Finding 1214410 (2025-003)

Material Weakness Repeat Finding
Requirement
N
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2025
Accepted
2026-05-11

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: There were inaccuracies in student enrollment status and program start dates reported to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS), affecting eligibility for financial aid.
  • Impacted Requirements: Compliance with 34 CFR 685.30(b) regarding timely and accurate enrollment reporting to the U.S. Department of Education.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: Collaborate with the SIS consultant to fix system issues and conduct regular reviews of enrollment data for accuracy before submission to NSLDS.

Finding Text

SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS for the year ended December 31, 2025 Section III – Federal Award Findings and Questioned Costs Finding 2025-003 – Non-Compliance with Accurate Student Enrollment Change Submissions to the National Student Loan Data System Grantor: U.S. Department of Education Program: Student Financial Assistance Cluster Assistance Listing#: 84.063, 84.268 Award Title: Federal Pell Grant Program, Federal Direct Student Loan Program Award Years: 7/2024 – 6/2026 Criteria 34 CFR 685.30(b) (1) Upon receipt of an enrollment report from the Secretary, a school must update all information included in the report and return the report to the Secretary – (i) In the manner and format prescribed by the Secretary; and (ii) Within the timeframe prescribed by the Secretary. (2) Unless it expects to submit its next updated enrollment report to the Secretary within the next 60 days, a school must notify the Secretary within 30 days after the date the school discovers that - (i) A loan under Title IV of the Act was made to or on behalf of a student who was enrolled or accepted for enrollment at the school, and the student has ceased to be enrolled on at least a half-time basis or failed to enroll on at least a half-time basis for the period for which the loan was intended; or (ii) A student who is enrolled at the school and who received a loan under title IV of the Act has changed his or her permanent address. Condition Of the population of students who had a status change and received Pell Grants and/or Direct Loans during the period January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2025, 25 students were selected for enrollment reporting testing of the campus level and program level records. Of the 25 students selected, there were four exceptions noted: • One instance was noted in the Fall 2025 semester in which the student’s campus enrollment status was reported as ‘withdrawn’ to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) when the status per the student record was ‘graduated’. • Three instances were noted in which the program start date was reported incorrectly to NSLDS. One instance occurred in the Spring 2025 semester and two instances occurred in the Fall 2025 semester. Cause The instance regarding the graduated student being reported as ‘withdrawn’ was a result of a failure in the Jenzabar student information system’s (SIS) script used to pull graduate status to submit to the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC). There was an update in the script in August 2025, and, as a result, it impacted the graduation status pulled for the Fall 2025 semester graduates. When NSC did not receive any information regarding these graduated students, it automatically populated their status as ‘withdrawn’. The three instances with incorrect program start dates were caused by the SIS script pulling from a static program enrollment date instead of the appropriate dynamic start date applicable to the semester in which the change occurred. Effect A student’s campus enrollment status determines eligibility for in-school status, deferment, and grace periods, as well as for payment of interest subsidies, all of which are impacted by inaccurate and untimely reporting. Questioned Costs None. Repeat Finding in the Prior Year No. Recommendation We recommend that management work with its SIS consultant to correct the system configuration and script logic to ensure that enrollment data, including status and program start dates, is accurately derived from the appropriate data fields for reporting to NSLDS. In addition, we recommend that management perform periodic reviews of enrollment data submitted to NSLDS to verify completeness and accuracy of reported information. Management’s Views and Corrective Action Plan Management’s response is reported in management’s views and corrective action plan included at the end of this report.

Corrective Action Plan

Management’s Views and Corrective Action Plan For the year ended December 31, 2025 Finding 2025-003 – Non-Compliance with Accurate Student Enrollment Change Submissions to the National Student Loan Data System Grantor: U.S. Department of Education Program: Student Financial Assistance Cluster Assistance Listing#: 84.063, 84.268 Award Title: Federal Pell Grant Program, Federal Direct Student Loan Program Award Years: 7/2024 – 6/2026 Management agrees with the finding and proposes the following corrective action plan: Corrective Action Plan: Incorrectly Reported Graduated Students Our investigation confirmed that the issue is strictly isolated to the Fall 2025 data pull. This was our first production run utilizing a script update from August 2025. Our Jenzabar Student Information System (SIS) vendor has since corrected this degree-conferred logic, and a re-submission of the Fall 2025 data has confirmed 100% accuracy. To ensure ongoing stability, we will perform an accuracy audit of the next data pull on 5/15/26, with a final resolution date of 05/29/26. Completion Date: 5/29/2026 Corrective Action Plan Incorrectly Reported Program Dates Our investigation with our (SIS) vendor revealed the issue stems from legacy business logic. Historically, system “triggers” automatically updated enrollment dates during major changes; however, these were previously removed to resolve record-locking conflicts, leading to the current reporting inconsistencies. To address this, we are moving away from the static enrollment date field in favor of a programmatic fix. The system will now automatically calculate the program begin date: if a student’s major in the current term differs from the previous one, the begin date will be set to the first day of that reporting term. Additionally, mid-semester major changes will not be reported until the subsequent term of enrollment. We will validate this new logic with an initial audit of the 05/27/26 pull, with a final resolution date of 06/30/26. Completion Date 6/30/2026 Lauri Arensmeyer BYU-Idaho Registrar arensmeyerl@byui.edu (208) 496-1010

Categories

Student Financial Aid Reporting

Other Findings in this Audit

  • 1214406 2025-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1214407 2025-002
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1214408 2025-003
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1214409 2025-001
    Material Weakness Repeat

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
84.063 FEDERAL PELL GRANT PROGRAM $76.91M
84.268 FEDERAL DIRECT STUDENT LOANS $31.90M
93.859 BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH AND RESEARCH TRAINING $150,746