Finding 2025-001: Special Tests and Provisions – NSLDS Reporting Student Financial Assistance Cluster U.S. Department of Education Award Period: July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025 Responsible Persons: Heba Jahama, Director of Records and Registration, 609-771-2376, Billy Peitz, Associate Director of Recor...
Finding 2025-001: Special Tests and Provisions – NSLDS Reporting Student Financial Assistance Cluster U.S. Department of Education Award Period: July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025 Responsible Persons: Heba Jahama, Director of Records and Registration, 609-771-2376, Billy Peitz, Associate Director of Records, Reporting, and Enrollment, 609-771-2333 Corrective Action Plan: For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, the College had 1 student out of an initial sample of 40, for which it was noted that the enrollment effective date was reported by the College to the NSLDS inaccurately. The student was noted by the College as having a status of “LOA” (Leave of Absence), but this LOA was not reported to the NSLDS appropriately. Program-Level Enrollment data indicated this student as being withdrawn, but the Campus-Level Enrollment data did not. Additionally, 2 students out of an additional sample of 40 tested were found to have not followed the internal College policy for determining the enrollment effective date, despite internal College records matching those of the NSLDS. Lastly, for 1 out of the additional 40 students, the effective date per internal College records did not match NSLDS. The College recognizes the importance of ensuring accurate enrollment data regarding NSLDS reporting under the Pell Grant and the Direct Loan and FFEL programs via the NSLDS (OMB No. 1845-0035). Institutions must review, update, and certify student 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 (NSLDSFAP) website. The data on the institution’s Enrollment Reporting Roster, or Enrollment Maintenance page, is what NSLDS has as the most recently certified enrollment. There are two categories of enrollment information, “Campus Level” and “Program Level,” both of which need to be reported accurately and have separate record types. After a thorough review of the data errors, it was determined that the root cause was a lack of standardized business processes for LOA and Withdrawal actions. We have since implemented several corrective actions to ensure data integrity and institutional consistency. New procedural documentation has been established to clarify the standard operating procedure for LOAs and Withdrawals. This documentation provides a definitive framework for staff to ensure that term withdrawal dates within PAWS (the system of record) are perfectly aligned with program status updates transmitted to the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC). The updated operating procedures have been shared with all relevant personnel to ensure that staff members are proficient in the new PAWS-to-NSC alignment protocols. In addition, the College has noted that the date of record for student registration must serve as the primary trigger for external reporting. This eliminates inconsistencies between the date a student initiates a withdrawal and the date reported to external agencies. To mitigate the risk of reporting lags, the College has revised its reporting schedule. LOA and Withdrawal updates are now transmitted to the Clearinghouse on a regular, recurring basis, independent of the standard comprehensive enrollment file processing cycle. This ensures that student status changes are reflected in the NSC database timely. The College implemented the corrective action on 12/16/2025. Anticipated Completion Date: Completed in December 2025, with ongoing monitoring