Finding Text
2025–007 Pell Award Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education Federal Program Name: Student Financial Aid Cluster Assistance Listing Number: 84.063 Federal Award Identification Number and Year: P268K251853; 2025 Award Period: June 1, 2024 – May 31, 2025 Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance Other Matters Criteria or specific requirement: The Code of Federal Regulations, 34 CFR 690.61 states that: § 690.61 Submission process and deadline for a Student Aid Report or Institutional Student Information Record. (a) Submission process. (1) Except as provided in paragraph (a)(2) of this section, an institution must disburse a Federal Pell Grant to an eligible student who is otherwise qualified to receive that disbursement and electronically transmit Federal Pell Grant disbursement data to the Secretary for that student if— (i) The student submits a valid SAR to the institution; or (ii) The institution obtains a valid ISIR for the student. (2) In determining a student's eligibility to receive his or her Federal Pell Grant, an institution is entitled to assume that SAR information or ISIR information is accurate and complete except under the conditions set forth in 34 CFR 668.16(f) and 668.60. (b) Valid Student Aid Report or Valid Institutional Student Information Record deadline. Except as provided in the verification provisions of § 668.60 and the late disbursement provisions of § 668.164(g) of this chapter, for a student to receive a Federal Pell Grant for an award year, the student must submit the relevant parts of the valid SAR to his or her institution or the institution must obtain a valid ISIR by the earlier of— (1) The last date that the student is still enrolled and eligible for payment at that institution; or (2) By the deadline date established by the Secretary through publication of a notice in the Federal Register. § 690.62 Calculation of a Federal Pell Grant. (a) The amount of a student's Pell Grant for an academic year is based upon the payment and disbursement schedules published by the Secretary for each award year. (b) (1) (i) For a confined or incarcerated individual enrolled in an eligible prison education program, no Federal Pell Grant may exceed the cost of attendance (as defined in section 472 of the HEA) at the institution that student attends. (ii) If an institution determines that the amount of a Federal Pell Grant for that student exceeds the cost of attendance for that year, the amount of the Federal Pell Grant must be reduced until the Federal Pell Grant does not exceed the cost of attendance at such institution and does not result in a title IV credit balance under 34 CFR 668.164(h). Condition/Context: During our testing, it was noted that the student's student aid index (SAI) recorded in the College's system did not match the student's SAI per their ISIR. Since the College did not use the ISIR SAI to determine the student's Pell award for the 2024-2025 academic year, the College ultimately over-awarded the student $360 in Pell. Questioned costs: $360 Cause: During our testing, it was noted a student was over-awarded Pell due to the College using the incorrect SAI for the student. Effect: Inaccurate Pell amount awarded to student which could lead to compliance issues with regulations. Repeat Finding: No. Recommendation: We recommend that the College review its procedures to ensure their internal system pulls the correct SAI amounts directly from the student's ISIR when calculating a student’s Pell award. Views of responsible officials: Please refer to the attached corrective action plan.