Audit 370701

Student Financial Assistance Cluster Assistance Listing Number 84.268 Federal Direct Student Loans and 84.063 Federal Pell Grant Program U.S. Department of Education Program Year 2024-2025 Criteria or Specific Requirement - Disbursements to or on behalf of students, 34 CFR Section 668.164(h)(2) Condition - Students did not receive refunds within the required timeframe. Questioned Costs - N/A Context - Seven out of 25 students tested received their credit balance refund more than 14 days after the credit balance was generated. All but one of these students received their refund within 16 days of the generation of the credit balance. Our sample was not, and was not intended to be, statistically valid. Effect - Noncompliance with federal regulations requiring timely disbursement of credit balance refunds Cause - Due to the high volume of credit balance refunds being processed, the University encountered operational constraints that prevented all refunds from being generated within the designated 14-day timeframe. Indication as a Repeat Finding - N/A Recommendation – To ensure timely refunds of student credit balances, the University should implement a control that flags any refund not processed before the end of the 14-day timeframe for immediate review and escalation. Additionally, establish a monitoring report to track refund timeliness weekly and reinforce accountability for processing within the required timeframe. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions – Management agrees with the finding and the Director of Student Financial Services and the Assistant Director of Student Financial Services will oversee the corrective action plan. As part of this process, they will review the daily Student Refund Report to identify and assist the personal financial counselor in expediting student refunds. The Student Financial Services team will also review and retrain on the proper procedures for processing refunds within the required time frame.

Student Financial Assistance Cluster Assistance Listing Number 84.268 Federal Direct Student Loans and 84.063 Federal Pell Grant Program U.S. Department of Education Program Year 2024-2025 Criteria or Specific Requirement – Special Tests and Provisions – Enrollment Reporting – 34 CFR Sections 690.83(b)(2) and 685.309 Condition – Student enrollment and program information was not communicated to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) timely or accurately. Questioned Costs – N/A Context – A total of seven out of 40 students tested were noted to have at least 1 error in enrollment or program information reported to NSLDS within the required 60 days. Our sample was not, and was not intended to be, statistically valid. Effect – NSLDS was not notified of student status changes or program information in accordance with compliance requirements. Cause – The University did not have effective internal control processes in place to ensure the accurate collection, review, and reporting of student status changes occurred timely or accurately. The recent turnover in personnel resulted in a lack of oversight as well. Indication as a Repeat Finding – Yes Recommendation – The University should review its internal controls surrounding the enrollment reporting process and ensure internal controls provide for the timely and accurate reporting of student status changes. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions - Management agrees with the finding and the Registrar will oversee the two-fold corrective action plan. First, we are immediately reviewing our degree posting policy and dates to create a more effective and standardized process. This policy review will enable us to properly assess any delayed completers and ensure that students are "completed" in our systems and reported to NSLDS in a more timely and accurate manner. Additionally, we are updating our formal, step-by-step written procedure manual for all enrollment reporting processes, with a specific focus on degree conferral and the subsequent reporting to NSLDS. This updated manual will serve as a crucial resource to ensure procedural consistency, especially during personnel changes. Second, we are enhancing our training protocols and internal controls. All staff members involved in the NSLDS reporting process will be required to attend mandatory, recurring training to ensure they are up-to-date on all compliance requirements. We will also implement a more robust system of checks and balances to verify the accuracy of the data before it is submitted to NSLDS. By taking these steps, the University is dedicated to improving its internal controls and fully remediating this finding.