Finding 34867 (2022-002)

Finding No. 2022?002 - Special Tests and Provisions ? Enrollment Reporting Federal Program Name Federal Direct Student Loan Program (DL) CFDA No. 84.268 Name of Federal Agency U.S. Department of Education Pass-through Entity N/A Criteria 34 CFR 685.309 (b)(2) states that unless it expects to submit its next updated enrollment report to the Secretary within the next 60 days, a school must notify the Secretary within 30 days after the date the school discovers that; a loan under Title IV of the Act was made to or on behalf of a student who was enrolled or accepted for enrollment at the school, and the student has ceased to be enrolled on at least a half-time basis or failed to enroll on at least a half-time basis for the period for which the loan was intended; or a student who is enrolled at the school and who received a loan under title IV of the Act has changed his or her permanent address. Condition As part of our testing of 40 students who graduated and/or withdrew during 2022, we noted one (1) student for which the University did not report to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) the student status change within the required 60 days? period. Cause Late submissions resulted from the length of time required by the University?s administrative procedures for graduated students and/or from discrepancies identified by the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC), in the students? information. Effect As a result of this condition, the USDE was prevented the use of accurate reporting data, which is critical for the effective administration of the Direct Loan Program and for USDE budgetary policy analysis. Questioned Costs None. Context Of the 5,330 status changes from the selected campuses for 2022, we selected 40 students for testing and noted one (1) instance in which the University did not comply with the enrollment reporting requirements. Identification of a Repeat Finding This is a repeat finding from the immediate previous audit (2021-003). Recommendation The University should enhance its control procedures to ensure all enrollment status changes, including graduate students, are timely and accurately reported to NSDLS. Management should reassess the time-frame in which the University submits the information to the NSC and reinforce its monitoring of NSC to ensure they comply with the agreed upon reporting time-frame. The University should enhance both electronic and manual procedures to ensure student loan borrower enrollment status changes are timely and accurately reported to NSLDS. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions The University management agrees with this finding. Refer to the corrective action plan on pages 67-69.