Finding 21868 (2022-001)

-
Requirement
E
Questioned Costs
$1
Year
2022
Accepted
2023-07-18
Audit: 18645
Organization: Midwives College of Utah (UT)
Auditor: Sikich LLP

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: One student did not complete required entrance counseling for Federal Direct Loans, leading to non-compliance.
  • Impacted Requirements: All Federal Direct Loan recipients must complete entrance counseling before their first disbursement (34CFR 682.604, 685.304).
  • Recommended Follow-up: Enhance documentation controls in the financial aid department to ensure all students complete entrance counseling.

Finding Text

FINDING 2022-001: MISSING PROOF OF LOAN ENTRANCE COUNSELING FEDERAL AGENCY: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION PROGRAM NAME: FEDERAL DIRECT LOAN PROGRAM ALN#: 84.268 FEDERAL AWARD YEAR: YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2022 Compliance Requirement: Eligibility (E.) Criteria: Each student that receives Federal Direct Loans is required to have entrance counseling before release of the first disbursement (34CFR 682.604, 685.304). Condition: We tested thirty-seven files, twenty-seven of which were Federal Direct Loan recipients, and noted one student missing entrance counseling. We consider this finding to be an instance of non-compliance. Cause: The condition was caused by an oversight in the financial aid department. Effect: The result of not conducting entrance counseling is students may be uninformed about the responsibilities and consequences of borrowing funds. Question Costs: $5,541 Statistical sampling was not used when making sample selections. See schedule of findings and questioned costs for table. Recommendation: We recommend the Institution improve controls over retaining documentation on entrance interviews. Views of Responsible Officials: The Institution agrees with the Single Audit Finding and a response is included in the Corrective Action Plan.

Corrective Action Plan

A. Comments on Findings and Recommendations: 2022-001 - Missing Proof of Loan Entrance Counseling. It seems that the student may not have completed entrance counseling. When this student started, MCU was contracted with Weber as its Third- Party Servicer who used to check entrance counseling before processing our students. Since 2020, MCU has been contracted with Campus Ivy whose platform now requires the Financial Aid Department to upload the entrance counseling proof before processing can occur. B. Actions Taken or Planned: 2022-001 - Missing Proof of Loan Entrance Counseling. The student in question has now performed the required Entrance Counseling. Since May 2020, MCU's updated entrance counseling process with Campus Ivy has helped mitigate a risk of gaps with regard to the completion of entrance counseling. MCU will perform an internal review on current students enrolled before May 2020 to ensure entrance counselings are complete.

Categories

Questioned Costs Student Financial Aid Eligibility Matching / Level of Effort / Earmarking Internal Control / Segregation of Duties

Other Findings in this Audit

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
84.268 Federal Direct Student Loans $810,644
84.063 Federal Pell Grant Program $476,211