Finding 1172419 (2025-001)

Material Weakness Repeat Finding
Requirement
N
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2025
Accepted
2026-02-04
Audit: 385537
Auditor: EIDE BAILLY LLP

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: There is a significant deficiency in the College's internal controls for reporting student enrollment statuses to NSLDS, leading to inaccuracies.
  • Impacted Requirements: Institutions must report enrollment information accurately and within 60 days to ensure compliance with federal financial assistance programs.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: The College should establish a robust control process to ensure timely and accurate reporting of student status changes to NSLDS.

Finding Text

Direct Program - Department of Education Student Financial Assistance Cluster Federal Financial Assistance Listing: 84.007, 84.033, 84.063, 84.268 Award Numbers: P007A242416, P033A242416, P063P242851, P268K252851 Compliance Requirement: Special Tests & Provisions – NSLDS Reporting Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency in Internal control over Compliance Criteria: Institutions are required to report enrollment information under the Pell Grant and the Direct Loan and FFEL programs via the NSLDS (OMB No. 1845-0035). The administration of the Title IV programs depends heavily on the accuracy and timeliness of the enrollment information reported by institutions. Institutions must review, update, and certify student enrollment statuses, program information, and effective dates that appear on the Enrollment Reporting Roster file or on the Enrollment Maintenance page of the NSLDS Professional Access (NSLDSFAP) website. The data on the institution’s Enrollment Reporting Roster, or Enrollment Maintenance page, is what NSLDS has as the most recently certified enrollment. The Certification Date must be within 60 days of the Effective Date of the Status reported. Condition: In our testing of 60 samples, we noted 10 students whose enrollment status change was not reported within the required timeframe or was not reported accurately. Cause: The College’s existing control procedures to ensure that student status changes are reported accurately and timely in NSLDS were not functioning. Effect: An incorrect status could impact a student’s future awarding and packaging of Title IV. Questioned Costs: None reported. Context/Sampling: Nonstatistical sample of 60 students receiving financial aid out of approximately 600 total students receiving financial aid. Repeat Finding from Prior Year: No. Recommendation: The College should implement a control process to ensure student status changes are reported accurately and timely on NSLDS. Views of Responsible Officials: The College’s management agrees with the finding.

Corrective Action Plan

Finding: 2025-01 Federal Agency Name: Department of Education Assistance Listing Number: 84.007, 84.033, 84.063, 84.268 Award Numbers: P007A242416, P033A242416, R063P242851, P268K252851 Program Name: Student Financial Aid Cluster Finding Summary: In the current fiscal year, the College failed to identify populations whose enrollment status changed and accurately report changes to National Student Clearinghouse and the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS). This issue was discovered during the annual audit of student financial aid files. Of the565 Title-IV recipients for the affected terms, 37 students (6.5%) have been identified as affected by this issue. Corrective Action: The process has been reviewed and updated to correct this issue. • The Information Technology department has developed an internal script to actively identify and update student enrollment status records whose enrollment statuses have not already changed in the College’s School Information System, which then allows the student files to be identified in National Student Clearinghouse reporting procedures. • A report was created and is checked monthly to screen student accounts for manual review in case script developed does not update student records with new enrollment statuses. This report includes the date of status change for manual auditing of reason for status change in manual review. Responsible Individual: Cameron Brown, Director, Financial Aid Completion Date: August 2025

Categories

Student Financial Aid

Other Findings in this Audit

  • 1172416 2025-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1172417 2025-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1172418 2025-001
    Material Weakness Repeat

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
84.063 FEDERAL PELL GRANT PROGRAM $2.63M
84.268 FEDERAL DIRECT STUDENT LOANS $1.29M
84.042 TRIO STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES $419,200
47.076 STEM EDUCATION (FORMERLY EDUCATION AND HUMAN RESOURCES) $144,594
84.002 ADULT EDUCATION - BASIC GRANTS TO STATES $143,453
84.007 FEDERAL SUPPLEMENTAL EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY GRANTS $48,748
84.048 CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION -- BASIC GRANTS TO STATES $46,192
59.037 SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTERS $45,694
47.083 INTEGRATIVE ACTIVITIES $43,771
93.859 BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH AND RESEARCH TRAINING $42,272
84.033 FEDERAL WORK-STUDY PROGRAM $37,269
84.334 GAINING EARLY AWARENESS AND READINESS FOR UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMS $3,017
17.261 WORKFORCE DATA QUALITY INITIATIVE (WDQI) $424