Finding 1175210 (2025-001)

Material Weakness Repeat Finding
Requirement
N
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2025
Accepted
2026-02-24
Audit: 388889
Organization: Upper Iowa University (IA)

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: One student's enrollment was not reported to NSLDS due to a record issue from a prior school.
  • Impacted Requirements: Compliance with Title IV regulations for timely and accurate enrollment reporting is essential.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: The University should regularly review NSC servicer reports to ensure all records are accurately reported to NSLDS.

Finding Text

Finding 2025-001: Special Tests and Provisions – Enrollment Reporting Federal Program - Student Financial Assistance Cluster Federal Agency - U.S. Department of Education Pass-Through Entity - Not Applicable Assistance Listing Number - Various Federal Award Number - Various Federal Award Year - June 30, 2025 Criteria: Title IV regulations (34 CFR 685.309(b)) require that upon receipt of an enrollment report from the Secretary, institutions must update all information included in the report and return the report to the Secretary: (i) in the manner and format prescribed by the Secretary; and (ii) within the timeframe prescribed by the Secretary. Unless it expects to submit its next updated enrollment report to the Secretary within the next 60 days, an institution must notify the Secretary within 30 days after the date the institution discovers that: (i) a loan under Title IV of the Act was made to or on behalf of a student who was enrolled or accepted for enrollment at the institution, and the student has ceased to be enrolled on at least a half-time basis or failed to enroll on at least a half-time basis for the period for which the loan was intended; or (ii) a student who is enrolled at the institution and who received a loan under Title IV of the Act has changed his or her permanent address. Enrollment reporting is submitted to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS). Condition/Context: Of the 25 students tested, one student was not reported to NSLDS. There is an issue with the student’s record in NSLDS stemming from information reported by a prior school. The University is reporting information to the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) servicer, but the information is failing to link up to their NSLDS record resulting in their record ultimately not being reported. The sample was not a statistically valid sample. Cause: The University noted the reporting was completed timely to the NSC servicer; however, the University did not notice that there was an issue with the student's record and therefore ultimately not reported to NSLDS. Effect: The accuracy of Title IV student loan records depends heavily on the accuracy of the enrollment information reported by schools. If an Institution does not review, update and verify student enrollment statuses, effective dates of the enrollment status and the anticipated completion dates, then the Title IV student loan records will be inaccurate. Questioned Costs: Not applicable Recommendation: The University should review response reports from the NSC servicer to ensure that all records reported to them were ultimately reported to NSLDS. Management's Response: The University has acknowledged the error and has a process in place to resolve any issues as they arise. The CRM Administrator transmits the file to the Clearinghouse, and rejected records are reviewed after each submission. The University has now added additional reject tracking to our Clearinghouse process to follow up on rejected records continually.

Corrective Action Plan

Upper Iowa University Corrective Action Plan For the Year Ended June 30, 2025 Finding 2025-001 Condition: Of the 25 students tested, one student was not reported to NSLDS. There is an issue with the student’s record in NSLDS stemming from information reported by a prior school. The University is reporting information to the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) servicer but the information is failing to link up to their NSLDS record resulting in her record ultimately not being reported. Corrective Action Plan: Although the University is not able to prevent or resolve rejected records directly when they occur for this reason, we can provide additional information to the Clearinghouse that may allow them to resolve the issue. This sometimes requires requesting that the student provide additional documents and/or submitting information to the Clearinghouse for their review. Rejected records are reviewed by the University after each submission. In addition to this initial review, we have added additional reject tracking in our database. This allows us to better monitor and follow up on records with this issue while we wait for needed information or for the Clearinghouse to review additional information we have submitted. Completion Date: 9/17/2025 Name(s) of Contact Person(s) Responsible for Corrective Action: Jill Austin, CRM Administrator

Categories

Student Financial Aid Special Tests & Provisions Subrecipient Monitoring Reporting

Other Findings in this Audit

  • 1175206 2025-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1175207 2025-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1175208 2025-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1175209 2025-001
    Material Weakness Repeat

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
84.268 FEDERAL DIRECT STUDENT LOANS $20.53M
84.063 FEDERAL PELL GRANT PROGRAM $6.80M
84.033 FEDERAL WORK-STUDY PROGRAM $223,661
84.379 TEACHER EDUCATION ASSISTANCE FOR COLLEGE AND HIGHER EDUCATION GRANTS (TEACH GRANTS) $147,548
84.007 FEDERAL SUPPLEMENTAL EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY GRANTS $137,000
47.076 STEM EDUCATION (FORMERLY EDUCATION AND HUMAN RESOURCES) $128,100
66.951 ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION GRANTS PROGRAM $1,696