Finding Text
The District failed to report complete and accurate information to the U.S. Department of Education (ED) on its Fiscal Operations Report and Application to Participate (FISAP) Cluster name: Student Financial Assistance Cluster Assistance Listings number(s) and name(s): 84.007 Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants 84.033 Federal Work-Study Program 84.063 Federal Pell Grant Program 84.268 Federal Direct Student Loans Award number(s) and year(s): P007A240134 July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025 P033A240134 July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025 P063P242910 July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025 P268K252910 July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025 Federal agency: U.S. Department of Education Compliance requirement: Reporting Questioned costs: Not applicable Condition Contrary to federal regulations, we found the District failed to report complete and accurate information to the U.S. Department of Education (ED) on the Fiscal Operations Report and Application to Participate (FISAP) for award year July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025, and application award year July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027. Specifically, the Student Financial Aid Office (Office) reported the wrong student data for the Pell Grant Program (Pell), Federal Work-Study Program (FWS), and Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grants Program (FSEOG) included in Part II, Section F, and Part VI, Section A, of the District’s FISAP. In addition, the District reported student data from fiscal year 2024 instead of fiscal year 2025 for all line items in these 2 sections of the FISAP. In addition, the District understated the amounts reported in the FISAP Section E, Lines 22 and 23, for tuition and fees revenues and the Pell grant awarded by $6,104,147 and $128,244, respectively. Effect Failure to report accurate and complete data in its FISAP puts the District’s campus-based programs, which include the FWS and FSEOG programs, at risk and may impact the District’s ability to receive funding for these programs from ED. If the District’s funding is reduced or eliminated, students lose the opportunity to receive federal grants and work-study opportunities. Cause Office management reported that they did not have policies and procedures over the FISAP reporting process. As a result, management used incorrect data to compile the FISAP report, and a second employee did not review or detect the sections with errors to ensure the reported data was compiled in accordance with the FISAP report directions and agreed to the supporting schedules. Criteria Each year, the District is required to submit a Fiscal Operations Report to the ED and ensure that the information reported is accurate (34 Code of Federal Regulations [CFR] §§675.19[b][3] and 676.19[b][3]). In addition, federal regulation requires establishing and maintaining effective internal control over federal awards that provides reasonable assurance that federal programs are being managed in compliance with all applicable laws, regulations, and award terms (2 CFR §200.303). Recommendations to the District Develop and implement policies and procedures for compiling the FISAP report to include the following: Step-by-step instructions on where to obtain the required data to ensure accurate information is included in the FISAP report in accordance with the report’s directions. Require an independent review and approval of the report by a knowledgeable employee prior to its submission to ED. Contact ED to revise and resubmit an accurate FISAP report that covers both the award year July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025, and the District’s application for award year July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027. Views of responsible officials District management concurs with this finding. The District’s corrective action plan at the end of this report includes the views and planned corrective action of its responsible officials regarding these recommendations. We are not required to audit and have not audited these responses and planned corrective actions and therefore provide no assurances as to their accuracy.