Finding 1160853 (2025-001)

Federal program Federal Direct Student Loans AL #: 84.268 Award Year: 2024/2025 Type of finding Significant Deficiency and Noncompliance Compliance requirement Enrollment Reporting Criteria Under 34 CFR 685.309, Institutions are required to report enrollment information under the Pell grant and the Direct and FFEL loan programs via the NSLDS. Institutions must review, update, and certify student enrollment status, program information, and effective dates that appear on the Enrollment Reporting Roster file or on the Enrollment Maintenance page of the NSLDS Professional Access website which the financial aid administrator can access for the auditor.Condition An error was identified by the University when completing a return of Title IV funds calculation for a student’s withdrawal in Spring 2025. During the calculation process, the Associate Director of Financial Aid Compliance noticed that the student was reported as withdrawn since 2023, when they were should have been shown as active as they were still attending classes. She brought the error to the attention of the Registrar office, who helped identify the root cause. Although the error was identified during the year, it was not corrected timely. It was subsequently corrected in June 2025. Questioned costs None Context The student’s enrollment status was inaccurately reported as withdrawn since the Fall 2023 semester. Cause A student within one of the University’s graduate programs requested a major change in Fall 2023 which was inaccurately reported by a staff member as a withdrawal. The student’s enrollment status was inaccurately listed within NSLDS as withdrawn since that time rather than active. This error was subsequently corrected in June 2025. Effect The student’s enrollment status was listed correctly within the University’s system, therefore, there was no effect to the accuracy of aid distributed or return of funds. Repeat finding No Recommendations We recommend that the University have controls in place to review the status change information included in the batch reports prior to uploading the data to NSLDS to ensure that all required reporting is completed timely and accurately. View of responsible officials The University has implemented data checks for program/plan issues as part of our 12th class day reporting/clean-up. Institutional Research will run these with their other data checks. Any records flagged for errors and anomalies will be reviewed and corrected by the Registrar’s Office including any updates to enrollment reporting with the National Student Clearinghouse. The University also implemented targeted training for staff in the Brite Divinity School on accurate plan code assignment and its direct impact on enrollment reporting. The enhanced training and communication protocols will significantly reduce the risk of similar human errors.