Finding Text
Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education; Office of Federal Student Aid Pass through Entity: Not applicable Program Name: Federal Direct Student Loan Program Federal Pell Grant Program Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant ALN and Program Expenditures: 84.268 ($866,312) 84.063 ($509,088) 84.007 ($ 5,400) Award Number: P268K253315 P063P243115 P007A243421 Federal Award Year: July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025 Questioned Costs: Undetermined Condition Found: The University lacked policies and procedures to reconcile the SEFA data to the financial statements or other supporting documentation. The University was on the HCM2 method of payment and could not provide of the listing by student of the aid requested. During the audit, we were unable to reconcile the Amount Due from the Government on the Financial Statement to the amount due per the financial aid records. In addition, aid was posted to student accounts and never requested from the government for five of the seventeen students in our sample. Criteria: The design and implementation of policies and procedures in place should be sufficient enough for the reconciliation of significant financial accounts and transaction classes to prevent and detect material misstatements in the statement of expenditures of federal awards. There also should be policies and procedures in place to ensure that the amounts posted to individual student accounts and student account balances are accurate. Cause: There was turnover in the financial aid office and at the bursar position. In addition, the University did not have adequate policies and procedures in place. Possible Asserted Effect: The amounts on the SEFA were not able to be reconciled to the financial statements or other supporting documentation. In addition, the University could not provide various forms of documentation requested to attempt to reconcile the amounts. Finally, the following five students had errors on their accounts: For the first student, $28,215 of Federal Plus Loans were posted to the student account. These funds have not been requested from the Department of Education as of November 2025. The loans are not showing in COD or NSLDS. The University is still investigating this account. For the second student, $3,772 of TEACH Grant funds were posted to the student’s account and never requested from the Department of Education. The University could not determine if the student was eligible for TEACH Grant Funds. In December 2025, the funds were replaced with an institutional scholarship. For the third student, the fall Pell award was posted to the student’s account twice. $3,698 of Federal Pell Grant funds were returned in December 2025. For the fourth student, $3,698 of Federal Pell Grant funds were posted to the student’s account for a semester when the student was not enrolled. The funds were removed from the student’s account in December 2025. Since the University was on the HCM2 disbursement method, the funds had not been received from the Department of Education. For the fifth student, $4,587 of Federal Plus Loans were posted to the student’s account. These funds have not been requested from the Department of Education as of November 2025. The loans are also not showing in NSLDS or COD. The University is still investigating this account. Repeat Finding: There was not a similar finding in the prior year.Statistical Sampling: The sample was not intended to be, and was not, a statistically valid sample. Recommendation: We recommend the University reconcile the aid posted to students’ accounts to the aid that has been requested from the Department of Education to determine if funds have been posted to student accounts incorrectly or if additional aid should be requested. Procedures should be improved to reconcile the SEFA amounts to the financial statements. Supporting documentation for Title IV funds requested should be kept. Management Response: The bursar, business office staff, and financial aid staff will work together to review and reconcile Title IV posted to the student accounts to the amounts requested from the Department of Education. When discrepancies are found, the University staff will investigate and determine if the student was eligible for aid and request additional funds as necessary. See the possible effect section for the resolution of the students in this finding.