November 17, 2022 To: Chair of the Audit Committee From: Debra Martin, Vice President for Finance and Administration RE: Response to Baker Tilly Audit Communication ? Uniform Guidance Audit Findings Finding 2022-003: Enrollment Reporting Program: Federal Direct Loan Program Assistance Listing Number (ALN): 84.268 Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education Federal Award Identification Number: P268K221157 Federal Award Year: June 30, 2022 Criteria: Title IV regulations (34 CFR 685.309(b)) require that upon receipt of an enrollment report from the Secretary, institutions must update all information included in the report and return the report to the Secretary: (i) in the manner and format prescribed by the Secretary; and (ii) within the timeframe prescribed by the Secretary. Unless it expects to submit its next updated enrollment report to the Secretary within the next 60 days, an institution must notify the Secretary within 30 days after the date the institution discovers that: (i) a loan under Title IV of the Act was made to or on behalf of a student who was enrolled or accepted for enrollment at the institution, and the student has ceased to be enrolled on at least a half-time basis or failed to enroll on at least a half-time basis for the period for which the loan was intended; or (ii) a student who is enrolled at the institution and who received a loan under Title IV of the Act has changed his or her permanent address. Condition: Five of the twenty-five students who were tested had incorrect statuses, status dates or program information reported to NSLDS. One student was reported correctly as graduated on the campus level reporting but was not reported as graduated on the program level. Two other students that graduated were not reported as graduated on campus or program level reporting. Two students were reported with the status effective date on both the campus and program level reporting that did not agree to the University?s system support, subsequently for one student the registrar changed the system date noting it had not been updated in error. The sample was not a statistically valid sample. Cause: The University?s processes did not ensure accurate reporting to NSLDS. Effect: The accuracy of Title IV student loan records depends heavily on the accuracy of the enrollment information reported by institutions. If an institution does not review, update, and verify student enrollment statuses, effective dates of the enrollment status, and the anticipated completion dates, then the Title IV student loan records will be inaccurate. Questioned costs: Not applicable Context: Not applicable. Recommendation: It is recommended that the University review policies and procedures in place to resolve reporting issues in a timely manner to facilitate compliance with Title IV regulations. Management?s Response: The University agrees with the recommendation and will review system and business processes contributing to these errors and implement corrective measures. Correction Action: MSMU will add an additional enrollment and degree report to our current schedule of one per month. This will allow for more frequent enrollment reporting that will correct this type of enrollment reporting error going forward. In addition, Registrar?s Office will update procedures to verify status start dates for any enrollment changes to specifically match the student?s enrollment in the student information system. MSMU will continue to explore the possibility of reporting directly to the NSLD rather than having to abide by the Clearing House policies. In the meantime, when graduating a student Registrar staff will check to see if the student is currently enrolled at MSMU, and if they are not, the staff member will go to the Clearing House and manually mark that program as graduated with a G. The Registrar?s Office will have multiple staff members verify the degree data uploaded to the Clearing House.