Finding Text
Federal Program:
U.S. Department of Education - Student Financial Assistance Cluster
Federal Direct Loan Program, 84.268
Criteria: The College is required to comply with 34 CFR Section 685.309(b).
Condition: During our testing of eligibility, official withdrawals, and student status changes for graduates, we selected 40, one, and 21 samples, respectively. We noted three instances in eligibility testing, one instance in official withdrawals, and one instance in student status change for graduates, where a students status changes were either not reported timely or accurately to the National Student Loan Database System (NSLDS).
Cause: The College did not have controls in place to ensure student's classification were being timely and accurately reported to the NSLDS.
Effect: Student status changes were not reported within the required timeframe under federal regulations or were reported with an incorrect enrollment status. The provisions of 34 CFR Section 685.309(b) were not followed and thus five students were not reported timely or accurately and subsequently not placed into loan repayment status in a proper manner.
Questioned Costs: There were no questioned costs associated with this finding.
Recommendation: We recommend that the College implement a control to ensure data is being reviewed for accuracy by the appropriate personnel before roster files are submitted to the NSLDS. In addition, we recommend that the College submit roster files on a regular basis.
View of Responsible Officials: The College concurs with the finding. The Registrar's Office will implement a system of reviews and controls that ensure timely and accurate reporting of student status changes to the National Student Loan System (NSLDS).