Finding 1161269 (2025-001)

Material Weakness Repeat Finding
Requirement
L
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2025
Accepted
2025-10-23
Audit: 371195
Organization: MacAlester College (MN)

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: The College lacks formal reviews of monthly reconciliations and internal controls over federal aid management.
  • Impacted Requirements: Compliance with 2 CFR section 200.303 is not being met, risking adherence to federal statutes and award conditions.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: The College should enhance its procedures to establish effective controls and catch inconsistencies throughout the year.

Finding Text

Federal Agency: Department of Education Federal Program Title: Student Financial Assistance Cluster Assistance Listing Number: 84.063, 84.268 Award Period: June 1, 2024 to May 31, 2025 Type of Finding: • Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance Criteria or Specific Requirement: The 2 CFR section 200.303 requires that non-federal entities receiving federal awards establish and maintain internal control over the federal awards that provides reasonable assurance that the non-federal entity is managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards. Condition: During our testing, we noted the College did not have a formal review of their monthly reconciliations of Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) data with student account records, federal aid packaging by financial aid staff, and monitoring of the G5 system to ensure timely return of undisbursed funds after 240 days. Questioned Costs: N/A Context: The College did not have proper internal controls in place during the 2024-25 academic year to ensure compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal award. Cause: The lack of documentation appears to stem from limited administrative capacity, particularly in the wake of operational disruptions and regulatory changes such as FAFSA Simplification. Effect: The College is not following the compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal award. Repeat Finding: No Recommendation: We recommend the College review its procedures to ensure controls are in place to ensure to catch any inconsistencies that occur during the year. Views of Responsible Officials: There is no disagreement with the audit finding.

Corrective Action Plan

Student Financial Assistance Cluster – CFDA No. 84.063, 84.268 Recommendation: We recommend the College review its procedures to ensure controls are in place to ensure to catch any inconsistencies that occur during the year. Explanation of disagreement with audit finding: No disagreement with the audit finding. Action taken in response to finding: The Financial Aid Office will maintain documentation of monthly communication between the External Programs Manager, the Financial Aid Director and the Director of Accounting, related to the monthly reconciliation of Federal Direct Loans, Federal Pell Grant. Federal SEOG and Federal Work Study programs. Name of the contact person responsible for corrective action: Jenae Schmidt, Director of Financial Aid Planned completion date for corrective action plan: September 30, 2025

Categories

Subrecipient Monitoring Allowable Costs / Cost Principles Significant Deficiency Matching / Level of Effort / Earmarking Internal Control / Segregation of Duties

Other Findings in this Audit

  • 1161267 2025-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1161268 2025-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1161270 2025-002
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1161271 2025-002
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1161272 2025-002
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1161273 2025-003
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1161274 2025-004
    Material Weakness Repeat

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
84.063 FEDERAL PELL GRANT PROGRAM $2.28M
84.268 FEDERAL DIRECT STUDENT LOANS $1.52M
84.038 FEDERAL PERKINS LOAN PROGRAM_FEDERAL CAPITAL CONTRIBUTIONS $703,891
47.050 GEOSCIENCES $391,248
84.033 FEDERAL WORK-STUDY PROGRAM $375,729
84.007 FEDERAL SUPPLEMENTAL EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY GRANTS $313,672
81.086 CONSERVATION RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT $270,730
47.070 COMPUTER AND INFORMATION SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING $108,515
16.525 GRANTS TO REDUCE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, DATING VIOLENCE, SEXUAL ASSAULT, AND STALKING ON CAMPUS $79,435
45.169 PROMOTION OF THE HUMANITIES OFFICE OF DIGITAL HUMANITIES $47,676
43.008 OFFICE OF STEM ENGAGEMENT (OSTEM) $19,852
47.075 SOCIAL, BEHAVIORAL, AND ECONOMIC SCIENCES $19,499
45.161 PROMOTION OF THE HUMANITIES RESEARCH $19,218
43.001 SCIENCE $15,876
47.074 BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES $13,650
12.431 BASIC SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH $5,954
47.049 MATHEMATICAL AND PHYSICAL SCIENCES $974