Assistance Listing, Federal Agency, and Program Name 84.268 Federal Direct Student Loans, 84.379 Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education Grants (TEACH Grants), U.S. Department of Education (ED), Student Financial Assistance Cluster Federal Award Identification Number and Year - Various Pass through Entity - N/A Finding Type - Material weakness and material noncompliance with laws and regulations Repeat Finding - No Criteria - When Direct Loans or TEACH funds are being credited to a student’s account, the institution must notify the student, or parent, in writing of (1) the date and amount of the disbursement; (2) the student’s right, or parent’s right, to cancel all or a portion of that loan or loan disbursement and have the loan proceeds returned to the holder of that loan or the TEACH Grant payments returned to ED; and (3) the procedure and time by which the student or parent must notify the institution that he or she wishes to cancel the loan, TEACH Grant, or TEACH Grant disbursement (a minimum of 14 or 30 days depending on confirmation process). The notification requirement for loan funds applies only if the funds are disbursed by EFT payment or master check (34 CFR 668.165). Institutions that implement an affirmative confirmation process (as described in 34 CFR 668.165 (a)(6)(i)) must make this notification to the student or parent no earlier than 30 days before, and no later than 30 days after, crediting the student’s account at the institution with Direct Loan or TEACH Grants. Condition - The College did not notify students receiving loan or TEACH disbursements within 30 days of crediting the students' account. Questioned Costs - None If questioned costs are not determinable, description of why known questioned costs were undetermined or otherwise could not be reported - N/A Identification of How Questioned Costs Were Computed - N/A Context - The College provided notifications for the Fall 2024 semester in November 2024, more than 30 days after crediting the students' accounts. Cause and Effect - A control was lacking to ensure the notifications were provided to students within 30 days. As a result, the notifications were provided late in the Fall 2024 semester. Recommendation We recommend a control be implemented to ensure Direct Loan and TEACH notifications are provided to students timely. Views of Responsible Officials and Corrective Action Plan - The College agrees with the finding. The College will review the internal processes and procedures around student notification to ensure that all required notifications are completed within the designated timeframe. The CFO and Controller will work with the Financial Aid office to ensure the process is documented and complied with.
Assistance Listing, Federal Agency, and Program Name - 84.268 Federal Direct Student Loans, 84.007 Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, 84.033 Federal Work Study Program, 84.038, Federal Perkins Loan Program, 84.379 Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education Grants (TEACH Grants), 84.063 Federal Pell Grant Program, U.S. Department of Education (ED), Student Financial Assistance Cluster Federal Award Identification Number and Year - Various Pass through Entity - N/A Finding Type - Material weakness Repeat Finding - No Criteria - The College should have appropriate internal controls in place related to the version updates, patches, and modifications in the student and general ledger systems. Condition - The College did not have appropriate internal controls in place related to the version updates, patches, and modifications to the student and general ledger systems. Questioned Costs- None If questioned costs are not determinable, description of why known questioned costs were undetermined or otherwise could not be reported - N/A Identification of How Questioned Costs Were Computed - N/A Context - The College lacks a documented review of the testing of version updates, patches, and modifications to the student and general ledger systems by users outside of the information and systems personnel. In addition, the College lacks documented segregation of duties controls over the implementation of these changes as the same individual has the ability to implement changes in the test and production environments. Cause and Effect - The College had staff departures and generally a small information technology office that caused resource and process restrictions. As a result, the College was unable to implement controls to ensure appropriate documentation of the testing of system changes were maintained or ensure appropriate segregation of duties over the process. Recommendation - The College should implement controls to ensure appropriate documentation of all system changes is maintained while maintaining appropriate segregation of duties of the users with the ability to make system changes. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions - The College agrees with the finding. The CFO and Controller will work with the CIO to ensure that appropriate internal controls, including segregation of duties, around system upgrades, patches and modifications are completed. The internal control processes will cover the following key areas: • Planning and Authorization of the upgrade, patch or change • Implementation and Testing of the upgrade, patch or change, including user acceptance testing • Change Management and Documentation of the change, including logs or appropriate audit trails • Post Implementation Monitoring and Review
Assistance Listing, Federal Agency, and Program Name - 84.268 Federal Direct Student Loans, 84.038 Federal Perkins Loan Program, 84.063 Federal Pell Grant Program, U.S. Department of Education (ED), Student Financial Assistance Cluster Federal Award Identification Number and Year - Various Pass through Entity - N/A Finding Type - Significant deficiency Repeat Finding - Yes 2024 003 Criteria - Institutions are required to report enrollment information under the Pell Grant and the Direct Loan programs via the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) (OMB No. 1845 0035), (Pell, 34 CFR 690.83(b)(2); Direct Loan, 34 CFR 685.309; Perkins 34 CFR 674.19(f)). The Institution should be accurately notifying ED of changes in student enrollment information at the Campus Level and Program Level and timely notification of ED of certain changes for Direct Loan borrowers. Condition - The College did not accurately report certain changes to NSLDS. Questioned Costs - None If questioned costs are not determinable, description of why known questioned costs were undetermined or otherwise could not be reported - N/A Identification of How Questioned Costs Were Computed - N/A Context - Out of a sample of 40 students, 1 student's status change was not reported to NSLDS accurately. Cause and Effect - A control was lacking to ensure that all status changes were reported to NSLDS accurately. As a result, status changes were not reported accurately. Recommendation - We recommend a control be implemented to ensure all status changes are reported to NSLDS accurately. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions - The College agrees with the finding. The College acknowledges the error in reporting. The College will evaluate its internal control processes around data transmission through a third party to ensure that information is accurately reported to avoid future errors and make enhancements and improvements as necessary.
Assistance Listing, Federal Agency, and Program Name - 84.268 Federal Direct Student Loans 84.007 Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants 84.033 Federal Work Study Program 84.038 Federal Perkins Loan Program 84.379 Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education Grants (TEACH Grants) 84.063 Federal Pell Grant Program 84.042 TRIO Student Support Services 84.044 TRIO Talent Search 84.047 TRIO Upward Bound Federal Award Identification Number and Year - Various Pass through Entity - N/A Finding Type - Significant deficiency Repeat Finding - No Criteria - The entity should have established written procedures to implement the requirements of 2 CFR 200.305, as required by 2 CFR 200.305(b)(6), for cash management. Condition - The College did not have established written cash management procedures. Questioned Costs - None If questioned costs are not determinable, description of why known questioned costs were undetermined or otherwise could not be reported - N/A Identification of How Questioned Costs Were Computed - N/A Context - The College does not have written cash management procedures documented. Cause and Effect - A lack of documented cash management procedures could lead to not meeting the cash management regulations. Recommendation - We recommend cash management procedures be written to reflect the requirements of the regulations. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions - The College agrees with the finding. Although the College has processes in place to ensure appropriateness of draws and review of expenditures both individually and in aggregate, the process and procedures are not documented. The College will document cash management procedures and related internal controls.
Assistance Listing, Federal Agency, and Program Name - 10.766 Community Facilities Loans and Grants, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Federal Award Identification Number and Year - N/A Pass through Entity - N/A Finding Type - Material weakness Repeat Finding - No Criteria - USDA requires the Community Facilities Loans and Grants to be reflected on the schedule of expenditures of federal awards (SEFA) for continuing compliance requirements. Condition The College did not include their Community Facilities Loans on the Schedule of Federal Expenditures in prior years. Questioned Costs - None If questioned costs are not determinable, description of why known questioned costs were undetermined or otherwise could not be reported - N/A Identification of How Questioned Costs Were Computed - N/A Context - While the College did not include the loans on prior year SEFAs, the College included the loans on the current year SEFA subject to audit as a major program. Cause and Effect - A control was lacking to identify changes in the federal regulations pertaining to the Community Facilities Loans and Grants program. As a result, the SEFA was understated in prior years. Recommendation - We recommend a control be implemented to review all federal loans and grants programs for inclusion on the SEFA. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions - The College will ensure that updates to compliance requirements are identified and complied with through review of Compliance supplements and other resources. The College will continue to reconcile grant funds received to the SEFA to ensure that all appropriate programs are included.