Finding Text
Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education Federal Program Name: Student Financial Assistance Cluster Assistance Listing Number: 84.007, 84.033, 84.063, and 84.268 Pass-Through Agency: N/A Pass-Through Number(s): N/A Award Period: July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025 Type of Finding: • Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance • Other Matters Criteria or specific requirement: Per Uniform Guidance 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 668.164(h)(2)(i), Title IV credit balances must be paid directly to the student no later than 14 days after the balance occurred. Per Uniform Guidance 2 CFR 200.303, nonfederal entities receiving federal awards are required to establish and maintain internal controls designed to reasonably ensure compliance with federal laws, regulations, and program compliance requirements. Condition: During our testing, 10 out of 60 credit balance refunds were returned later than 14 days after the credit balance occurred in student account. Questioned costs: None Context: The College was returning credit balance refunds longer than 14 days after they occurred. Cause: The College was holding financial aid balance until student's purchased bookstore items on student accounts. Effect: The students did not have access to their credit balance refunds timely. Repeat Finding: Yes, 2024-001 Recommendation: We recommend the college update procedures around disbursements of credit balances and implement controls to ensure credit balances are being returned timely. Views of responsible officials: There is no disagreement with the audit finding. Prior to FY23, students signed a form acknowledging and authorizing the College to have credit balances held on their account in the event there would be classes added and to purchase books. During FY2023, this procedure was discontinued for an unrelated reason and an unintended consequence was not meeting the 14-day requirement. A new procedure was developed and implemented in January, 2025. The 10 credit balance refunds from the population of 60 were from the period of July 1, 2024, through December 31, 2025. The prior year audit was released on November 15, 2025, at which point all credit balances had already been refunded under the prior procedures. There wasn’t an opportunity to correct the situation until the spring semester in 2025.