Finding Text
Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education
Federal Program Title: Student Financial Assistance Cluster
Assistance Listing Number: 84.063 – Federal Pell Grant Program, 84.268 – Federal Direct Student Loans
Pass-Through Agency: N/A
Pass-Through Number(s): N/A
Award Period: June 1, 2023 – May 31, 2024
Type of Finding:
• Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance
• Other Matters
Criteria or specific requirement: The Code of Federal Regulations, 34 CFR 685.309 requires that enrollment status changes for students be reported to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) within 30 days or within 60 days if the student with the status change will be reported on a scheduled transmission within 60 days of the change in status. Regulations require the status include an accurate effective date. In addition, 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. Errors must be corrected within 10 days.
Condition: While performing audit procedures, it was noted that 33 of the 40 students in our sample were not reported correctly to NSLDS. 4 of these students were not reported by the University within 60 days of their status change, and 1 student's enrollment was not verified every 60 days during the fiscal year. There were also 14 instances during 2024 where the roster was submitted with errors that were not corrected within 10 days.
Questioned costs: None.
Context: A control system to prevent and detect errors in the reporting process was not created to ensure all required reporting compliance was filed timely. Cause: The University’s processes and controls did not ensure that student status changes were properly and timely reported to NSLDS.
Effect: The errors were caused by National Student Clearinghouse's communication with NSLDS, as a result of the modernization of NSLDS in 2022. The University was told the errors would be fixed and there was nothing more they needed to do. The errors were not fixed.
Repeat finding: Yes, 2023-002
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.
Views of responsible officials: There is no disagreement with the audit finding.