Finding Text
Federal Program Information: Student Financial Assistance Cluster (Various ALN?s) Criteria or Specific Requirement: N. Special Tests and Provisions ?Disbursements To or On Behalf of Students - If a student received financial aid while attending one or more other institutions, schools are required to request financial aid history using the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) Student Transfer Monitoring Process. Under this process, a school informs NSLDS about its transfer students. NSLDS will ?monitor? those students on the school?s ?inform? list and ?alert? the school of any relevant financial aid history changes. A school must wait 7 days after it ?informs? NSLDS about a transfer student before disbursing Title IV aid to that student (34 CFR section 668.19). Condition: Certain students were not added to the Transfer Monitoring List, and the University did not wait to disburse in other instances. Cause: Administrative oversight and insufficient internal control. Effect or Potential Effect: The University did not adhere to the NSLDS Student Transfer Monitoring Process. Questioned Costs: None. Context: For 4 of 16 students tested, the University did not wait at least 7 days after adding the student to the NSLDS alert list before disbursing Title IV funds. For 9 of 16 students tested, the University was unable to provide documentation showing that the student was added to the Transfer Monitoring List. Identification as a Repeat Finding: There was no similar finding identified during the prior year. Recommendation: We recommend that the University enhance its procedures and internal controls to ensure that students are added to the Transfer Monitoring List and an appropriate time has passed before disbursing Title IV aid. Views of Responsible Officials: The University has assigned a Financial Aid Staff member to more closely monitor the NSLDS Transfer Monitoring List that comes in from NSLDS on a monthly basis and coordinate with the Registrar?s Office to ensure that all information is updated in a timely manner. Additionally, we have put in place a new policy that Title IV aid will not be paid until after the end of the Drop/Add period of any given semester.