Finding Text
Finding 2022-003 - Return of Title IV Funds Federal Program: Student Financial Aid Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education Pass-Through Entity: Not applicable CFDA Number: 84.063, 84.268 Federal Award Number: PK268K222121, P063P212121 Federal Award Year: June 30, 2022 Repeat Finding: 2021-001 Criteria: 34 CFR 668.22 requires 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 in accordance with Federal regulations and return the unearned portion of the grant or loan funds to the Title IV programs as soon as possible but no later than 45 days after the withdrawal date. Condition/Context: The federal aid refunds for two of five students tested as part of our sample were not calculated correctly and resulted in the College refunding incorrect amounts to the Title IV Program. In addition, the College identified five other students for which the R2T4 calculations were incorrect. The sample was not a statistically valid sample. Questioned Costs: For federal award P268K222121, Direct Loans, the College returned $14 more than required for one student tested. For federal award P063P212121, Pell, the college returned $67 more than required for one student. For the five additional students that the College identified as having incorrect return calculations, $457 was returned in excess for award P063P212121 and $84 was returned in excess for award P268K222121. Cause: The College did not properly calculate the number of days in a term (excluding breaks of five days or more) which resulted in the incorrect unearned aid percentage to be used in the refund calculation. Effect: The amounts refunded to the Department of Education were incorrect. To be specific, the amount returned was more than should have been returned. Recommendation: The College should reevaluate the process around completing R2T4 calculations. Also, a more rigorous review process should be implemented over refund calculations in order to ensure the proper calculations of the R2T4 worksheet. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: The College hired a new Director of Financial Aid in January 2021 and the academic year 2020/2021 was the first one she completed. While the College hired an external consultant to assist her, additional training in this area is necessary. The College has since hired a new Director of Financial Aid who has more years of experience in the field. The College will be providing additional consulting support going forward when a new Director of Financial Aid is hired.