, the student enrollment status was not reported timely to NSLDS.
Identification of Repeat Finding: There was a similar finding, 2023-002, identified during the prior year.
Recommendation: We recommend the University enhance its procedures to ensure Campus Level enrollment reporting is submitted timely.
Views of Responsible Officials: Methodist University will enroll in the National Student Clearinghouse G from DV Process, which will eliminate the need to transmit a Graduates Only file. The student enrollment record will be updated to a graduated (G) status based on the transmission of the Degree Verify file only (see process workflow graphic below). Additionally, we will review the G status records generated from the Degree Verify file to ensure that the status was accurately applied to each student's enrollment record. Any status not applied will be updated manually by an office team member. Our goal for enrollment in this program is 12/13/2024 in order to pilot for the fall 2024 degree conferral date. Lastly, we will update our end-of-term processing documents to remove the NSC Graduates Only file transmission and add the updated
enrollment status review component once the Degree Verify file has been transmitted and processed by the NSC.
Federal Program Information: Federal Direct Student Loan Program (ALN#: 84.268), Federal
Pell Grant Program (ALN#: 84.063)
Criteria or Specific Requirement: Special Tests and Provisions – Disbursements to or on Behalf of
Students – Federal Student Aid (“FSA”) Credit Balances - Where disbursements created a credit balance in the student account and the student or parent did not provide an authorization for the institution to retain funds, the institution must provide the credit balance amount to the student within 14 days of the date the balance was created (34 CFR 668.164(h)).
Condition: Instance was identified where the University did not issue a refund within the required timeframe.
Cause: Administrative oversight with respect to disbursement to or on behalf of students.
Effect or Possible Effect: The University was not in compliance with disbursement to or on behalf of students.
Questioned Costs: None.
Context: For 1 of 25 students selected for testing, the University did not issue the refund within the required 14 days.
Identification of Repeat Finding: There was no similar finding identified during the prior year.
Recommendation: We recommend the University complete a timely review of credit balances in order to issue all refunds with respect to FSA credit balances within the required timeframe.
Views of Responsible Officials: We recently discovered an issue with our Title IV funds refunding report which impacted this student. The report viewing eligible Title IV recipients has been corrected.
Federal Program Information: Federal Pell Grant Program (ALN#: 84.063)
Criteria or Specific Requirement: L. Reporting – Common Origination and Disbursement System
Reporting: Institutions submit Federal Direct Loan Program, Federal Pell Grant Program, and TEACH Grant 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. The disbursement record reports the actual disbursement date and the amount of the disbursement. The U.S. Department of Education (the “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. 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.
Condition: The University failed to timely report Pell payment data for 1 of 25 selections.
Cause: Insufficient internal control and administrative oversight with respect to COD reporting.
Effect or Possible Effect: The University was not in compliance with the COD reporting requirements.
Questioned Costs: None.
Context: For 1 out of 25 Pell disbursement records selected for testing, the disbursement was not reported to COD within 15 calendar days.
Identification of Repeat Finding: There was a similar finding, 2023-001, identified during the
prior year.
Recommendation: We recommend the University enhance its procedures over disbursement record submissions to ensure timely and accurate reporting to COD.
Views of Responsible Officials: The student that was not reported within 15 calendar days was before we had a process in place to prevent this issue from happening. As a result of this finding, Financial Aid and Accounting are reconciling weekly to mitigate this issue.
Federal Program Information: Federal Direct Student Loan Program (ALN#: 84.268), Federal Pell Grant Program (ALN#: 84.063)
Criteria or Specific Requirement: N. Special Tests and Provisions – Campus Level Enrollment Reporting Institutions are required to report enrollment information under the Pell grant and the Direct and FFEL loan programs via the NSLDS (OMB No. 1845-0035), although FFEL loans are no longer made or a part of the SFA Cluster, a student may have a FFEL loan from previous years that would require enrollment reporting for that student (Pell, 34 CFR 690.83(b)(2); FFEL, 34 CFR 682.610; Direct Loan, 34 CFR 685.309; Perkins 34 CFR 674.19(f)). 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 which the financial aid administrator can access for the auditor. The data on the
institution’s Enrollment Reporting Roster, or Enrollment Maintenance page, is what NSLDS has as the most recently certified enrollment. 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.
Condition: The University failed to timely report student enrollment changes for 6 out of 25 selections.
Cause: Insufficient internal control and administrative oversight with respect to Campus Level enrollment reporting compliance requirements.
Effect or Possible Effect: The University was not in compliance with the Campus Level enrollment reporting compliance requirements.
Questioned Costs: None.
Context: For 6 out of 25 students selected for testing, the student enrollment status was not reported timely to NSLDS.
Identification of Repeat Finding: There was a similar finding, 2023-002, identified during the prior year.
Recommendation: We recommend the University enhance its procedures to ensure Campus Level enrollment reporting is submitted timely.
Views of Responsible Officials: Methodist University will enroll in the National Student Clearinghouse G from DV Process, which will eliminate the need to transmit a Graduates Only file. The student enrollment record will be updated to a graduated (G) status based on the transmission of the Degree Verify file only (see process workflow graphic below). Additionally, we will review the G status records generated from the Degree Verify file to ensure that the status was accurately applied to each student's enrollment record. Any status not applied will be updated manually by an office team member. Our goal for enrollment in this program is 12/13/2024 in order to pilot for the fall 2024 degree conferral date. Lastly, we will update our end-of-term processing documents to remove the NSC Graduates Only file transmission and add the updated
enrollment status review component once the Degree Verify file has been transmitted and processed by the NSC.
Federal Program Information: Federal Direct Student Loan Program (ALN#: 84.268), Federal
Pell Grant Program (ALN#: 84.063)
Criteria or Specific Requirement: Special Tests and Provisions – Disbursements to or on Behalf of
Students – Federal Student Aid (“FSA”) Credit Balances - Where disbursements created a credit balance in the student account and the student or parent did not provide an authorization for the institution to retain funds, the institution must provide the credit balance amount to the student within 14 days of the date the balance was created (34 CFR 668.164(h)).
Condition: Instance was identified where the University did not issue a refund within the required timeframe.
Cause: Administrative oversight with respect to disbursement to or on behalf of students.
Effect or Possible Effect: The University was not in compliance with disbursement to or on behalf of students.
Questioned Costs: None.
Context: For 1 of 25 students selected for testing, the University did not issue the refund within the required 14 days.
Identification of Repeat Finding: There was no similar finding identified during the prior year.
Recommendation: We recommend the University complete a timely review of credit balances in order to issue all refunds with respect to FSA credit balances within the required timeframe.
Views of Responsible Officials: We recently discovered an issue with our Title IV funds refunding report which impacted this student. The report viewing eligible Title IV recipients has been corrected.
Federal Program Information: Federal Direct Student Loan Program (ALN#: 84.268), Federal Pell Grant Program (ALN#: 84.063)
Criteria or Specific Requirement: N. Special Tests and Provisions – Campus Level Enrollment Reporting Institutions are required to report enrollment information under the Pell grant and the Direct and FFEL loan programs via the NSLDS (OMB No. 1845-0035), although FFEL loans are no longer made or a part of the SFA Cluster, a student may have a FFEL loan from previous years that would require enrollment reporting for that student (Pell, 34 CFR 690.83(b)(2); FFEL, 34 CFR 682.610; Direct Loan, 34 CFR 685.309; Perkins 34 CFR 674.19(f)). 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 which the financial aid administrator can access for the auditor. The data on the
institution’s Enrollment Reporting Roster, or Enrollment Maintenance page, is what NSLDS has as the most recently certified enrollment. 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.
Condition: The University failed to timely report student enrollment changes for 6 out of 25 selections.
Cause: Insufficient internal control and administrative oversight with respect to Campus Level enrollment reporting compliance requirements.
Effect or Possible Effect: The University was not in compliance with the Campus Level enrollment reporting compliance requirements.
Questioned Costs: None.
Context: For 6 out of 25 students selected for testing, the student enrollment status was not reported timely to NSLDS.
Identification of Repeat Finding: There was a similar finding, 2023-002, identified during the prior year.
Recommendation: We recommend the University enhance its procedures to ensure Campus Level enrollment reporting is submitted timely.
Views of Responsible Officials: Methodist University will enroll in the National Student Clearinghouse G from DV Process, which will eliminate the need to transmit a Graduates Only file. The student enrollment record will be updated to a graduated (G) status based on the transmission of the Degree Verify file only (see process workflow graphic below). Additionally, we will review the G status records generated from the Degree Verify file to ensure that the status was accurately applied to each student's enrollment record. Any status not applied will be updated manually by an office team member. Our goal for enrollment in this program is 12/13/2024 in order to pilot for the fall 2024 degree conferral date. Lastly, we will update our end-of-term processing documents to remove the NSC Graduates Only file transmission and add the updated
enrollment status review component once the Degree Verify file has been transmitted and processed by the NSC.
Federal Program Information: Federal Direct Student Loan Program (ALN#: 84.268), Federal
Pell Grant Program (ALN#: 84.063)
Criteria or Specific Requirement: Special Tests and Provisions – Disbursements to or on Behalf of
Students – Federal Student Aid (“FSA”) Credit Balances - Where disbursements created a credit balance in the student account and the student or parent did not provide an authorization for the institution to retain funds, the institution must provide the credit balance amount to the student within 14 days of the date the balance was created (34 CFR 668.164(h)).
Condition: Instance was identified where the University did not issue a refund within the required timeframe.
Cause: Administrative oversight with respect to disbursement to or on behalf of students.
Effect or Possible Effect: The University was not in compliance with disbursement to or on behalf of students.
Questioned Costs: None.
Context: For 1 of 25 students selected for testing, the University did not issue the refund within the required 14 days.
Identification of Repeat Finding: There was no similar finding identified during the prior year.
Recommendation: We recommend the University complete a timely review of credit balances in order to issue all refunds with respect to FSA credit balances within the required timeframe.
Views of Responsible Officials: We recently discovered an issue with our Title IV funds refunding report which impacted this student. The report viewing eligible Title IV recipients has been corrected.