Finding Text
Special Tests and Provisions – Return of Title IV Funds
Program Name: Student Financial Assistance Cluster
Federal Assistance Listing Numbers: 84.007, 84.033, 84.063, and 84.268
Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education (ED)
Direct funded by the U.S. Department of Education (ED)
Criteria or Specific Requirements:
Institution’s Return of Unearned Aid -
The institution must return the lesser of (1) the total amount of unearned Title IV assistance to be returned or (2) an amount equal to the total institutional charges incurred by the student for the payment period or period of enrollment multiplied by the percentage of Title IV grant or loan assistance that has not been earned by the student.
Student’s Return of Unearned Aid -
The amount a student is responsible for returning is calculated by subtracting the amount of unearned aid that the institution is required to return from the total amount of unearned Title IV assistance to be returned. However, the student need only return 50 percent of the total grant assistance that was disbursed (and that could have been disbursed) for the payment period or period of enrollment. After the 50 percent rule is applied, a student does not have to return an overpayment amount of $50 or less.
Condition:
Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance – During testing over the Return of Title IV requirements, the District returned the incorrect amount for 1 of 60 students (the District returned the student portion instead of the amount due from the institution).
Questioned Costs:
There are no questioned costs associated with the condition identified.
Context: We tested a non-statistical sample of 60 Return of Title IV calculations of a total 352 calculations performed by the District during the 2024 aid year.
Effect: Without proper monitoring of Return of Title IV calculations and amounts returned, the District risks noncompliance with the above referenced criteria.
Cause: The District did not implement procedures to ensure the correct portion (institutional vs. student) of the Title IV aid gets returned.
Repeat Finding (Yes or No)
No.
Recommendation: The District should implement a process to review unearned Title IV aid amounts prior to returning to Department of Education.