Finding Text
Assistance Listing Number, Federal Agency, and Program Name - 84.268, U.S. Department of Education, Student Financial Assistance Program - Federal Direct Student Loan Program
Federal Award Identification Number and Year - P268K242876, 2023-2024
Pass-through Entity - None
Finding Type - Material weakness and material noncompliance with laws and regulations
Repeat Finding - No
Criteria - Before a direct disbursement loan disbursement, the institution must notify a student of the amount of funds that the student or their parent can expect to receive under each title IV, HEA program, and how and when those funds will be disbursed. If those funds include Direct Loan program funds, the notice must indicate which funds are from subsidized loans, which are from unsubsidized loans, and which are from PLUS loans. After the direct loan disbursement, the institution must provide timely notification to the student of the (1) date and amount of the disbursement, (2) student/parent’s right to cancel, and (3) procedure and time by which the student or parent must notify the institution that he or she wishes to cancel (34 CFR 668.165).
Condition - The College did not provide notifications to certain students related to direct loan disbursements.
Questioned Costs - None
Identification of How Questioned Costs Were Computed - N/A
Context - There were 7 students in a sample of 40 students receiving direct loans which did not receive a notification.
Cause and Effect - A control was lacking to ensure the notifications were sent to all students receiving direct loans.
Recommendation - We recommend a control be implemented to ensure notifications are sent to all students receiving direct loans.
Views of Responsible Officials and Corrective Action Plan - The director of financial aid will work with our information technology department to ensure the criteria used for triggering the notification emails is correct and capturing all the necessary students. Additionally, an exception report will be created to identify students who have not been sent the notification email for the financial aid department to review and then send the appropriate notification.