Finding Text
Federal Agency: Department of Education Federal Program Title: Student Financial Assistance Cluster ALN Numbers: Various Award Period: July 1, 2024 through 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. Regulations require the status include an accurate effective date. In addition, regulations require that an institution make necessary corrections and return the records within 10 days for any roster files that don’t pass the NSLDS enrollment reporting edits. Condition: During our testing, we noted that 5 out of the 60 selections did not have the correct enrollment effective date entered to NSLDS, 8 of the 60 did not have the correct status reported timely, and 1 of the 60 did not have regular updates in the required intervals. Questioned Costs: None Context: There were instances of miscommunication internally at Carleton and with NSC that caused these errors and reporting errors due to a new system change. Cause: The College’s processes and controls did not ensure that student status changes were properly and timely reported to NSLDS. Effect: The NSLDS system is not updated with the student information which can cause the students to not properly enter the repayment period. Repeat Finding: Yes Recommendation: We recommend the Institute review its reporting procedures to ensure that students’ statuses are accurately and timely reported to NSLDS as required by regulations. Views of Responsible Officials: There is no disagreement with the audit finding.