Finding 1172779 (2025-001)

Material Weakness Repeat Finding
Requirement
N
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2025
Accepted
2026-02-06

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: The District inaccurately reported enrollment effective dates for five out of sixty students in the NSLDS, failing to comply with federal requirements.
  • Impacted Requirements: Compliance with OMB guidelines for accurate reporting of student enrollment statuses and program information is essential.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: Implement a robust process to regularly review and verify enrollment data on the NSLDS to prevent future inaccuracies.

Finding Text

Special Test and Provisions – Enrollment Reporting Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education (ED) Pass-Through Entity: Direct Funded Program Name: Student Financial Assistance Cluster Assistance Listing Numbers: 84.007, 84.033, 84.063, 84.268 Award Identification Numbers: P007A240491, P033A240491, P063P241158, P268K251158 Award Year: 2024-2025 Criteria OMB Compliance Supplement, OMB No. 1845-0035 – Institutions are required to report enrollment information under the Pell grant and the Direct and FFEL loan programs via the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS). Institutions must review, update, and verify 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 which the financial aid administrator can access for the auditor. The data on the institutions’ Enrollment Reporting Roster, or Enrollment Maintenance page, is what NSLDS has as the most recently certified enrollment information. There are two categories of enrollment information: “Campus Level” and “Program Level,” both of which need to be reported accurately and have separate record types. The NSLDS Enrollment Reporting Guide provides the requirements and guidance for reporting enrollment details using the NSLDS Enrollment Reporting Process. Condition Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance and Instance of Noncompliance – During testing over the NSLDS reporting requirements, five of sixty students’ effective dates were not accurately reported in NSLDS (date of change does not agree to effective dates). Questioned Costs There are no questioned costs associated with the noncompliance. Context We tested a non-statistical sample of sixty students NSLDS reporting records. The District disbursed financial aid to approximately 12,657 students that required student enrollment and program enrollment reporting to NSLDS. Effect The District is not in compliance with the federal enrollment reporting requirements described in the OMB Compliance Supplement. Cause The District did not report enrollment information for students under the Pell Grant and Direct Loan Programs via NSLDS accurately. The District identified a technical issue related to extracting the correct enrollment effective date and, instead, reported the run date of the enrollment statuses. Repeat Finding (Yes or No) Yes. See prior year finding 2024-001. Recommendation The District should implement a process to review, update, and verify 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.

Corrective Action Plan

Views of Responsible Officials and Corrective Action Plan The discrepancies noted during the 2024–2025 Financial Aid Audit were found to be attributable to a separate system configuration issue, distinct from the discrepant records identified in the 2023–2024 annual audit, which involved incorrect reporting of effective enrollment status dates. To resolve this matter and prevent recurrence, the District has implemented the following corrective actions: 1. Root-Cause Analysis: Conducted a comprehensive review with IT, Admissions & Records, Financial Aid, and third-party consultants to isolate and correct the specific system errors. 2. Update Systems Settings: Updating systems settings to accurately select records for reporting along with the perspective effective date and accurately report the three-quarter time enrollment level. 3. Manual Verification: Financial Aid staff responsible for Return to Title IV (R2T4) processing will manually review all student enrollment records in NSLDS (approximately 2,400 annually) to ensure accuracy. 4. Ongoing Compliance Monitoring: Established quarterly joint compliance reviews with IT, Admissions and Financial Aid leadership to verify continued accuracy of NSC/NSLDS reporting and to ensure timely detection of anomalies.

Categories

Student Financial Aid

Other Findings in this Audit

  • 1172773 2025-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1172774 2025-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1172775 2025-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1172776 2025-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1172777 2025-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1172778 2025-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1172780 2025-002
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1172781 2025-002
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1172782 2025-002
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1172783 2025-002
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1172784 2025-002
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1172785 2025-002
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1172786 2025-002
    Material Weakness Repeat

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
84.268 FEDERAL DIRECT STUDENT LOANS $2.70M
84.048 CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION -- BASIC GRANTS TO STATES $1.54M
84.002 ADULT EDUCATION - BASIC GRANTS TO STATES $1.43M
84.047 TRIO UPWARD BOUND $311,637
84.042 TRIO STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES $264,559
10.558 CHILD AND ADULT CARE FOOD PROGRAM $138,222
93.558 TEMPORARY ASSISTANCE FOR NEEDY FAMILIES $129,550
84.116 FUND FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION $116,732
93.600 HEAD START $112,622
84.031 HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONAL AID $98,459
84.063 FEDERAL PELL GRANT PROGRAM $68,905
84.016 UNDERGRADUATE INTERNATIONAL STUDIES AND FOREIGN LANGUAGE PROGRAMS $44,311
84.033 FEDERAL WORK-STUDY PROGRAM $42,079
84.007 FEDERAL SUPPLEMENTAL EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY GRANTS $37,710
93.596 CHILD CARE MANDATORY AND MATCHING FUNDS OF THE CHILD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT FUND $35,421
45.162 PROMOTION OF THE HUMANITIES TEACHING AND LEARNING RESOURCES AND CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT $25,375
93.575 CHILD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT $13,800
47.076 STEM EDUCATION (FORMERLY EDUCATION AND HUMAN RESOURCES) $12,084
64.027 POST-9/11 VETERANS EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE $9,792
10.561 STATE ADMINISTRATIVE MATCHING GRANTS FOR THE SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM $389