Audit 388474

Information on the Federal Program: Federal Agency: United States Department of Education (ED) Program Name: Student Financial Assistance Cluster CFDA: 84.063 - Federal Pell Grant Program 84.268 - Federal Direct Student Loans Federal Award Identification Number: N/A Federal Award Year: Year Ended May 31, 2025 Specific Requirement: Under the Federal Pell Grant and Federal Direct Loan Programs, institutions must complete and return within 15 days the Enrollment Reporting roster file placed in their Student Aid Internet Gateway mailboxes sent by ED via National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS). Institutions must review, update and verify 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 website. Also, an institution must notify NSLDS within 30 days after the date that the institution discovers that a direct loan was made to or on behalf of a student who was enrolled or accepted for enrollment at the institution, and the student has ceased to be enrolled on at least a half-time basis or failed to enroll on at least a half-time basis for the period for which the loan was intended (PELL, 34 CFR section 690.83(b)(2), and Direct Loans, 34 CFR section 685.309). Conditions Found: The University did not submit status changes for two students out of 18 students sampled within the required timeframe. Context: Two students were not submitted to NSLDS within the required timeframe due to their separation during off-cycle periods and the University’s failure to properly identify them, resulting in exclusion from scheduled transmissions. A review of the remaining population of 157 students not selected for testing identified four additional students with similar attributes. The sample of 18 students was selected using a nonstatistical sampling approach. Questioned Costs: None. Cause and Effect: The University was aware of the requirement to submit student status changes timely. Due to turnover within the University’s student financial services department, scheduled transmissions for off-cycle student status changes were missed. The effect of the noted conditions results in an inaccurate last date of attendance reported to NSLDS which is used to determine the date a student is to be placed into repayment status and begin making payments on student loans. Recommendation: We recommend the University review the system generated report to verify all students are included in addition to implementing a quality control review process to be completed monthly to help ensure all student changes are reviewed in a timely manner to ensure compliance with the 60 day requirement. Views of a Responsible Official and Corrective Action Plan: Management agrees with the finding and the recommendation. See Corrective Action Plan on page 39.