Finding Text
Control (Significant Deficiency)
Federal Programs
U.S. Department of Education
Federal Pell Grant Program (Assistance Listing Number 84.063)
Federal Direct Student Loans (Assistance Listing Number 84.268)
Award year ended August 31, 2023
Criteria:
Under the Federal Pell Grant Program and U.S. Department of Education (“ED”) loan programs, institutions are required to report student enrollment information via the National Student Loan Data System (“NSLDS”) (OMB No. 1845-0035). The administration of the Title IV programs depends heavily on the accuracy and timeliness of the enrollment information reported by institutions. Institutions must review, update, and verify student enrollment statuses, program information, and effective dates that appear on the Enrollment Reporting Roster file or on the Enrollment Maintenance page of the NSLDS Professional Access website. The data on the institution’s Enrollment Reporting Roster, or Enrollment Maintenance page, is what NSLDS maintains as the most recently certified enrollment information. There are two categories of enrollment information; “Campus Level” and “Program Level,” both of which need to be reported accurately and timely and have separate record types. The NSLDS Enrollment Reporting Guide provides the requirements and guidance for reporting enrollment details using the NSLDS Enrollment Reporting Process. Required program-level data includes, but is not limited to:
• Program enrollment status;
• Program enrollment effective date;
• Program begin date;
• Published program length and measurement; and,
• Classification of Instructional Program (“CIP”) code.
Context and Condition:
For 14 out of the 40 judgmentally selected changes, the program-level effective date of the change was not correctly or timely reported.
Cause:
The correction action plan from the prior year finding was not fully implemented due to the timing of the finding in the prior year Uniform Guidance audit.
Effect:
Reporting data was not properly reported to the NSLDS for certain enrollment changes. As a result, lenders may not able to correctly assess when students should begin their grace period or enter loan repayments if the correct enrollment effective dates are not accurately or timely reported.
Questioned Costs:
None identified.
Identified as a Repeat Finding:
Yes, finding 2022-002.
Recommendation:
The College should implement procedures to ensure that students’ program-level enrollment reporting data is reported to the NSLDS accurately and in accordance with the NSLDS Enrollment Guide. The College should also implement procedures to ensure this information is reviewed and approved by the appropriate individual.
Views of Responsible Officials:
Management agrees with the finding and is in the process of implementing changes to controls and processes to ensure similar errors will not occur in the future. Refer to Corrective Action Plan for further information.