Finding Text
FINDING 2023-003 - Eligibility - Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance
(See III. Federal Awards Findings and Questioned Costs - Finding 2023-003 for table)
Criteria- SEC. 472 of the Higher Education Act (HEA) [20 U.S.C. 108711] COST OF ATTENDANCE. For the purpose of this title, the term "cost of attendance" means: (1) tuition and fees normally assessed a student carrying the same academic workload as determined by the institution and including costs for rental or purchase of any equipment, materials, or supplies required of all students in the same course of study.
Condition/context- We selected 40 students from a list of all students enrolled and awarded federal student aid in fiscal year 2023. We obtained the students' cost of attendance calculations and compared them to their established cost of attendance policy, published tuition rates, and other supporting documents. Four of the selected students had cost of attendance that included the incorrect budget for fees.
Cause - The exceptions occurred as a result of the lack of effective internal controls in place to review completed financial aid packages against approved University budgets.
Effect- The students' financial need is calculated based on the students' expected family contribution and estimated cost of attendance, which in turn is used to determine eligibility for programs and packages the student's award offers. If the cost of attendance is incorrect, this could result in an over- or underaward. In our testing, we did not identify students who were over-awarded or under-awarded resulting from this specific condition.
Repeat finding - This is a repeat finding. See 2022-003
Recommendation - We recommend NU institute a process and control to ensure student cost of attendance budgets are reviewed by the appropriate person(s) in a timely manner and that the review is documented.
Views of responsible officials and planned corrective actions - Management acknowledges the audit finding and wants to reinforce that despite challenges in the cost of attendance; there were no over or under-awards to students. To address this finding, our Quality Assurance team will oversee a weekly review of the cost of attendance to ensure financial aid packages align with approved budgets, enabling early identification of discrepancies for prompt correction. Based on these reviews, individual and group coaching will be implemented to address areas of concern.
A refresher training and updated tools and guidance will be completed to reinforce best practices and align with institutional policy and procedure for calculating the cost of attendance.
Through these concerted efforts, NU hopes to demonstrate its full commitment to addressing the audit findings.