Finding Text
Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education
Federal Program Title: Student Financial Aid
Assistance Listing Number: Student Financial Aid Cluster
Award Period: July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024
Type of Finding:
Material Weakness in Internal Control Over Compliance
Other Matters
Criteria or Specific Requirement: The Code of Federal Regulations, 34 CFR 682.610, states that institutions must report accurately the enrollment status of all students regardless if they receive aid from the institution or not. This includes the enrollment effective date and related enrollment status, which must be reported for both the Campus-Level and the Program-Level. In addition, at a minimum, schools are required to certify enrollment every 60 days, and respond within 15 days of the date that NSLDS sends a Roster file to the school or its third-party servicer.
Condition: Of the 27 students selected for testing, 13 students had errors in enrollment status; the institution's record did not match what was reported to NSLDS. 3 students tested did not have enrollment data certified every 60 days. Additionally, 1 student’s enrollment status was not reported timely to NSLDS.
Questioned Costs: None
Context: During our testing, we noted the College did not have proper procedures in place to verify the reports sent to NSLDS are accurate and timely.
Cause: The College processes and controls did not ensure that student status changes were properly reported to NSLDS in a timely manner. The effective date should be the student's last date of attendance and academically-related activity.
Effect: The NSLDS system is not updated with the correct student information, which can cause a student to not properly enter the repayment period.
Repeat Finding: Yes, see finding 2023-001.
Recommendation: We recommend the College review its reporting procedures to ensure the students' statuses are accurately reported to NSLDS as required by regulations.
Views of Responsible Officials: There is no disagreement with the audit finding.