Finding 26080 (2022-002)

Significant Deficiency

Requirement

Questioned Costs

Year

2022

Accepted

2023-01-29

Audit: 22863

Organization: Northern Wyoming Community College District (WY)

Auditor: Eide Bailly LLP

AI Summary

Core Issue: The District made a mistake in calculating the amount of Title IV funds to return when a student withdrew, using the wrong enrollment period.
Impacted Requirements: This violates 34 CFR Section 668.22, which mandates accurate calculations for Title IV fund returns.
Recommended Follow-Up: Management should improve the review process for manual calculations to catch errors before they affect compliance.

Finding Text

2022-002 Direct Programs ? Department of Education FAL# 84.063, 84.007, 84.268, 84.033 Student Financial Assistance Cluster Special Test and Provisions: Return to Title IV Significant Deficiency in Internal Control Over Compliance Criteria: 34 CFR Section 668.22 states that when a recipient of Title IV grant or loan assistance withdraws from an institution during a payment period or period of enrollment in which the recipient began attendance, the institution must determine the amount of Title IV grant or loan assistance that the student earned as of the student's withdrawal date. Condition: During our testing of compliance with Return of Title IV Funds (R2T4), there was 1 instance out of 38 where the District calculated the incorrect amount to be returned to the Department of Education (ED). Cause: The incorrect period of enrollment was used. This error was the result of a manual calculation that was performed for the student, instead of relying on the automatic system the District uses to calculate R2T4 amounts. Effect: The incorrect amount was calculated for the return of Title IV calculation. The District returned the incorrect amount of aid to ED. Questioned Costs: None reported. Context/Sampling: A nonstatistical sample of 38 students out of 191 who withdrew from the term and were considered for R2T4. Repeat Finding from Prior Year: No. Recommendation: Management of the District should review its process over manual R2T4 calculations to ensure that any errors in manual calculations are caught during the review process. Views of Responsible Officials: The District agrees with the finding.

Corrective Action Plan

Finding 2022-002 Federal Agency Name: Department of Education Program Name: Student Financial Assistance Cluster FAL #: 84.063, 84.007, 84.268, 84.033 Finding Summary: 34 CFR Section 668.22 states that when a recipient of Title IV grant or loan assistance withdraws from an institution during a payment period or period of enrollment in which the recipient began attendance, the institution must determine the amount of Title IV grant or loan assistance that the student earned as of the student's withdrawal date. During our testing of compliance with Return of Title IV Funds (R2T4), there was 1 instance out of 38 where the District calculated the incorrect amount to be returned to the Department of Education (ED). Responsible Individuals: Heidi Balster, Director of Student Financial Aid Corrective Action Plan: During each payment period of an award year, the Financial Aid Office will review 20% of all R2T4 calculations (unduplicated) to ensure accuracy of the calculation and students? earned aid. The Financial Aid Office will use the random (RAND) formula in Excel to randomly select the R2T4 student population for testing. Within one week after all midterm grades are posted for the payment period, the Financial Aid Office will randomly select 10% of R2T4 calculations processed and review each calculation to ensure the correct period of enrollment was used in the calculation. After the end of each payment period, within a week after all unofficial withdrawals are processed, the Financial Aid Office will randomly select an additional 10% of R2T4 calculations (unduplicated) and review each calculation to ensure the correct period of enrollment was used in the calculation. If it is determined that a student?s R2T4 calculation is incorrect, the Financial Aid Office will complete the following steps prior to processing a corrected R2T4 calculation: 1. Obtain screenshots of incorrect R2T4 calculation and print copies into the Perceptive Content imaging system 2. Purge the incorrect R2T4 calculation and leave comments in student?s record for reason of purged calculation 3. Update all Title IV aid awards back to original amounts disbursed prior to R2T4 calculation 4. Run the Colleague?s Batch FA Transmittal Register (FATR) process and review aid adjustments 5. Notify the Business Office to have them run the Batch FA Transmittal Update (FATP) process 6. Once FATP is processed, re-run R2T4 calculation with the corrected enrollment Anticipated Completion Date: January 2023

Other Findings in this Audit

26081 2022-002

Significant Deficiency
26082 2022-002

Significant Deficiency
26083 2022-002

Significant Deficiency
602522 2022-002

Significant Deficiency
602523 2022-002

Significant Deficiency
602524 2022-002

Significant Deficiency
602525 2022-002

Significant Deficiency

Programs in Audit

ALN	Program Name	Expenditures
84.063	Federal Pell Grant Program	$2.78M
84.268	Federal Direct Student Loans	$2.51M
11.300	Investments for Public Works and Economic Development Facilities	$864,179
21.019	Coronavirus Relief Fund	$642,753
84.425	Education Stabilization Fund	$326,183
17.600	Mine Health and Safety Grants	$308,279
84.042	Trio_student Support Services	$262,387
84.334	Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs	$202,618
84.002	Adult Education - Basic Grants to States	$120,904
84.007	Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants	$68,076
84.033	Federal Work-Study Program	$64,006
17.268	H-1b Job Training Grants	$18,953
93.859	Biomedical Research and Research Training	$5,196
45.130	Promotion of the Humanities_challenge Grants	$2,629
94.006	Americorps	$2,000
84.048	Career and Technical Education -- Basic Grants to States	$1,571
43.008	Education	$595