Finding Text
Federal Program: Student Financial Assistance Cluster • Federal Direct Student Loans (ALN 84.268) • Federal Pell Grant Program (ALN 84.063) Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education Pass Through Entity: None Federal Award Year: January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2025 Compliance Requirement: Reporting Criteria Requirement: Per the Uniform Guidance, institutions submit Direct Loan, Pell Grant, and TEACH Grant 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. Key items to test on origination records for the fiscal year are: award amount, enrollment date, verification status code (when the applicant is selected for verification), transaction number, cost of attendance, Academic Start Date, and Academic End Date. Conditions Found: For a sample of 60 students whose records were reported to the COD system, 5 of the 60 students had key items incorrectly reported to the COD. The key items identified as reported incorrectly included Academic End Date and Transaction Number. Cause and Possible Asserted Effect: This resulted in a control failure by the institution to report key items accurately to the COD system. Therefore, this evidenced the lack of an appropriately designed control by the institution to ensure key items are completely and accurately reported to the COD system. Identification of Questioned Costs: There are no questioned costs related to this finding. Sampling: This sample was not intended to be and was not a statistically valid sample. Identification of Repeat Finding: This audit finding is not a repeat finding in the prior year. Recommendation: Our recommendation is for management to design and implement a control in order to ensure the compliance requirement objectives are met. In particular, it is advised to implement a system of control within the institution to ensure key items reported to the COD system are complete and accurate. This will help ensure that there are controls in place to ensure compliance and control ownership is established, thereby preventing or promptly identifying and rectifying instances of noncompliance and ensuring the controls operate as designed. Views of Responsible Officials: The College agrees with the recommendation provided. The College has established a framework of controls and quality assurance testing to ensure complete and accurate reporting to the COD system.