Finding 1175689 (2025-001)

Material Weakness Repeat Finding
Requirement
L
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2025
Accepted
2026-02-27
Audit: 389564
Organization: Furman University (SC)

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: The University failed to accurately report a student's enrollment status change to the NSLDS, indicating a significant deficiency in internal controls.
  • Impacted Requirements: Institutions must ensure timely and accurate reporting of enrollment information under Pell and Direct Loan programs as per 34 CFR 690.83(b)(2) and 34 CFR 685.309.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: The University should review and improve its reporting procedures to ensure compliance with NSLDS requirements.

Finding Text

Federal agency: Department of Education Federal program title: Student Financial Aid Cluster CFDA Numbers: 84.268 – Federal Direct Student Loans 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: Institutions are required to report enrollment information under the Pell grant and the Direct loan programs via the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) (OMB No. 1845-0035) (Pell, 34 CFR 690.83(b)(2); Direct Loan, 34 CFR 685.309). Institutions must review, update, and verify student enrollment statuses, program information, and effective dates that appear on the Enrollment Reporting Roster file or on the Enrollment Maintenance page of the NSLDS Professional Access (NSLDSFAP) website. There are two categories of enrollment information; “Campus Level” and “Program Level,” both of which need to be reported accurately and have separate record types. The NSLDS Enrollment Reporting Guide provides the requirements and guidance for reporting enrollment details using the NSLDS Enrollment Reporting Process. Condition: During our testing of the Direct Loan and Pell Grant programs, we selected a sample of 40 students to test for timeliness and accurate reporting of student status changes to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS). 1 of 40 students tested had instances of noncompliance where the student's enrollment effective date was not reported to NSLDS correctly. 34 CFR 685.309 (b)(1). Questioned costs: None Context: During our testing of the Direct Loan and Pell Grant programs, we selected a sample of 40 students to test for timeliness and accurate reporting of student status changes to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS). One instance where the student's change in status was not correctly reported to NSLDS as noted above. Cause: The University’s processes and controls did not ensure that student status changes were properly reported to NSLDS. Effect: The NSLDS system is not updated with the student information which can cause over awarding should the student transfer to another institution and the students may not properly enter the repayment period. Repeat finding: No Recommendation: We recommend the University review its reporting procedures to ensure that students’ statuses are accurately reported to NSLDS as required by regulations. Views of responsible officials: There is no disagreement with the audit finding. Management has addressed their corrective action plan in a separately issued letter.

Corrective Action Plan

NSLDS Reporting Recommendation: We recommend the University review its reporting procedures to ensure that students’ statuses are accurately reported to NSLDS as required by regulations. Explanation of disagreement with audit finding: There is no disagreement with the audit finding. Action taken in response to finding: During a typical reporting cycle, all students’ degree information is transmitted to the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) through a standardized report generated by our Student Information System (Workday). In the instance identified, one student’s graduation status was still pending at the time we submitted degree records for all May 2025 graduates. Once the student’s status was finalized and the degree was officially conferred, we submitted the student’s information manually to the NSC. However, the degree conferral date was reported incorrectly; the actual conferral date was submitted instead of the last day of the student’s final term, which is the required standard. To prevent this issue from recurring, we will discontinue all manual degree submissions to the NSC. Going forward, we will rely exclusively on Workday-generated reports to ensure that all graduation dates are accurate, consistent, and aligned with institutional reporting standards. Name(s) of the contact person(s) responsible for corrective action: James Patton, Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs and University Registrar Planned completion date for corrective action plan: This change in our data-reporting procedure has already been implemented. The updated process was in place for the most recent degree verification cycle, which was reported to the National Student Clearinghouse on 01-02-2026. If the U.S. Department of Education has questions regarding these plans, please call Dawn Durham at 864-294-2429.

Categories

Student Financial Aid

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
84.268 FEDERAL DIRECT STUDENT LOANS $9.92M
84.063 FEDERAL PELL GRANT PROGRAM $2.25M
43.001 SCIENCE $469,629
94.006 AMERICORPS STATE AND NATIONAL 94.006 $221,438
93.859 BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH AND RESEARCH TRAINING $184,839
93.304 RACIAL AND ETHNIC APPROACHES TO COMMUNITY HEALTH $182,165
47.075 SOCIAL, BEHAVIORAL, AND ECONOMIC SCIENCES $165,046
84.033 FEDERAL WORK-STUDY PROGRAM $155,404
47.049 MATHEMATICAL AND PHYSICAL SCIENCES $141,374
93.847 DIABETES, DIGESTIVE, AND KIDNEY DISEASES EXTRAMURAL RESEARCH $113,205
93.137 COMMUNITY PROGRAMS TO IMPROVE MINORITY HEALTH $81,042
47.074 BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES $67,079
11.431 CLIMATE AND ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH $65,999
93.243 SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES PROJECTS OF REGIONAL AND NATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE $64,348
10.731 INFLATION REDUCTION ACT LANDSCAPE SCALE RESTORATION $51,835
15.657 ENDANGERED SPECIES RECOVERY IMPLEMENTATION $39,961
93.395 CANCER TREATMENT RESEARCH $30,846
10.525 FARM AND RANCH STRESS ASSISTANCE NETWORK COMPETITIVE GRANTS PROGRAM $28,461
93.823 PUBLIC HEALTH RESPONSE, FORECASTING, AND ANALYTIC CAPACITIES RELATED TO DISEASE OUTBREAKS, EPIDEMICS, AND PANDEMICS $23,999
93.879 MEDICAL LIBRARY ASSISTANCE $17,379
93.912 RURAL HEALTH CARE SERVICES OUTREACH, RURAL HEALTH NETWORK DEVELOPMENT AND SMALL HEALTH CARE PROVIDER QUALITY IMPROVEMENT $16,700
93.048 SPECIAL PROGRAMS FOR THE AGING, TITLE IV, AND TITLE II, DISCRETIONARY PROJECTS $14,800
15.615 COOPERATIVE ENDANGERED SPECIES CONSERVATION FUND $9,913
93.853 EXTRAMURAL RESEARCH PROGRAMS IN THE NEUROSCIENCES AND NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS $8,873
43.008 OFFICE OF STEM ENGAGEMENT (OSTEM) $7,103
84.007 FEDERAL SUPPLEMENTAL EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY GRANTS $5,302
47.083 INTEGRATIVE ACTIVITIES $4,889
47.076 STEM EDUCATION (FORMERLY EDUCATION AND HUMAN RESOURCES) $4,346
12.006 NATIONAL DEFENSE EDUCATION PROGRAM $1,542