Finding Text
Direct Program - Department of Education
Student Financial Assistance Cluster
Federal Financial Assistance Listing: 84.007, 84.033, 84.063, 84.268
Award Numbers: Not Available
Compliance Requirement: Special Tests & Provisions – Disbursement to or on Behalf of Students
Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency in Internal control over Compliance
Criteria: 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. Institutions that do not implement an affirmative confirmation process must notify a student no earlier than 30 days before, but no later than seven days after, crediting the student’s account and must give the student 30 days (instead of 14) to cancel all or part of the loan.
Condition: In our testing of 60 samples, 9 students did not receive a timely notification of their award from the College.
Cause: In the current fiscal year, the District experienced a glitch in their notification system that caused the loan disbursement notifications to 616 students to not appropriately send out electronically in April 2024. The District’s issue was not discovered until the audit fieldwork in July 2024. The College sent the notifications in August 2024, well after the 30-day timeframe.
Effect: Students were not notified of their student financial aid award within 30 days of crediting the student account.
Questioned Costs: None reported
Context/Sampling: Nonstatistical sample of 60 students receiving financial aid out of 2,372 total students receiving financial aid.
Repeat Finding from Prior Year: No
Recommendation: The District should have a compensating control or process to ensure timely notifications of aid are delivered to students.
Views of Responsible Officials: The District’s management agrees with the finding.