Corrective Action Plans

Recommendation: We recommend the District review the R2T4 requirements and implement procedures to ensure award adjustments as determined by the R2T4 calculations are being properly adjusted to the student’s account and the correct amounts are being returned to the Department. Response to Recommendation: The District acknowledges the importance of adhering to R2T4 requirements and has taken the following actions to address this recommendation: The District adjusted the student samples as notated by auditors. Samples with discrepancies have been recalculated based on R2T4 requirements and correct amounts have been returned to the Department of Education. Verification of corrected R2T4 calculations was provided to auditors. Action taken in response to finding: 1. Consultant Engagement: o A NASFAA-certified consultant with extensive experience as a financial aid director has been hired to assist the R2T4 team during the 2024-2025 aid year. o The consultant will review all R2T4 calculations to ensure compliance and accuracy. Additionally, a secondary staff member is assisting in reviewing all 2024-2025 R2T4 calculations. 2. Training Initiatives o Provided department-wide training on R2T4 policies and procedures. o Delivered in-depth training sessions specifically tailored for the R2T4 team. o The R2T4 team has successfully completed NASFAA’s R2T4 course series to enhance their expertise. 3. Staffing Adjustments o An Accounting Technician under the direction of the District Business Manager will be assigned to Financial Aid to support R2T4 processing and reconciliation to ensure accuracy and compliance. o Additionally, this Accounting Technician will need to have view-only access to all data and reports available in the Student Financial Aid module contained in Colleague in o order to be effective in providing meaningful analysis and reconciliation of student-level detail to summary ledgers and reports contained in the Fiscal Services module of Colleague and other financial reporting tools. 4. Process Improvements o Instruct the R2T4 team to use the Department of Education’s R2T4 worksheet in the COD system instead of the R2T4 module in Colleague. o This change addresses the lack of automation and checks in the Colleague system, which has been a contributing factor to discrepancies. o Financial Aid has reached out and established rapport and protocols with academic and registrar offices to enhance understanding of academic engagement, registration processes, and data fields. o The department has updated the policy and procedures manual, including cheat sheets to clarify points of regulatory interpretation along with El Camino’s data fields to use. 5. System and Workflow Evaluation o Identified that the R2T4 module in Colleague lacks automation or checks and balances to flag manual input discrepancies. o Future plans include exploring system enhancements or alternatives to improve functionality and reduce reliance on manual calculations. o The District has begun evaluating ways to improve the R2T4 reports to help automate this process as much as possible. Name of the contact person responsible for corrective action: Chau Dao, Director of Financial Aid & Basic Needs Planned completion date for corrective action plan: Implementation Timeline:  Consultant Review: Begin immediately, with ongoing review throughout the 2024-2025 aid year; retain consultant services for 2025-2026 aid year.  Training: Complete with Spring 2025 R2T4 calculation, with periodic refresher sessions scheduled on an annual basis.  Staffing Request: The Accounting Technician position will be assigned no later than July 1, 2025. This position shall be filled by existing accounting staff or, if needed, a new employee.  Process Transition: Full transition to the COD system worksheet for R2T4 calculations with the Fall 2024 term R2T4 calculation.  System Evaluation: Initiate and maintain ongoing discussions with IT and software providers, leveraging opportunities from conferences, networking events, and training sessions to explore and implement improvements. Monitoring and Evaluation:  Conduct monthly audits of R2T4 calculations to identify and address errors promptly.  Maintain ongoing collaboration with the consultant to refine processes and implement best practices.  Evaluate the effectiveness of new training and staffing adjustments after six months and report findings.

2024‐002: Special Tests and Provisions – NSLDS Enrollment Reporting Student Financial Aid Cluster – Assistance Listing No. 84.063, 84.268 Condition: During testing of the enrollment status reporting, we noted that the incorrect enrollment status and effective date was included in NSLDS. Recommendation: The institution should evaluate their procedures and policies related to reporting status changes and effective dates to NSLDS and enhance as deemed necessary to ensure that accurate information is reported to NSLDS. Explanation of disagreement with audit finding: There is no disagreement with the audit finding. Action taken in response to finding: Howard Community College will work with Records, Registration and Veterans Affairs (RRVA) to conduct a thorough review of the current policies and procedures for reporting student enrollment status changes and effective dates to NSLDS and then subsequently implement process improvements to ensure that our process aligns with federal regulations. Name(s)  of  the  contact  person(s)  responsible  for  corrective  action:  Jessica  Peterson,  Registrar Planned completion date for corrective action plan: June 30, 2026

2024 – 005: Population for Return of Title IV Funds Student Financial Aid Cluster – Assistance Listing No. 84.063, 84.268, 84.007, 84.033 Condition: The College was unable to provide the required population for the students that withdrew during the fiscal year in a timely manner. Recommendation: It is recommended that the College strengthens its internal controls and improves coordination among departments to ensure timely submission of required data for the Return of Funds. This may include implementing a more robust tracking system, providing additional training to staff, and establishing clear deadlines and responsibilities for data submission. Explanation of disagreement with audit finding: There is no disagreement with the audit finding. Action taken in response to finding: Financial Aid Services will work with the Administration Information Systems department along with other stakeholders to strengthen its internal controls and improve communication. Additionally, Howard Community College will work with AIS to develop and implement a more robust system to track and review the data required to complete the Return of Funds process. Name(s) of the contact person(s) responsible for corrective action: Detra Hooper, Financial Aid Services Planned completion date for corrective action plan: June 30, 2026 If the U.S. Department of Education has questions regarding this plan, please call Detra Hooper, Financial Aid Services Director at 443‐518‐4776.

2024 – 004: Fiscal Operations Report and Application to Participate (FISAP) Reporting Student Financial Aid Cluster – Assistance Listing No. 84.063, 84.268, 84.007, 84.033 Condition: The documents retained by the University to support amounts included in the FISAP did not agree to the FISAP. Recommendation: It is recommended that the College strengthens its internal controls and verification  processes  to  ensure  the  accuracy  of  data  reported  in  the  FISAP.  This  may  include creating a formalized review process for the FISAP and ensuring all supporting schedules used to populate the form are centrally stored. Explanation of disagreement with audit finding: There is no disagreement with the audit finding. Action taken in response to finding: Financial Aid Services has created a formalized review process for FISAP and created a central location to store data. This review process includes multiple staff members and internal controls for future review. Name(s) of the contact person(s) responsible for corrective action: Detra Hooper, Financial Aid Services Director Planned completion date for corrective action plan: June 30, 2025

2024‐003: Special Tests and Provisions – Gramm‐Leach‐Bliley Act Student Financial Aid Cluster – Assistance Listing No. 84.063, 84.268, 84.007, 84.033 Condition: Certain elements of the College’s information security program were not maintained in written form. Recommendation:  We  recommend  the  College  ensure  its  written  information  security  program addresses the required minimum elements as outlined in 16 CFR 314.4. Explanation of disagreement with audit finding: There is no disagreement with the audit finding. Action  taken  in  response  to  finding:  Howard  Community  College  will  work  with  the  Administrative Information Systems (AIS) department to conduct a thorough review of the written information security program to ensure the necessary elements are included and meeting the minimum requirements as outlined in 16 CFR 314.4. Name(s) of the contact person(s) responsible for corrective action: Tyria Stone, Executive Vice President, Finance & Administration

Management agrees with the finding and recommendation. The University will implement a process that ensures notification from the Registrar when a student drops from any course or from the University. A review of R2T4 will be completed at that time if deemed necessary. The process will be reviewed annually by the University to ensure compliance.

Condition: Of the 40 students selected for Return of Title IV (R2T4) testing, 1 student did not have the appropriate amount returned to the federal agency. Planned Corrective Action: To prevent human error from occurring in the future, the Office of Financial Aid has immediately implemented the following process: When a recipient of Title IV grant or loan assistance withdraws from Eastern Michigan University and a Return of Title IV calculation is performed, a Senior Financial Aid Advisor or member of the Financial Aid Management staff will review all required returns completed to ensure accuracy. This review will occur on a weekly basis. Contact person responsible for corrective action: Jennifer Tremewan, Asst. Director Office of Financial Aid Anticipated Completion Date: December 31, 2024

Condition: Of the 40 students selected for enrollment reporting testing, 5 students did not have their status updated appropriately. Planned Corrective Action: The Office of Financial Aid has implemented a process to communicate and confirm with the office responsible for enrollment reporting to verify that enrollment rosters will not be/have not been sent after a semester has officially ended. Contact person responsible for corrective action: Jennifer Tremewan, Asst. Director Office of Financial Aid Anticipated Completion Date: December 31, 2024

Finding Summary: When a recipient of a Title IV grant or loan assistance withdraws from an institution during a payment period or period of enrollment in which the recipient began attendance, the institution must determine the amount of Title IV grant or loan assistance the student earned as of the student’s withdrawal date and must return the amount of Title IV funds for which it was responsible as soon as possible but no later than 45 days after the date of the institution’s determination that the student withdrew (34 CFR 668.22(j)(1)). Annual Single Audit review of Return to Title IV (R2T4) funds found that the return of federal funds was outside the required window. All necessary funds were returned during the 23-24 funding period. While R2T4 calculations were performed within the required time limit, there were three total students with returns that were outside the return window for the 23-24 Academic Year. Corrective Action Plan (CAP): The Associate Director of Financial Aid will be the primary staff member responsible for the R2T4 calculations and returns. If they are unavailable in a given week, the Executive Director will perform the weekly calculations needed. To ensure that the calculations and returns are completed within federal guidelines, the Associate Director will block 2-4 hours at the beginning of each week of the semester to review the prior week’s withdrawals and perform all necessary calculations and returns. At the end of each week, the Associate Director and the Executive Director will meet to review the prior week’s calculations and returns to ensure all returns have been processed through the Department of Education Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) website. A checklist has been created with all the necessary steps for each return, with a sign-off and documentation required to be attached as proof of completion. Anticipated Completion Date: The procedures will be implemented for the 2024-2025 Financial Aid Year. Responsible Parties: Beatrice LaChance

Finding No. 2024-001: Controls Over Student Financial Assistance Special Tests and Provisions – Enrollment Reporting (Repeated from Finding No. 2022-001 and 2023-001) Condition: During the compliance testing of “Special Tests and Provisions” requirements related to Enrollment Reporting, we noted the following exceptions: • Two (2) students were not reported to the Clearinghouse after withdrawing from the institution. Plan: After contacting Jenzabar One, the College has determined it cannot alter the pre-made Clearinghouse report; however, the College can alter its withdrawal process to ensure accurate withdrawal dates are reported in the correct area within the SIS. Admissions and Records will modify withdrawal and school determination dates, so the SIS gathers the correct information to be reported for future reporting. The Registrar will also work with and crosscheck students with Financial Aid to ensure all students who attended, but dropped before census, will be reported to the Clearinghouse. Anticipated Date of Completion: January 2025 Name of Contact Person: Dr. Stephanie Hartford, Provost

Management’s View and Corrective Action Plan: Management concurs with the above finding, and it has been corrected. In the case of A01441826, when the student’s enrollment was captured for Title IV eligibility (02/01), the student was enrolled in 10 credit hours. The student’s 3 credit hour CIS 146 class was deleted on 02/21 and Financial Aid was unaware. This caused the overpayment. In the case of A01454524, enrollment was captured for Title IV eligibility (02/01), the student was enrolled in 13 credit hours, but only 10 of those were in the student’s program of study. The student made an adjustment to their schedule and dropped the class that was out of program and picked up a class in program. This adjustment was not caught by Financial Aid. There is a report in ARGOS to assist with catching the multiple schedule changes. Moving forward there will be more than one person reviewing this report on a bi-weekly basis at a minimum. This report will be saved, and notes will be added so that it will be available to auditors moving forward. Corrective action will be implemented by April of 2025.

FISAP Reporting Planned Corrective Action: Independent of the individual who prepares the FISAP, Corban will assign another team member to review the completed FISAP for quality assurance (QA). We have retained all FISAP related records for the current year and are in the process of better organizing our FISAP files. Financial Aid professionals have also been added to internal meetings where decisions on programs, academic calendars, and other significant timing decisions are made to better enhance our ability to comply. Person Responsible for Corrective Action Plan: Jordan Lindsey, Vice President for Enrollment Management and Marketing Anticipated Date of Completion: 2/1/25

Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) Reporting Planned Corrective Action: The Financial Aid Office will conduct monthly reconciliations between student accounts and COD to identify mismatched disbursement dates and correct them. Person Responsible for Corrective Action Plan: Jordan Lindsey, Vice President for Enrollment Management and Marketing Anticipated Date of Completion: 2/1/25

Inaccurate Return of Title IV Funds (R2T4) Planned Corrective Action: The academic calendar has been updated between academic catalog and website ensuring better accuracy. Policies and procedures surrounding the date of withdrawal and what constitutes an academic break have also been corrected and understood across the Registrar and Financial Aid offices. Financial Aid professionals have also been added to internal meetings where decisions on programs, academic calendars, and other significant timing decisions are made to better enhance our ability to comply. Person Responsible for Corrective Action Plan: Jordan Lindsey, Vice President for Enrollment Management and Marketing Anticipated Date of Completion: 2/1/25

Finding: The University’s R2T4 calculation was improper for one student, as the student had not signed a promissory note for the direct loans and the direct loans should have not been included in the calculation. Corrective Actions Taken or Planned: The Director of Financial Aid reviews and processes the R2T4 calculations. The Director will reassess R2T4 calculations and verify that only aid with signed promissory notes are being included in R2T4 calculations. Internal policies and procedures have been updated to ensure accurate calculations. Person Responsible: Teresa Brahm, TBrahm@dbq.edu Anticipated completion date: 09/25/2024

Finding: The University did not timely or accurately report enrollment changes to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS). Corrective Actions Taken or Planned: The Registrar’s Office submits a monthly report to the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC). To ensure withdraw dates during the academic year are being reported on a timely basis Financial Aid Office will manually check and enter dates of withdrawn students to NSC and National Student Loan Data Systems (NSLDS). Students who have withdrawn at the end of the spring semester will be manually entered and monitored closely by the Registrar’s Office who will adjust reporting schedule to ensure timely reporting of withdrawn dates Financial Aid Office and Registrar’s Office have been continually working together to ensure timely and accurate reporting of withdrawal dates. Person Responsible: Teresa Brahm, TBrahm@dbq.edu Anticipated completion date: 09/25/2024

Villanova University agrees with this finding. During the year, there was turnover at the University, and we acknowledge the training of new staff must be a priority to ensure continuity of key controls. Appropriate training and new internal control processes that would have detected this error have been implemented. The department has created a submission file consisting of new graduates only to be transmitted to the National Student Clearinghouse at the end of May and another at the end of June to identify any additional students to report. In addition, the University has created a Graduation Audit Report to be used internally to verify the change in status for students who graduated, and a final validation check performed by the Senior Assistant Registrar for Student History to confirm accuracy of student status. Name of contact person: Susan Morgan, Director of Technical Student Systems, Registrars Office Anticipated Completion date: May 2025 in conjunction with the next submission of graduation files

Student Financial Assistance Cluster – Assistance Listing No. Various Recommendation: We recommend the University review the R2T4 requirements and implement procedures to ensure the R2T4 calculations are completed timely and accurately. Explanation of disagreement with audit finding: There is no disagreement with the audit finding. Action taken in response to finding: On October 26, 2024, three modifications were made to the reporting tool the financial aid office uses for Return of Title IV Funds calculations to draw attention to situations when the “student completed more than 49% of a course” exception applies. First, we added a formula to the "5 - Title IV Checklist Revised" sheet in cell D16:F17. If the answer to question 11 "Exemption 3b: Successfully complete >49%?" is Yes, the following narrative will appear in blue, bold, font: "Student Completed more than 49% of a modular course; Exemption 3b applies; NOT a Withdrawal. R2T4 NOT Required. Might need to recalc aid." Second, we modified a formula in cell J34 on the "2 - R2T4 Calc Required" sheet, so that if there is a "yes" in cell C45 (indicating the student qualifies for the "completed more than 49% of a modular course" exemption), then the following phrase will appear in bold, red font: "Student Completed more than 49% of a modular course; Exemption 3b applies; NOT a Withdrawal. R2T4 NOT Required. Might need to recalc aid." Third, we added a formula to cell E36 on the "2 - R2T4 Calc Required" sheet, so that if there is a "yes" in cell C45 (indicating the student qualifies for the "completed more than 49% of a modular course" exemption), then the following phrase will appear in bold, blue font: "Student Completed more than 49% of a modular course; Exemption 3b applies; NOT a Withdrawal. R2T4 NOT Required. Might need to recalc aid." In addition, we completed additional training with the financial aid staff who complete R2T4 calculations to ensure they (a) understand rules related to the “student completed more than 49% of a course” exception, and (b) are aware of the additional warning messages that will appear in our R2T4 calculation spreadsheet. Name of the contact person responsible for corrective action: Jeffrey D Olson, Interim Director of Financial Aid Planned completion date for corrective action plan: October 26, 2024.

Student Financial Assistance Cluster – Assistance Listing No. Various Recommendation: We recommend the University review its reporting procedures to ensure that students’ statuses are accurately and timely reported to NSLDS as required by regulations. Explanation of disagreement with audit finding: There is no disagreement with the audit finding. Background: The Bethel University Registrar is responsible for ensuring timely and accurate reporting to NSLD via the National Student Clearinghouse. Cheryl Fisk was appointed to serve as University Registrar on August 1, 2022. While new to Bethel, she is not new to Clearinghouse reporting. She assumed the oversight of the Clearinghouse reporting and is working to ensure timely, accurate submissions. • Bethel reports student enrollment to NSLDS via the National Student Clearinghouse • Currently, the people involved in the process include: o Data Management Team: Ana Ortiz, Records and Data Specialist o Registrar Staff: Cheryl Fisk, University Registrar o Information Technology Service Staff: Bethel Information Technology Staff Based on the previous audit, adjustments were made to standardize the submissions to the Clearinghouse. Extra efforts were made to ensure that needed corrections were done within the required time frame. We have started to simplify our degree conferral policy to improve the accuracy of the reporting of graduates. However, because of major changes in the Information Technology Department staffing, we were not able to research how the submission reports are compiled or the automatic process that is used to clean and prepare the data before it is added to the submission reports. We have reviewed the Clearinghouse training. We have also sought the advice from other institutions who report to the Clearinghouse. We originally thought that the frequency of our batches was the problem. However, it appears that the issues may be in the way the submission data are prepared and compiled into the submission reports. Multiple reports must be compiled and then combined to create the submission for both branches. Corrective Action: Our corrective action will involve several parts. • First, we will work ITS staff to determine which fields and tables the submissions are using to create the Clearinghouse reports. Currently, the submission batches are reporting on two branches where multiple terms (i.e. termcodes) are involved. The reports may need to some revision. • Second, we will be proactive in confirming that the Clearinghouse has received our submissions and has processed them in a timely manner • Third, we will monitor closely what the Clearinghouse records show for graduation and withdrawal dates for students in comparison to what is in our student information system to ensure they are in sync. Then we will double check that information to what is showing at NSLDS. Corrections will be made if needed. • Fourth, we will continue to adjust our conferral process to ensure that graduation information is reported in a timely way • Fifth, we will confer with the Financial Aid Office when dealing with complicated registration changes. This will ensure we are in sync in our interpretations of the situation. • Sixth, we will continue to take advantage of Clearinghouse, Banner, and any other related training opportunities. Name of Contact person Responsible for Corrective Action: Cheryl Fisk Planned completion date for the correction action plan: June 1, 2025. This will provide time to test corrective measures to ensure everything is submitting properly.

Finding: The University is required to report changes in student status within sixty days to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) and, per the testing performed, seven students, whose status changed during the period under audit, were not communicated within the required sixty days to the NSLDS. View of responsible officials and corrective action: Management understands the importance of timely reporting of student status changes to NSLDS. The Registrar’s Office has implemented a process change to generate the reports at the 15th and the end of every month for reporting to NSLDS. This should ensure that students that have a late change are identified when the report is run at the end of the month.

Finding: During testing of Perkins Loan Recordkeeping and Record Retention, the University could not provide a signed promissory note for three out of four loans selected for testing. View of responsible officials and corrective action: Management understands the recommendation and the need to retain the records of former students. While we are certain that required documentation exists or existed at one time, the passage of time and lack of digital backups impaired our ability to produce the documents. Since the loans related to the missing documents are currently in repayment status, we feel that provides assurance that the former students did sign the loan agreement. However, we understand the need to retain all critical forms for our students.

Finding: During the course of testing return of Title IV funds, the calculation was not accurate for one student from the sample and therefore the proper amount of funds to be returned in the appropriate time required was not accurate. View of responsible officials and corrective action: Management understands the need for accurate calculation of funds to be returned. An additional step has been added to the process for the return of Title IV funds process. All calculations are now reviewed by a manager before release to ensure funds are calculated correctly and returned in the appropriate timeframe.

Recommendation: We recommend the University review current processes for reporting to NSLDS and implement procedures to ensure submissions are reported timely and accurately. Explanation of disagreement with audit finding: There is no disagreement with the audit finding. Action taken in response to finding: The errors noted in the finding resulted from a missing step in the reconciliation process. Until recently the Registrar’s office relied on an error report from NSC to help identify any issues that might be noted in the student files. The findings noted, reenforced that this process alone was not sufficient to capture all errors. To ensure that these types of errors do not reoccur, subsequently, the registrars office team has initiated an additional monthly reconciliation between the NSLDS and internal student management system. This reconciliation will show any status variance or date mismatches. Any variances noted will be updated in the NSC/NSLDS system. Name(s) of the contact person(s) responsible for corrective action: Sarah Harris, Director, Office of Financial Aid Planned completion date for corrective action plan: December 2024

Management agrees with the finding and recommendation. The University will implement a process that ensures notification from the Registrar when a student drops from any course or from the University. A review of R2T4 will be completed at that time if deemed necessary. The process will be reviewed annually by the University to ensure compliance.

Student Financial Assistance Cluster-Assistance Listing No. 84.0007, 84.033, 84.063, 84.268 Recommendation: We recommend the University review its policies and procedures related to Title IV outstanding checks to ensure they are being returned to the Department of Education after 240 days. Explanation of disagreement with audit finding: There is no disagreement with the audit finding . Action taken in response to finding : La Salle University will identify outstanding not cashed checks for each term. A term is normally 4 months in total as each semester generates a list of uncashed checks. Within two weeks of establishing outstanding checks, we will send letters to students informing them that they have outstanding refund checks. For approximately six months, the process of reviewing the outstanding list repeats, and if a check has not been cashed, another letter of notice is mailed. After six months, finance will send the outstanding list to Student Financial Services for a 30-day final review/outreach. At 21 O days from original refund issuance, Finance will provide the list to Financial Aid who will return balances to DOE. Name(s) of the contact person(s) responsible for corrective action: Zak Thornton, Assistant Vice President of Finance Planned completion date for corrective action plan: Corrected as of Spring 2025.