Finding 4313 (2023-003)

Material Weakness
Requirement
E
Questioned Costs
$1
Year
2023
Accepted
2023-12-14
Audit: 6701
Organization: Mount Marty University (SD)
Auditor: Eide Bailly LLP

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: Two students eligible for the Federal Pell Grant were not awarded assistance due to errors in monitoring.
  • Impacted Requirements: Compliance with 34 CFR 690 regarding student eligibility for the Pell Grant was not met.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: Management should review and improve procedures for monitoring Pell eligibility to prevent future errors.

Finding Text

Student Financial Assistance Program Cluster – Department of Education Federal Financial Assistance Listing #84.063 Federal Pell Grant Program (PELL) P063P202209, P063P212209, P063P222209 Eligibility Material Weakness in Internal Control over Compliance Criteria: 34 CFR 690 contains requirements that apply to student eligibility over the Federal Pell Grant Program. Condition: Two instances identified in which the student was eligible to receive Federal Pell assistance but was not awarded the assistance. Cause: The report used by the Financial Aid Office to monitor Pell eligibility in the summer was ran incorrectly resulting in a Pell-eligible student being improperly excluded from the report. Additionally, Pell eligibility was not monitored for a student during the 75-day requirement to satisfy an incomplete grade. Effect: Two students were under awarded Pell aid. Questioned Costs: $1,355 in assistance was not awarded that should have been. Context/Sampling: A non-statistical sample of 60 of the University’s 658 students receiving student financial assistance was selected for testing. The sample resulted in testing $644,190 out of $13,239,499 in federal financial assistance. Repeat Finding from Prior Years: No Recommendation: We recommend that management review procedures and control processes over monitoring of Pell eligibility. Views of Responsible Officials: Management agrees with the finding.

Corrective Action Plan

Student Financial Assistance Program Cluster – Department of Education Federal Financial Assistance Listing #84.063 Federal Pell Grant Program (PELL) P063P202209, P063P212209, P063P222209 Finding 2023-003 – Eligibility – Material Weakness Finding Summary: Two instances identified in which the student was eligible to receive Federal Pell assistance but was not awarded the assistance. Responsible Individuals: Lauren Svanda, Director of Financial Aid Corrective Action Plan: Partake in additional training in the awarding of summer PELL. Update procedures on how information is communicated between the Registrar’s Office and Financial Aid to improve awareness of summer reporting and grade change updates. Recondition the reporting process to improve accuracy of delivered information. Anticipated Completion Date: January 1st, 2024

Categories

Questioned Costs Student Financial Aid Subrecipient Monitoring Internal Control / Segregation of Duties Eligibility Material Weakness

Other Findings in this Audit

  • 580755 2023-003
    Material Weakness

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
84.268 Federal Direct Student Loans $10.54M
84.063 Federal Pell Grant Program $1.17M
93.364 Nursing Student Loans $814,079
84.038 Federal Perkins Loans $407,961
84.033 Federal Work-Study Program $161,409
97.008 Non-Profit Security Program $133,032
84.007 Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants $126,947
93.859 Biomedical Research and Research Training $114,793
84.379 Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education Grants (teach Grants) $20,746
93.912 Rural Health Care Services Outreach, Rural Health Network Development and Small Health Care Provider Quality Improvement $8,950