Finding 387723 (2023-001)

Significant Deficiency

Requirement

Questioned Costs

Year

2023

Accepted

2024-03-28

Audit: 299776

Organization: Beacon College, Inc. (FL)

Auditor: Cliftonlarsonallen LLP

AI Summary

Core Issue: The College failed to report a change in a student's enrollment status to NSLDS within the required timeframe.
Impacted Requirements: Compliance with 34 CFR 685.309(b) regarding timely updates to student enrollment information.
Recommended Follow-Up: Review and improve policies and procedures to ensure all enrollment status changes are reported promptly to NSLDS.

Finding Text

2023 – 001 National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) Enrollment Reporting Federal Agency: Department of Education Federal Program Title: Student Financial Assistance Cluster Assistance Listing Number: 84.268 – Federal Direct Loan Program 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: According to the Code of Federal Regulations, 34 CFR 685.309(b) schools must update the secretary with pertinent information within 30 days (unless it expects to submit its next updated enrollment report to the Secretary within the next 60 days) after the date the school discovers a change to a student’s enrollment status. Condition: During our testing, we noted 1 instance out of 8 students tested where a change in enrollment status was not reported to NSLDS. Questioned costs: None. Context: 1 instance out of 8 students tested. Cause: The College’s policies and procedures did not ensure that the change in enrollment status was identified and reported to NSLDS in a timely manner. Effect: The enrollment status for this student was not updated in a timely manner. Repeat finding: No. Recommendation: We recommend the College evaluate its policies and procedures for identifying and reporting enrollment status changes to ensure that all changes are reported to NSLDS in a timely manner. Views of responsible officials and planned corrective actions: See Corrective Action Plan prepared by the College.

Corrective Action Plan

Recommendation: We recommend the College evaluate its policies and procedures for identifying and reporting enrollment status changes to ensure that all changes are reported to NSLDS in a timely manner. Explanation of disagreement with audit finding: There is no disagreement with the audit finding. Action planned/taken in response to finding: The College has recently updated their Student Information System (SIS) to a less manual program. Formerly, the College used SONIS, but as of February 2023 has moved to Jenzabar One (J1). The J1 system is more robust than the SONIS system and is interfaced with the Financial Aid Management (FAM) system the College uses – PowerFAIDS. With the capability of the systems communicating with each other, the College can implement real-time internal reconciliation that can quickly identify issues with the dates, amounts, etc. and will allow the departments to work quickly to resolve exceptions found related to compliance of the dates, amounts, etc. Since the change-over to J1, the reconciliation process has been more efficient and has allowed for quick resolution of discrepancies identified. Name(s) of the contact person(s) responsible for corrective action: Daphne Parks, Vice President of Processing at FAS; Stephanie Knight, Director of Enrollment Services & Financial Aid, Beacon College; Carrie Santaw, Registrar, Beacon College Planned completion date for corrective action plan: Completed.

Other Findings in this Audit

387722 2023-002

Significant Deficiency
387724 2023-002

Significant Deficiency
964164 2023-002

Significant Deficiency
964165 2023-001

Significant Deficiency
964166 2023-002

Significant Deficiency

Programs in Audit

ALN	Program Name	Expenditures
84.268	Federal Direct Student Loans	$4.68M
84.063	Federal Pell Grant Program	$731,146
84.007	Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants	$95,000
84.033	Federal Work-Study Program	$56,443