Finding Text
Federal Program
Federal Direct Student Loan Program (DL) CFDA No. 84.268
Name of Federal Agency
U.S. Department of Education (USDE)
Pass-through Entity
N/A
Criteria
34 CFR 685.309 (b)(2)(ii) states that unless it expects to submit its next updated enrollment report to the
Secretary within the next sixty (60) days, a school must notify the Secretary within thirty (30) days after the
date the school discovers that; 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 school, 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 a student who is enrolled at the school and who received a loan under title IV of the Act has
changed his or her permanent address.
Condition
As part of our testing of nine (9) students who graduated and/or withdrew during fiscal year 2024, we noted
the following instances of non-compliance:
1. Three (3) students for which the University did not report to the National Student Loan Data System
the student status changes.
2. Two (2) students for which the University did not report to the National Student Loan Data System
the student status changes within the required 60 days’ period.
Cause
Late submissions were mainly caused due to lack of internal controls and procedures in the process of
information submission to National Student Loan Data System.
Effect
As a result of this condition, the USDE was prevented from the use of accurate reporting data, which is
critical for the effective administration of the Direct Loan Program and for USDE budgetary policy analysis.-40-
Questioned Cost
None
Context
Of the forty-one (41) status changes for 2024, we selected nine (9) students for testing and noted five (5)
instances in which the University did not comply with the enrollment reporting requirements.
Identification of a Repeat Finding
This is a repeat finding from the immediate previous year’s audit (Finding No. 2023-002).
Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions
The University management agrees with this finding. Responsible Official Francisco Ortiz, President (787)
761-0640. Please refer to the corrective action plan on pages 42-43.
Recommendation
Management should reassess the process and timeframe in which the University submits the information to
the National Student Loan Data System and monitoring to ensure they comply with the reporting timeframe.
The University should enhance both electronic and manual procedures to ensure enrollment status
changes are timely and accurately reported to the National Student Loan Data System.