Finding Text
Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education Federal Program Title: Student Financial Aid Assistance Listing Number: Student Financial Aid Cluster Award Period: July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025 Type of Finding: • Material Weakness in Internal Control Over Compliance • Other Matters Criteria or Specific Requirement: The Code of Federal Regulations, 34 CFR 682.610, states that institutions must report accurately the enrollment status of all students regardless of whether they receive aid from the institution. This includes the enrollment effective date and related enrollment status, which must be reported for both the Campus-Level and the Program-Level. In addition, at a minimum, schools are required to certify enrollment every 60 days, and respond within 15 days of the date that NSLDS sends a Roster file to the school or its third-party servicer. Condition: Of the 33 students selected for testing, 12 students had errors in enrollment status; the institution's records did not match what was reported to NSLDS. We also noted one student tested did not have enrollment data certified at least every 60 days as required. Additionally, one student’s enrollment begin date per the institution’s records did not agree to NSLDS records. Questioned Costs: None Context: During our testing, we noted the College did not have proper procedures in place to verify the reports sent to NSLDS are timely and accurate. Cause: The College processes and controls did not ensure that student status changes were properly reported to NSLDS. The effective date should reflect the student's last date of attendance and academically-related activity. In addition, students’ enrollment status should be certified every 60 days and the program begin date should be the first day attended at the College. Effect or Potential Effect of Finding: The NSLDS system is not updated with the correct student information, which can cause a student to not properly enter the repayment period. Repeat Finding: Yes, see finding 2024-001. Recommendation: We recommend the College review and strengthen its reporting procedures to ensure that student statuses are accurately reported to NSLDS, as required by federal regulations. Views of Responsible Officials: There is no disagreement with the audit finding.