Finding 2364 (2020-003)

Significant Deficiency
Requirement
E
Questioned Costs
$1
Year
2021
Accepted
2023-11-26
Audit: 4064
Organization: Concordia College (NY)

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: One graduate student did not meet the required GPA of 3.25 for TEACH grant eligibility.
  • Impacted Requirements: Lack of proper documentation and data backup due to the College's closure hindered compliance verification.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: Ensure all student records are properly maintained and backed up to prevent future compliance issues.

Finding Text

2020-003 Eligibility FALN Number: 84.379 Program or Cluster Name: Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education Grants (Student Financial Assistance Cluster) Agency: U.S. Department of Education Condition: For one of three graduate students selected that received TEACH grant disbursements, the student’s cumulative undergraduate grade point average did not meet or exceed the GPA requirement of 3.25 on a 4.0 scale. Status: Due to the closure of the College, various software systems were shutdown without downloading data to a backup drive. In addition, sufficient paper documentation was not maintained in supporting the activity of the College for both financial transactions and remaining compliance requirements in winding down the operations. Student and financial scholarship records could not be provided and as such the correction of the finding could not be verified. See current year finding 2021-002.

Corrective Action Plan

Management’s Response: Concordia College ceased academic operations in August 2021 and is in the process of winding down its operations and completing its remaining compliance requirements. Subsequent to the announcement of the closure of the College and following the ceasing of academic operations, virtually all employees left their employ with the College. The significant turnover in personnel, transition to outside consultants, and preparing proper teach out and transition plans for remaining students was a much larger focus than compliance requirements, which led to additional time lapsing between the prior year when findings were discovered to the current report being sent out. Additionally, due to the shutdown of Banner and the time taken to complete the audit, it is difficult for the College to obtain historical student and financial information pertaining to the period under audit.

Categories

Questioned Costs Eligibility Matching / Level of Effort / Earmarking

Other Findings in this Audit

  • 2362 2021-002
    Material Weakness
  • 2363 2020-002
    Material Weakness
  • 2365 2020-004
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 2366 2020-005
    Material Weakness
  • 2367 2020-006
    Significant Deficiency
  • 2368 2020-007
    Significant Deficiency Repeat
  • 2369 2020-008
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 2370 2020-009
    Significant Deficiency
  • 2371 2020-010
    Material Weakness
  • 2372 2020-011
    Material Weakness
  • 2373 2020-012
    Material Weakness
  • 2374 2020-013
    Material Weakness
  • 578804 2021-002
    Material Weakness
  • 578805 2020-002
    Material Weakness
  • 578806 2020-003
    Significant Deficiency
  • 578807 2020-004
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 578808 2020-005
    Material Weakness
  • 578809 2020-006
    Significant Deficiency
  • 578810 2020-007
    Significant Deficiency Repeat
  • 578811 2020-008
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 578812 2020-009
    Significant Deficiency
  • 578813 2020-010
    Material Weakness
  • 578814 2020-011
    Material Weakness
  • 578815 2020-012
    Material Weakness
  • 578816 2020-013
    Material Weakness

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
84.268 Federal Direct Student Loans $7.06M
84.063 Federal Pell Grant Program $1.52M
84.007 Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants $40,768
84.379 Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education Grants (teach Grants) $33,031