Finding Text
Federal Agency: U.S Department of Education
Federal Program Name: Student Financial Aid Cluster
Assistance Listing Number: 84.063, 84.268
Federal Award Identification Number and Year: P063P222488, P268K232488 Award Period: July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023
Type of Finding:
Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance
Other Matter
Criteria or specific requirement: Institutions are required to certify enrollment information under the Pell grant and the Direct and FFEL loan programs via the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS), at a minimum of every 60 days (OMB No.1845-0035). Institutions are required to design and implement internal control structures to ensure compliance with requirements of assistance programs (2 CFR 200.303).
Condition: During our testing, we noted four of 40 students selected for testing did not have enrollment properly reported to NSLDS with in the required reporting window. This included one instance in which the District failed to certify enrollment.
Questioned costs: There are no questioned costs.
Context: A statistically valid sample of 40 students was selected for testing of the institutional enrollment records for comparison to NSLDS records, as required by the Department of Education. Four of the students selected for testing were found to not have been certified within the required reporting window.
Cause: During the reporting window, the District changed between allowable reporting groups or models. Under the new reporting group some programs that were not included in the prior reporting group were not properly recognized in initial certification transmissions. This resulted in one enrollment certification reports being rejected, impacting three of the students selected for testing. The College worked with National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) to resolve the issue, but the report was finalized after the applicable reporting period for the students ended. In addition, one of the students selected for testing had withdrawn and re-enrolled for a future term in the subsequent academic year. The reporting submitted to NSLDS through NSC excluded this student from the enrollment reports as the enrollment term did not align with the reporting term.
Effect: There is a risk that students have the incorrect enrollment status, which can result in improper financial aid amounts being awarded.
Repeat finding: No
Recommendation: We recommend that the District design and implement controls to ensure reporting to NSLDS are designed to capture all enrolled students and programs offered by the District.
Views of responsible officials: There is no disagreement with the audit finding.