Finding Text
Finding 2023-003: Reporting (Material Weakness)
U.S. Department of Education – COVID-19 Education Stabilization Fund (ALN 84.425 E&F)
Statement of Condition: The College’s publicly available Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds reports for the institutional and student expenditures overstated the total amount of expenditures the College incurred during the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023. The College overstated the total amount of student expenditures by $3,301,290 and overstated institutional expenditures by $1,127,289.
Criteria: As described under Section 314 (e) of the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021 (CRRSAA), Public Law 116-260, and defined by the United States Education Department, an institution shall submit a quarterly expense report documenting the expenditures for both the student portion of HEERF money as well as institutional use of the HEERF money. These reports should be posted to the College’s website in a timely and accurate manner for the previously ended quarter.
Cause: The College did not reconcile the reports posted to their publicly facing website with the underlying accounting records including the schedule of expenditures of federal awards.
Effect: Failure to comply with HEERF reporting requirements could jeopardize future federal funding.
Questioned Costs: This finding does not result in questioned costs.
Repeat Finding: This is not considered a repeat finding.
Recommendation: We recommend that the College review and reconcile reports to the underlying accounting records including the schedule of expenditures of federal awards to ensure that the reports finalized reflect the activity occurred during the reporting period.
View of responsible officials and planned corrective actions: Management agrees with the finding, see corrective action plan.