Finding Text
Assistance Listing Number, Federal Agency, and Program Name - 84.268, 84.063, and 84.007, Department of Education, Student Financial Aid Cluster
Federal Award Identification Number and Year - Various
Pass through Entity - N/A
Finding Type - Significant deficiency
Repeat Finding - No
Criteria - A Title IV, Higher Education Act (HEA) credit balance occurs whenever the amount of Title IV, HEA program funds credited to a student's ledger account for a payment period exceeds the amount assessed the student for allowable charges associated with that payment period, as provided under paragraph (c) of this section.
A Title IV, HEA credit balance must be paid directly to the student or parent as soon as possible, but no later than:
(i) 14 days after the balance occurred if the credit balance occurred after the first day of class of that payment period
(ii) 14 days after the first day of class of a payment period if the credit balance occurred on or before the first day of class of that payment period. (34 CFR 668.164 (h)(1))
Condition - Certain credit balances were not refunded to students within 14 days.
Questioned Costs - None
Identification of How Questioned Costs Were Computed - N/A
Context - Of the 25 students tested, there was 1 student who had credit balances created by Title IV funds that were not refunded within 14 days.
Cause and Effect - The University does not have a control or process in place to ensure that credit balances are refunded to students within 14 days in all situations.
Recommendation - The University should implement controls to ensure that credit balances are refunded to students within 14 days.
Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions - The manager of student business services, working with the director of financial aid, will inform the vice president of business affairs those students who are scheduled to receive special supplemental institutional aid (see below) and identify if that supplemental aid amount will place the student in a credit balance. The VPBA will then determine if the supplemental aid amount should be adjusted. If there is no adjustment, any credit balance will be processed for refund within the required 14-day period.
Note: This finding relates to a certain classification of students who receive supplemental intuitional aid in the form of a special scholarship (The Godard Scholarship). The intent of the scholarship was to supplement other forms of financial aid available to students such that the student’s account balance would equal zero. The scholarship amount was not adjusted from that originally communicated to students resulting in some students having a credit balance on their accounts. Rather than reducing the scholarship amount, the administration elected to honor that amount initially communicated to the scholarship recipients. The timing of this decision contributed to refund payments being delayed beyond the allowable period for this certain classification of students.
There were no questioned costs associated with the finding