Finding 1171866 (2025-001)

Assistance Listing, Federal Agency, and Program Name 84.007, 84.063, 84.268, 84.379, 93.264; U.S. Department of Education; Federal Supplemental Opportunity Grants, Federal Pell Grant Program, Federal Direct Student Loans, Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education Grants, Nurse Faculty Loan Program Federal Award Identification Number and Year N/A Pass through Entity N/A Finding Type Significant deficiency Repeat Finding No Criteria In accordance with 2 CFR 200.303, the University must establish and maintain effective internal control over its federal awards in order to provide reasonable assurance that it is managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards. Specifically for Title IV programs, 34 CFR 668.164(h)(2) requires institutions to disburse credit balances directly to the student or parent no later than 14 days after the credit balance occurs after the first day of class. Condition The University did not have adequate controls in place to ensure that credit balances were refunded timely within the 14 calendar day requirement. Questioned Costs N/A Identification of How Questioned Costs Were Computed N/A Context Of the 40 student credit balances tested within the Student Financial Assistance (SFA) Cluster, 1 student was identified with credit balances refunded after the 14 calendar day requirement. All refunds tested were ultimately disbursed to the appropriate student or parent (for Parent PLUS loans). However, for the exception noted, the Pell Grant refund was issued 1 day late and the Parent PLUS Loan refund was issued 36 days late. Cause and Effect The University's Bursar's Office experienced a period of short staffing during which there was no designated backup to perform credit balance refund processing. As a result, when the primary individual responsible for monitoring and issuing refunds was unavailable, the University did not have sufficient coverage or compensating controls to ensure timely processing. This staffing limitation resulted in the delayed refund for the 1 identified student credit balance within the tested sample. Recommendation We recommend that the University revise its credit balance review procedures to ensure that all credit balances are consistently identified and monitored as a part of the University's weekly review process. The University should also ensure there is appropriate designated backups for credit balance refund processing. Views of Responsible Officials and Corrective Action Plan Management has implemented a process to ensure that credit balances are processed within the 14 calendar day requirement. A workflow hierarchy is in place to ensure adequate staffing and training, preventing processing delays. Any deviations from the normal processing of credit balances will be sent to the relevant department immediately for further action.