Finding 1202948 (2025-001)

Material Weakness Repeat Finding
Requirement
E
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2025
Accepted
2026-03-30

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: The College lacks proper documentation for internal controls over student financial aid, impacting compliance with regulations.
  • Impacted Requirements: Failure to document reviews and approvals violates Governmental Auditing Standards and Uniform Grant Guidance.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: Focus on improving systems and processes to ensure all reviews and approvals are documented moving forward.

Finding Text

Material Weakness Finding 2025-001 – Student Financial Aid Cluster, Assistance Listing # 84.007, 84.033, 84.063, 84.268 Criteria: The College’s system of financial aid and internal controls should be designed to accurately retrieve records so that the College can comply with laws and regulations and be audited under Governmental Auditing Standards and Uniform Grant Guidance. The College’s system of internal controls must appropriately document reviews and approvals of all department of education compliance requirements. Condition: The College did not maintain documentation of its performance of internal controls, and therefore, could not show documentation of reviews and approvals. Cause: The College did not implement a formal review and approval process over student financial aid until the Spring 2025 term and there is no formal review over return of Title IV calculations. Recommendation: Particular attention should be placed on systems and process improvements necessary to ensure documentation of reviews and approvals. Context: For a sample of 23 students tested, during the summer and fall 2024 terms the College did not maintain documentation supporting the review and approval process for all of the students tested. The process was subsequently corrected, enabling the College to provide appropriate documentation of review for the spring 2025 term for the sample of 17 students tested. For a sample of 2 withdrawal students, the College did not perform a formal review over return of Title IV calculations for neither student tested. Repeat Finding: This is a repeat finding of 2024-001. Effect: We were unable to verify whether controls were properly designed or operating effectively. Management Response: The College concurs with this finding. Corrective Action Plan: See attached management’s corrective action plan.

Corrective Action Plan

Finding 2025-001 Student Financial Aid Cluster, Assistance Listing # 84.007, 84.033, 84.063, 84.268 Condition: The College could not timely retrieve all student records and show documentation of reviews and approvals related to student records. Corrective Action Plan: Objective: To ensure the timely retrieval of all student records and the proper documentation of reviews and approvals to meet regulatory requirements and to improve accountability in the Student Financial Aid Cluster. Corrective Actions: Management agrees with this finding. The College admits that before Spring 2025, formal documentation for review and approval of financial aid processes, including Return of Title IV (R2T4) calculations, was not consistently kept. Although controls were performed in most cases, the lack of documented evidence for students selected prior to the internal processing improvements prevented demonstrating control effectiveness, which is required under the Uniform Grant Guidance. Corrective actions implemented as follows: 1. Formal SOP Implementation Developed and implemented standardized SOPs for: 1. Financial Aid packaging and disbursement 2. Return of Title IV (R2T4) calculations 3. Review and approval workflows 2. Documentation & Audit Trail Controls 1. Introduced mandatory review/approval checklists for all financial aid transactions 2. Implemented centralized digital storage of supporting documentation 3. Segregation of Duties & Oversight 1. Established defined roles for: Preparer, Reviewer, Final approver. 4. Ongoing Monitoring 1. Monthly internal compliance reviews 2. Quarterly audit-readiness assessments led by senior leadership Timeline: Process corrections implemented in Spring 2025; Full compliance expected by June 30, 2026 Person(s) Responsible for Corrective Action Plan: Anahi Huerta, Director of Financial Aid, Phone: 312-922-1884

Categories

Student Financial Aid Material Weakness Internal Control / Segregation of Duties

Other Findings in this Audit

  • 1202945 2025-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1202946 2025-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1202947 2025-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1202949 2025-002
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1202950 2025-002
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1202951 2025-003
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1202952 2025-003
    Material Weakness Repeat

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
84.063 FEDERAL PELL GRANT PROGRAM $3.29M
84.268 FEDERAL DIRECT STUDENT LOANS $1.18M
84.007 FEDERAL SUPPLEMENTAL EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY GRANTS $56,352
84.033 FEDERAL WORK-STUDY PROGRAM $25,985
64.027 Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance $4,696