Audit 389259

Finding 2025-002: Student Financial Aid Cluster – Allowable Costs and Allowable Activities and Eligibility Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education Program: Student Financial Assistance Cluster Criteria: The College is required to have controls in place to ensure students receive the proper amount of student financial assistance they are entitled to based on financial need. Condition: Our financial aid sample of 40 items tested yielded 31 students who received Direct Loan Funding. Of the 31 students who received Direct loan funding, we noted 1 instance where the student received the incorrect amount of Unsubsidized funding. Based on the students Student Aid Index, the student should have received $1,750 in Unsubsidized funding; however, they received $2,227 in Unsubsidized Direct Loan funding, resulting in an overpayment of Direct Loan funding of $477. Cause: The controls in place did not detect that the student had incorrectly been awarded assistance based on more than 30 credits when they actually had 25 credits. The additional 5 credits needed for the amount of the award were not earned until the following semester. Effect: Internal controls related to student financial assistance were not operating properly. Repeat Finding: This is not a repeat finding. Questioned costs: $477 Recommendation: We recommend the College develop systems that would detect credits posted but not earned to ensure proper student assistance is awarded. View of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Action: Management agrees. See Corrective Action Plan.

Finding 2025-003: Late Student Status Change Reporting Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education Program: Student Financial Assistance Cluster Criteria: 34 CFR 668.32 requires that an organization reports student status changes within 60 days of graduation, withdrawal, or other roster status changes. Condition: The change in status for 4 of 40 students tested was not reported to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) within 60 days of the change. Cause: Staffing changes during the year impacting the College’s internal control structure resulted in an administrative delay in reporting the changes to NSLDS. Effect: The effect of the condition described above was that the College was not in compliance with NSLDS reporting requirements. Repeat Finding: This is not a repeat finding. Questioned costs: There are no known questioned costs to report. Recommendation: We recommend that the College ensures sufficient staffing is available to report NSLDS requirements timely. View of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Action: Management agrees. See Corrective Action Plan.