Audit 372245

Finding: 2025-001 – Special Tests and Provisions – Student Awards Information of Federal Program: Student Financial Aid Cluster Federal Pell Grant Program – CFDA No. 84.063 Federal Family Education Loans – CFDA No. 84.032 Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant – CFDA No. 84.007 Federal Work-Study Program – CFDA No. 84.033 Criteria: In accordance with 2 CFR § 668.32 and the program regulations of the Federal Pell Grant Program, institutions must determine student eligibility and award amounts based on the student’s expected family contribution (EFC), enrollment status, and cost of attendance, as calculated using the U.S. Department of Education’s payment schedules. Under 2 CFR § 200.303 and § 200.62, the College must maintain effective internal controls to ensure accurate and complete award determinations for all Pell recipients. Condition: During testing of 40 Pell Grant recipients, we noted two students whose awards were not correctly calculated:  One student was over-awarded due to use of an incorrect enrollment status when determining the payment amount.  One student was under-awarded because the EFC used in the calculation did not agree to the value reported on the student’s Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR). These errors resulted in one Pell Grant being overstated and one being understated. Questioned Costs: The net questioned costs totaled $315.00 (consisting of an over-award of $428.00 and an under-award of $743.00). Because both occurred within the same program and offset in amount, the total questioned costs are not considered material to the program. Cause: The errors resulted from insufficient review controls over manual data entry of Pell calculations and failure to perform a secondary reconciliation between ISIR data and the financialaid management system prior to disbursement. Effect or Potential Effect: Improper Pell disbursements were made to two students, resulting in non-compliance with program regulations and the potential for repayment or future adjustment in federal funding. Context: We tested a nonstatistical sample of 40 Pell Grant recipients for compliance with federal eligibility and disbursement requirements. The two exceptions noted represent 5% of the sample and were isolated control errors rather than evidence of a systemic issue. No additional exceptions were identified in the remainder of the population tested. Repeat Finding: This is not a repeat finding from the prior year.Recommendation: We recommend that the College implement procedures to:  Require a secondary review and approval of all Pell award calculations prior to disbursement.  Periodically reconcile ISIR data to the financial aid management system.  Provide annual staff training on Pell Grant payment schedules and data entry accuracy. Views of responsible officials and planned corrective action: Management concurs with the finding, See the Corrective Action Plan (CAP) on pages 64 for detailed information regarding specific corrective steps and implementation timelines.