Finding 1201580 (2025-003)

Finding No.: 2025-003 – Disbursements Reporting Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education Program Name: Student Financial Assistance Cluster – Pell Grant Program and Federal Direct Loan (FDL) Program ALN Number: 84.063, 84.268 Federal Award Year: July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025 Criteria Institutions submit Direct Loan, Pell Grant, TEACH Grant, and IASG origination records and disbursement records to the COD system. Origination records can be sent well in advance of any disbursements, as early as the institution chooses to submit them for any student the institution reasonably believes will be eligible for a payment. An institution follows up with a disbursement record for that student no earlier than (1) seven calendar days prior to the disbursement date under the Advance or Heightened Cash Monitoring 1 payment methods, or (2) the date of the disbursement under the Reimbursement or Heightened Cash Monitoring 2 Payment Method. The disbursement record reports the actual disbursement date and the amount of the disbursement. ED processes origination and/or disbursement records and returns acknowledgments to the institution. The acknowledgments identify the processing status of each record: Rejected, Accepted with Corrections, or Accepted. In testing the origination and disbursement data, the auditor should be most concerned with the data ED has categorized as accepted or accepted with corrections. Institutions must report student disbursement data within 15 calendar days after the institution makes a disbursement or becomes aware of the need to make an adjustment to previously reported student disbursement data or expected student disbursement data. Institutions may do this by reporting once every 15 calendar days, bi-weekly or weekly, or may set up their own system to ensure that changes are reported in a timely manner. Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations Part 200 (2CFR 200) Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards, section 303(a) states, the non-Federal entity must establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statues, regulations and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in “Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government” issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the “Internal Control Integrated Framework”, issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). Conditions Found For two (2) out of 69 Pell COD Reports selected for test work, the required Pell student payment data was reported to the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) website 52 days after disbursement, which exceeds the 15-day timeframe required by federal regulations. For one (1) out of 69 Pell COD Reports selected for test work, the required Pell student payment data was reported to the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) website 261 days after disbursement, which exceeds the 15-day timeframe required by federal regulations. For four (4) out of 69 Pell COD Reports and three (3) out of 113 FDL COD Reports selected for test work, the Cost of Attendance was misreported to the COD website. There was no follow-up by the University to correct the discrepancies. For ten (10) out of 69 Pell and ten (10) out of 113 FDL COD Reports selected for test work, the transaction number did not agree between the FASFA Submission Summary Form and the COD website. Cause The cause of the conditions found is insufficient review to ensure that accurate disbursement reporting is occurring on a timely basis, all records submitted to COD were accepted, and, for those that were rejected, that corrected data is submitted within the required timeframe. Possible Asserted Effect The possible effect of the condition found is that the University may not be reporting Pell and FDL disbursements to COD completely, accurately, and in a timely manner. Questioned Costs No questioned costs were identified. Statistical Sampling The sample was not intended to be, and was not, a statistically valid sample. Repeat Finding Yes; 2024-002 Views of Responsible Officials Management accepts this finding and notes several issues that affected the submissions including staffing onboarding and training, submission review, and deadline controls. Management continues to fill positions experiencing unexpected turnover and to improve training for current and newly hired staff in order to restore adequate staffing levels and ensure continuity of COD reporting responsibilities. From May through September 2025, management retained Blue Icon Advisors (BIA) to provide dedicated coaching and support for improved onboarding and compliance knowledge, including providing specialized training to the Loan Manager relative to federal regulations and proper loan record management. Management is implementing processes to improve the weekly review and update of Cost of Attendance (COA) information and CPS transaction numbers to further ensure institutional records are aligned with COD data and to reduce the risk of mismatched records. Management has also strengthened internal controls with improvements to processes which enhance the monitoring of submission deadlines, review of file acceptance reports, and identification and correction of electronic records issues prior to submission. These improvements include the increased and more effective utilization of COD-delivered reports (including Pell Reconciliation and Anticipated Disbursement Reports) and institutional and PeopleSoft reports and queries, with reviews conducted on a weekly basis to promptly identify record discrepancies requiring resolution. Anticipated Completion Date March 2026 - completed Responsible Person Nicole Adner, Director of Financial Aid