FAC Explorer

Finding 375410 (2023-002)

Material Weakness
Requirement
N
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2023
Accepted
2024-03-11
Audit: 294475
Organization: Mount Saint Mary College (NY)
Auditor: Crowe LLP

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: The College failed to provide required notifications to students/parents regarding disbursements due to lost documents from a cyber breach.
  • Impacted Requirements: Notifications must include the disbursement date, amount, cancellation rights, and procedures for cancellation.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: Implement measures to recover lost documentation and ensure accurate and timely reporting to NSLDS.

Finding Text

For thirty-seven out of forty samples tested, the College was unable to provide support that the notifications were sent to students/parents indicating (1) the date and amount of the disbursement; (2) the student/parent’s right to cancel; and (3) the procedure and time by which the student or parent must notify the institution that he or she wishes to cancel. These was due to the documents lost during the cyber breach. For four out of forty samples tested, the student’s status was either, not accurately reflected in NSLDS or not reported to NSLDS in a timely manner. This was due to losing the script detail which produced the NSC transmittal file from the student information system during the cyber breach.

Corrective Action Plan

The College believes that the documents were completed and sent to the thirty-seven individuals concerned, however due to the cyber breach were unable to provide the requested documents. The College recognizes the importance of substantiating the information and has always been able to substantiate it in prior year audits. The College uses the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) to report student information to the NSLDS and is working with their student information system to ensure accurate student detail is submitted to the NSC on a timely manner. The College has addressed the cyber breach by enhancing security and access for all users (students and employees), upgrading software such as improved firewalls and multi-factor authentication, upgrading equipment where needed and moved most applications to cloud-based providers for better security.

Categories

Student Financial Aid

Other Findings in this Audit

  • 375409 2023-001
    Significant Deficiency
  • 375411 2023-001
    Significant Deficiency
  • 375412 2023-003
    Significant Deficiency
  • 375413 2023-001
    Significant Deficiency
  • 375414 2023-003
    Significant Deficiency
  • 375415 2023-003
    Significant Deficiency
  • 951851 2023-001
    Significant Deficiency
  • 951852 2023-002
    Material Weakness
  • 951853 2023-001
    Significant Deficiency
  • 951854 2023-003
    Significant Deficiency
  • 951855 2023-001
    Significant Deficiency
  • 951856 2023-003
    Significant Deficiency
  • 951857 2023-003
    Significant Deficiency

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
84.268 Federal Direct Student Loans $13.87M
84.063 Federal Pell Grant Program $2.37M
84.038 Federal Perkins Loan Program $318,225
93.364 Nursing Student Loans $138,061
84.007 Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants $124,751
84.033 Federal Work-Study Program $56,627
84.379 Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education Grants (teach Grants) $34,891