Finding Text
Finding 2024-002: Enrollment Reporting (Significant Deficiency)
Federal Program - Federal Direct Student Loans, Federal Pell Grant Program
Federal Agency - U.S. Department of Education
Pass-Through Entity - Not Applicable
ALN - 84.268, 84.063
Federal Award Year - June 30, 2024
Criteria: Title IV regulations (34 CFR 685.309(b)) require that upon receipt of an enrollment report from the Secretary, institutions must update all information included in the report and return the report to the Secretary: (i) in the manner and format prescribed by the Secretary; and (ii) within the timeframe prescribed by the Secretary. Unless it expects to submit its next updated enrollment report to the Secretary within the next 60 days, an institution must notify the Secretary within 30 days after the date the institution discovers that: (i) a loan under Title IV of the Act was made to or on behalf of a student who was enrolled or accepted for enrollment at the institution, and the student has ceased to be enrolled on at least a half-time basis or failed to enroll on at least a half-time basis for the period for which the loan was intended; or (ii) a student who is enrolled at the institution and who received a loan under Title IV of the Act has changed his or her permanent address.
Condition/Context: For 4 of the 25 students tested, their enrollment status was incorrectly reported as withdrawn to the National Student Loan Data Systems (NSLDS). The sample was not a statistically valid sample but was determined using Chapter 21 - Audit Sampling Considerations of Uniform Guidance Compliance Audits of the Government Auditing Standards and Single Audit Guide.
Cause: An error report from the Clearinghouse had been sent to the College with respect to the affected students' enrollment statuses and was not addressed on a timely basis.
Effect: The accuracy of Title IV student loan records depends heavily on the accuracy of the enrollment information reported by the College. If an institution does not review, update and verify student enrollment statuses, effective dates of the enrollment status and the anticipated completion dates, then the Title IV student loan records will be inaccurate and could affect student loan repayments.
Questioned Costs: None
Recommendation: The College should review its policy on enrollment reporting to NSLDS to ensure all status changes during the year are reported in a timely and accurate manner.
Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: The College agrees to the finding. An error report from the Clearinghouse had been sent to the College with respect to the affected students' enrollment statuses and was not addressed on a timely basis. The College has reviewed its policy and will add a secondary review process to its enrollment reporting to address all received error reports. The Assistant Registrar will address all error reports timely and make the appropriate corrections to the enrollment reporting.
Since the NSLDS monitors the programs of attendance and the enrollment status of Title IV aid recipients, as the independent check and balance, the Financial Aid Office will review the NSLDS error reports for enrollment discrepancies and collaborate with the Registrar's office for their timely correction in the Clearinghouse.