FAC Explorer

Finding 391940 (2023-004)

- Repeat Finding
Requirement
L
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2023
Accepted
2024-04-01
Audit: 302131
Organization: Thomas Jefferson University (PA)
Auditor: Pricewaterhousecoopers LLP

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: Enrollment reporting to the NSLDS was not completed within the required 65-day timeframe for 3 students, and 3 others lacked proper documentation for their "graduated" status.
  • Impacted Requirements: Institutions must certify enrollment status changes every 65 days, as outlined in the OMB Compliance Supplement.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: Increase resources in the registrar's office to manage status changes effectively, especially during graduation periods, to ensure timely reporting to the NSLDS.

Finding Text

Finding 2023-004 Enrollment Reporting Grantor(s): Department of Education Program: Student Financial Aid Cluster Assistance Listing#(s): Various Title: Student Financial Aid Cluster Award Year: 7/2021 – 6/2022 Award #: N/A Pass-through Number: N/A Criteria Per the OMB Compliance Supplement, institutions are required to certify enrollment, including changes in students’ enrollment status, at a minimum of every 65 days. Institutions are responsible for timely reporting, whether they report directly or via a third-party servicer. Condition Through testing a sample of 25 students for enrollment reporting of Pell and Direct Loans, we noted 3 students were reported to the NSLDS outside of the required 65-day window. Each of these 3 students were reported 66 days after their status change. Additionally, for 3 other students in our sample of 25, there was no evidence to support their “graduated” status or date of the status change within the NSLDS. Cause The cause of the delay in reporting to the NSLDS for the first 3 students mentioned above is due to timing with graduation and resource constraints at the University during fiscal year 2022. For the second 3 students, the cause was due to the fact that these students had multiple status changes in a small period of time. The students were “full-time” until 12/31/2021 when they graduated the undergraduate program, then began the graduate program as full-time students in February 2022. The quick change in status was the cause of the NSLDS enrollment status not being supported for these students during fiscal year 2022. Effect NSLDS was not updated timely for the first 3 students mentioned above. For the second 3 students, their enrollment status could potentially be inaccurate in the NSLDS system if their graduation was not processed. Questioned Costs None. Recommendation Management should enhance their resources within the office of the registrar to be able to accommodate status changes during the graduation period and ensure timely status change submission to the NSLDS. Management’s View and Corrective Action Plan Management’s

Corrective Action Plan

Management concurs with the findings regarding the delay and insufficient graduation reporting to NSLDS. The University Registrar is aware of the 6-day delinquency in reporting for summer term due to the timing of the degree awards for the May graduates on the East Falls campus. Degree audits will be checked to ensure are awarded in a timely manner. We also will work with NSC to ensure all enrollment reporting schedules are updated in accordance with the academic calendar of the appropriate branch, limiting any issue with the 60-day certification date during our Summer term, as all other terms have been reported correctly. This will happen every semester on a 4–6week basis, in tandem with enrollment report submissions. This will resolve the 60-day certification issue. Academic Services makes every effort to report clean enrollments accurately and on time. However, we continue to find inconsistencies with the NSC transmissions to NSLDS and are aware of the need for additional oversight of the NSC process as well as the development of a process to audit NSC transmissions to NSLDS. This will also aid in the elimination of reporting errors between NSC and NSLDS, as in the case of the three graduation records. The Office of Academic Services is working to identify resources to address the above action plans. Spring 2024 update: The University Registrar has gained access directly to the NSLDS enrollment files. The University Registrar will audit enrollment files twice monthly to be certain that any errored NSLDS enrollment records created at the time of NSLDS roster submission, are corrected to negate the 65-day outstanding record (NSLDS ERROR 22). The University Registrars will continue to work with NSLDS and National Student Clearinghouse to locate cause of errored NSLDS roster records.

Categories

Student Financial Aid Matching / Level of Effort / Earmarking Reporting

Other Findings in this Audit

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
84.268 Federal Direct Student Loans $122.81M
21.027 Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds $15.91M
93.767 Children's Health Insurance Program $13.35M
84.063 Federal Pell Grant Program $6.68M
97.036 Disaster Grants - Public Assistance (presidentially Declared Disasters) $2.56M
93.323 Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Infectious Diseases (elc) $2.43M
84.038 Federal Perkins Loan Program $1.75M
10.561 State Administrative Matching Grants for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program $1.73M
84.425F Heerf $1.41M
84.007 Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants $1.10M
84.033 Federal Work-Study Program $952,306
93.926 Healthy Start Initiative $801,209
93.498 Provider Relief Fund $532,931
93.364 Nursing Student Loans $451,666
93.884 Grants for Primary Care Training and Enhancement $438,395
93.732 Mental and Behavioral Health Education and Training Grants $394,133
93.286 Discovery and Applied Research for Technological Innovations to Improve Human Health $378,099
93.855 Allergy, Immunology and Transplantation Research $320,744
93.918 Grants to Provide Outpatient Early Intervention Services with Respect to Hiv Disease $297,130
93.958 Block Grants for Community Mental Health Services $271,502
93.186 National Research Service Award in Primary Care Medicine $260,052
93.867 Vision Research $218,809
93.940 Hiv Prevention Activities_health Department Based $200,199
93.264 Nurse Faculty Loan Program (nflp) $190,641
93.860 Emerging Infections Sentinel Networks $171,660
93.226 Research on Healthcare Costs, Quality and Outcomes $154,431
93.243 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services_projects of Regional and National Significance $144,022
93.137 Community Programs to Improve Minority Health Grant Program $137,966
93.342 Health Professions Student Loans, Including Primary Care Loans/loans for Disadvantaged Students $124,000
93.136 Injury Prevention and Control Research and State and Community Based Programs $123,316
81.086 Conservation Research and Development $118,873
21.019 Coronavirus Relief Fund $109,395
93.839 Blood Diseases and Resources Research $106,602
93.083 Prevention of Disease, Disability, and Death Through Immunization and Control of Respiratory and Related Diseases $82,162
93.250 Geriatric Academic Career Awards Department of Health and Human Services (b) $80,889
93.325 Paralysis Resource Center $72,397
93.859 Biomedical Research and Research Training $70,049
93.788 Opioid Str $69,110
93.837 Cardiovascular Diseases Research $67,523
93.268 Immunization Cooperative Agreements $60,857
93.994 Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant to the States $60,571
93.853 Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders $53,312
93.846 Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Research $52,832
93.914 Hiv Emergency Relief Project Grants $51,198
93.145 Aids Education and Training Centers $47,722
11.307 Economic Adjustment Assistance $47,221
93.396 Cancer Biology Research $46,238
43.003 Exploration $46,216
93.630 Developmental Disabilities Basic Support and Advocacy Grants $42,929
93.391 Activities to Support State, Tribal, Local and Territorial (stlt) Health Department Response to Public Health Or Healthcare Crises $42,708
93.398 Cancer Research Manpower $41,930
45.162 Promotion of the Humanities_teaching and Learning Resources and Curriculum Development $41,451
93.124 Nurse Anesthetist Traineeships $39,369
12.340 Naval Medical Research and Development $39,121
93.153 Coordinated Services and Access to Research for Women, Infants, Children, and Youth $35,528
12.420 Military Medical Research and Development $30,630
93.847 Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research $29,882
93.393 Cancer Cause and Prevention Research $29,750
93.361 Nursing Research $28,347
93.665 Emergency Grants to Address Mental and Substance Use Disorders During Covid-19 $26,207
93.310 Trans-Nih Research Support $24,683
93.103 Food and Drug Administration_research $22,301
15.670 Adaptive Science $21,113
93.172 Human Genome Research $20,089
95.007 Research and Data Analysis $19,806
93.395 Cancer Treatment Research $19,075
93.865 Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research $16,594
47.049 Mathematical and Physical Sciences $15,253
93.433 Acl National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research $14,962
10.310 Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (afri) $14,935
93.351 Research Infrastructure Programs $14,417
93.173 Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders $14,287
93.399 Cancer Control $13,956
93.353 21st Century Cures Act - Beau Biden Cancer Moonshot $13,952
93.283 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention_investigations and Technical Assistance $13,332
93.110 Maternal and Child Health Federal Consolidated Programs $12,299
93.435 Innovative State and Local Public Health Strategies to Prevent and Manage Diabetes and Heart Disease and Stroke- $7,007
93.686 Ending the Hiv Epidemic: A Plan for America — Ryan White Hiv/aids Program Parts A and B (b) $6,615
93.048 Special Programs for the Aging_title Iv_and Title Ii_discretionary Projects $6,603
93.394 Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research $5,277
93.217 Family Planning_services $5,168
93.273 Alcohol Research Programs $4,398
93.113 Environmental Health $4,029
93.RD Advanced Development of Multivalent Vaccine Candidate for Filovirus and Lassa Fever $3,815
93.184 Disabilities Prevention $3,667
93.080 Blood Disorder Program: Prevention, Surveillance, and Research $3,136
93.866 Aging Research $2,873
93.307 Minority Health and Health Disparities Research $2,219
93.959 Block Grants for Prevention and Treatment of Substance Abuse $2,207
93.838 Lung Diseases Research $1,851
93.185 Immunization Research, Demonstration, Public Information and Education_training and Clinical Skills Improvement Projects $1,285
17.280 Workforce Investment Act (wia) Dislocated Worker National Reserve Demonstration Grants $16
93.242 Mental Health Research Grants $0
93.397 Cancer Centers Support Grants $-14
93.279 Drug Abuse and Addiction Research Programs $-34
93.121 Oral Diseases and Disorders Research $-212
12.300 Basic and Applied Scientific Research $-6,392