Finding Text
Federal Program Information: Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (“FSEOG”) (ALN: 84.007)
Criteria or Specific Requirement (Including Statutory, Regulatory or Other Citation): E. Eligibility – Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (Assistance Listing 84.007) - The FSEOG program provides grants to eligible undergraduate students who have not previously earned a bachelor’s or first professional degree. Priority is given to Pell Grant recipients who have the lowest expected family contributions. The institution decides the amount of the grant, which can be up to $4,000 but not less than $100, for an academic year (34 CFR 676.10 and 676.20).
Condition: The University did not give priority to Federal Pell Grant recipients when awarding and disbursing FSEOG funds.
Cause: Administrative oversight.
Effect: The University is not in compliance with aid awarding criteria under the eligibility requirements.
Questioned Costs: None.
Context: The University improperly prioritized disbursing FSEOG funds to 2 students during the year over Federal Pell Grant recipients.
Identification of Repeat Finding: This is a repeat of prior year finding 2023-002.
Recommendation: We recommend the University enhance its procedures and internal controls to ensure that Title IV aid is properly awarded.
Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: During the 2024 fiscal year, the Financial Aid office experienced several staffing changes, including hiring a new Director of Financial Aid. The University transitioned from a manual awarding process to an automated process after last year’s audit but not in time to change some of the 23-24 awards. In the past FSEOG funds were used to assist students to pay off balances allowing them to register for the next semester. This practice in no longer being followed beginning with the 24-25 academic year. In addition, the Financial Aid office will review all 2024-2025 FSEOG awards to ensure that FSEOG is only awarded to Pell recipients.