Finding 37096 (2022-001)

- Repeat Finding
Requirement
N
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2022
Accepted
2023-03-01
Audit: 33915
Organization: Mid Michigan College (MI)

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: The College failed to update the status of one student who unofficially withdrew, violating the requirement to report changes within 60 days.
  • Impacted Requirements: Compliance with the U.S. Department of Education's reporting standards for student status changes was not met.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: Ensure adherence to established procedures for reporting all student status changes to the NSLDS to prevent future occurrences.

Finding Text

2022-001 - Timeliness of Student Status Changes (Repeat Finding) Finding Type. Immaterial Noncompliance Program. Student Financial Assistance Cluster; U.S. Department of Education; Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants ("FSEOG"), Assistance Listing Number 84.007, Award Number P007A212047; Federal Work Study ("FWS"), Assistance Listing Number 84.033, Award Number P033A212047; Federal Pell Grant Program, Assistance Listing Number 84.063, Award Number P063P212848; and Federal Direct Student Loans Program, Assistance Listing Number 84.268, Award Number P268K212848. Criteria. The Compliance Supplement states that a College must report student status changes within 60 days of the status change. Condition. A status change was not updated for one of the forty students selected for testing who unofficially withdrew during the fiscal year. Cause. A status change was not updated for one of the students selected for testing who withdrew during the year. The College had a process in place to identify incorrectly submitted withdrawal statuses or dates to National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS), however, this process was not fully followed by an employee who is no longer employed at the College. Effect. As a result of this condition, the College did not fully comply with the requirements to report all student status changes and as a result of this condition, the College was exposed to not consistently reporting all student status changes correctly. Questioned Costs. No costs were required to be questioned as a result of this finding. Recommendation. We recommend that the College follow implemented procedures to include all status changes when reporting status changes to the NSLDS. View of Responsible Officials. Management believes this was an isolated incident and was identified internally during the fiscal year. Subsequent to this issue being found, the College engaged their IT department to look further into the cause of why some students were being reported with wrong dates. The College ended up changing how the Colleague-generated report that is sent to the Clearinghouse pulls withdrawn students so as to ensure these issues occur less often. The College believes that the corrective actions they have taken will be sufficient.

Corrective Action Plan

CORRECTIVE ACTION PLAN The compliance audit identified one finding, which is described in the Schedule of Findings and Questioned Costs. We evaluated this matter, as described below, and have outlined our corrective actions as a result. 2022-001 - Timeliness of Student Status Changes Background Gabrielle Coles was found to be reported to NSLDS for enrollment status change 9 days late, on the 69th day. This student officially withdrew from the Fall 2021 semester on November 30, 2021. At the time of the fall withdrawal, the student was also registered for winter term at half time. The original setup of the Colleague system caused the incorrect enrollment status to be reported for the student (as it was not considering the use of the unofficial withdrawal date in the Clearinghouse report file). However, we do have measures in place to review our withdrawn students one by one out in NSLDS to ensure we are compliant. When it was found by the Financial Aid Specialist that an error was reported to NSLDS, the responsible party -the former Registrar- was notified on two separate occasions to have the status updated; both notifications happened prior to the 60-day mark. Despite the notifications, the error was not updated until the 69th day. Issue The Colleague system did not correctly pull the withdrawal status or correct date. However, the issue was found well before the 60-day mark by the Financial Aid Specialist who reviews each withdrawn student in NSLDS biweekly. The Specialist did notify the responsible party of the error (twice). Due to human error (as we believe the former Registrar did not notice the fall withdrawal but instead only saw the half time winter registration), the issue was not resolved in time. This individual no longer works at the college. Subsequent to this issue, IT was engaged to look further into the Colleague report to identify the root cause of why some students were being reported with the wrong dates. After much research, we changed how the report was pulling withdrawn students and their withdrawal date. This change will also prevent issues from occurring in the future. Resolution With the corrective action plan put in place of both the Colleague system considering the unofficial date of withdrawal and the Financial Aid Specialist notifying the responsible party of enrollment status changes that are incorrect at NSLDS, we are confident that the enrollment reporting requirements should now be met. Responsible Party Director of Financial Aid ? Sarah Kasabian-Larson Date of Planned Corrective Action Effective immediately. March 2nd, 2022 Management Assessment We concur with the audit assessment regarding this matter.

Categories

Student Financial Aid Reporting Matching / Level of Effort / Earmarking

Other Findings in this Audit

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
84.063 Federal Pell Grant Program $4.64M
84.268 Federal Direct Student Loans $3.94M
84.425 Education Stabilization Fund $2.98M
84.031 Higher Education_institutional Aid $227,761
84.042 Trio_student Support Services $222,864
84.044 Trio_talent Search $173,563
84.033 Federal Work-Study Program $134,520
84.007 Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants $117,321
59.037 Small Business Development Centers $106,983
10.351 Rural Business Development Grant $95,000
84.044 Trio_student Support Services $72,893
84.048 Career and Technical Education -- Basic Grants to States $9,200