Finding 1182178 (2025-001)

Material Weakness Repeat Finding
Requirement
E
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2025
Accepted
2026-03-24
Audit: 393559
Organization: Marian University, Inc. (WI)

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: The University inaccurately reported student enrollment intensity, affecting Federal Pell Grant calculations.
  • Impacted Requirements: Institutions must document actual credit hours before disbursing Federal Pell Grant funds.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: Verify enrollment intensity for all students receiving Federal Pell Grants before finalizing award packages.

Finding Text

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: P063P242439 – 2025 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: An institution must determine and document a student’s enrollment intensity prior to packaging and disbursing any Federal Pell Grant funds. Enrollment intensity must reflect the actual credit hours in which the student is enrolled at the time of the Federal Pell Grant calculation. Condition: The University failed to accurately input the number of credits factored into enrollment intensity for award packaging of the Federal Pell Grant. Questioned costs: Questioned costs of approximately $3,697 were identified when the award package for the identified students was recalculated using the appropriate enrollment intensity. Context: From a statistically valid sample of 40 students, one student was awarded Federal Pell Grant funds based on a course load greater than their enrollment intensity. Cause: The University's internal controls failed to detect that the enrollment intensity for a student did not agree to their course load. Effect: There is a risk that students have the incorrect enrollment intensity for the Federal Pell Grant, which can result in improper financial aid amounts being awarded. Repeat Finding: No Recommendation: We recommend that the University verifies the enrollment intensity for each student receiving the Federal Pell Grant prior to finalizing their award package. Views of responsible officials: There is no disagreement with the audit finding.

Corrective Action Plan

Student Financial Aid Cluster – Assistance Listing No. 84.063 Recommendation: We recommend that the University verifies the enrollment intensity for each student receiving the Federal Pell Grant prior to finalizing their award package. Explanation of disagreement with audit finding: There is no disagreement with the audit finding. Action taken in response to finding: The University is working with a PowerFAIDS consultant to ensure that the correct number of credits populates based on the courses inputted. The issue has also been added to their procedures to check the Class Load and Credits field whenever packaging or revising a student’s aid. Name(s) of the contact person(s) responsible for corrective action: Michael Moos, Vice President of Finance Planned completion date for corrective action plan: June 30, 2026

Categories

Student Financial Aid Significant Deficiency Matching / Level of Effort / Earmarking Internal Control / Segregation of Duties

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
84.268 FEDERAL DIRECT STUDENT LOANS $7.50M
84.063 FEDERAL PELL GRANT PROGRAM $2.46M
84.116 FUND FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION $633,068
84.047 TRIO UPWARD BOUND $339,917
84.042 TRIO STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES $284,080
84.033 FEDERAL WORK-STUDY PROGRAM $82,153
84.007 FEDERAL SUPPLEMENTAL EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY GRANTS $74,796
84.379 TEACHER EDUCATION ASSISTANCE FOR COLLEGE AND HIGHER EDUCATION GRANTS (TEACH GRANTS) $7,544