Finding Text
Federal Agency: United States Department of Education Federal Program Name: Student Financial Aid Assistance Listing Number: Student Financial Aid Cluster Award Period: July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025 Type of Finding: • Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance • Other Matters Criteria or Specific Requirement: The Code of Federal Regulations, 34 CFR 685.309 requires that enrollment status changes for students be reported to NSLDS within 30 days or within 60 days if the student with the status change will be reported on a scheduled transmission within 60 days of the change in status. In addition, regulations require the status include an accurate program effective date. Condition: During our testing, it was noted the program enrollment effective date per NSLDS did not match the College's records for 15 out of the 40 students tested. In addition, the change in status was not reported timely for 11 out of the 40 students tested. Questioned Costs: None Context: There were discrepancies between the program enrollment effective dates reported to NSLDS and the College's records as well as students did not have their enrollment status change updated timely. Cause: The College's current processes and controls did not ensure that student status changes and effective dates were accurately and timely reported to NSLDS. The effective date should be the student's last date of attendance and academically related activity. Effect: The College did not comply with Department of Education (ED) regulations by reporting student enrollment status changes timely and accurately. In addition, the NSLDS system is not updated with the correct student information which can cause a student to not properly enter the repayment period. Repeat Finding: Yes; 2024-001 Recommendation: We recommend the College evaluate its procedures and policies around reporting disbursements to NSLDS to ensure that student information is reported accurately and timely. Views of Responsible Official: There is no disagreement with the audit finding.