Finding Text
2025 – 001 – Enrollment Reporting Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education Federal Program Name: Federal Pell Grant Program; Federal Direct Student Loans Assistance Listing Number: 84.063; 84.268 Federal Award Identification Number and Year: P063P241812; P063Q231812; P268K251812 – 2024 Award Period: July 01, 2024 – June 30, 2025 Type of Finding: • Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance, Other Matters Criteria or specific requirement: Per U.S. Department of Education (ED) regulations, all schools participating (or approved to participate) in the Federal Student Aid programs must have an arrangement to report student enrollment data to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) through a roster file. The school is required to report enrollment status at both the school and program level. The school is required to report changes in the student’s enrollment status, the effective date of the status and an anticipated completion date. An academic program is defined as the combination of the school’s Office of Postsecondary Education Identification (OPEID) number and the program’s Classification of Instructional Program (CIP) code, credential level, and published program length. ED requires the University to report changes in enrollment status and indicate the date that the changes occurred (34 CFR 685.309). Changes in enrollment status must be reported within 30 days. However, if a roster file is expected within 60 days, you may provide the date on that roster file. In addition, regulations require that an institution make necessary corrections and return the records within 10 days for any roster files that don’t pass the NSLDS enrollment reporting edits. ED requires the University to report changes in enrollment status within 30 or 60 days that the University determined the changes occurred (34 CFR 682.610). Condition: Certain students’ enrollment information was not accurately or timely reported to the NSLDS. Questioned costs: None. Context: During our testing of enrollment information at both the program and campus-level detail, we noted the following: • 9 out of 60 students’ change in status were not reported timely to the NSLDS • 5 out of 60 students’ program begin dates were reported incorrectly to the NSLDS • 1 out of 60 students were reported to the NSLDS with an incorrect enrollment status per campus-level records • 1 out of 60 students were reported to the NSLDS with an incorrect effective date per campus-level records • 1 out of 60 students were reported to the NSLDS with an incorrect enrollment status per program-level records • 2 out of 60 students were reported to the NSLDS with an incorrect effective date per program-level records Cause: The University uses a third-party servicer to submit their enrollment reports to the NSLDS. The enrollment information that was sent to the third-party servicer did not have enrollment information that followed the NSLDS guidelines. Effect: Inaccurate reporting to the NSLDS can result in incorrect determination of when the students’ grace period should begin. Repeat finding: Yes, 2024-001. Recommendation: We recommend the University evaluate its procedures and review regulations set by the Department of Education around NSLDS to ensure the University understands the definitions for each enrollment information that gets reported. Views of responsible officials: There is no disagreement with the audit finding.