Finding 47155 (2022-001)

2022-001 ? Enrollment Status Reporting Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education Federal Program Title: Student Financial Assistance Cluster Assistance Listing Number: 84.268 ? Federal Direct Student Loans 84.063 ? Federal Pell Grant Program Award Period: July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022 Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control Over Compliance Criteria: The Code of Federal Regulations 34 CFR 682.610 states that institutions must report accurately the enrollment status of all students regardless if they receive aid from the institution. This includes the enrollment effective date and related enrollment status, which must be reported for both the Campus-Level and the Program-Level. Enrollment status changes for students must be reported to National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) within 30 days or within 60 days if the student with the status change will be reported on a scheduled transmission within 60 days of the change in status. In addition, at a minimum, schools are required to certify enrollment every 60 days. Condition: During our testing of students with enrollment status changes, we noted 3 errors out of 40 students tested. For two of the students tested, the enrollment effective date reported on the program level did not match the enrollment effective date per the College?s records. For one of the students tested, the enrollment status reported on the program level did not match the enrollment status per the College?s records. Questioned costs: None Cause: Due to technology limitations, a small subpopulation of students were unable to get captured in the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) report that subsequently reports into the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS). The small subpopulation were financial aid students with unofficial withdrawal dates. Therefore, to ensure that population of students had correct enrollment statuses reported in NSLDS, manual intervention and updates were required. Because the population of students impacted were financial aid students, a decision was made for the financial aid office to be responsible for updating the information in NSLDS. Due to a knowledge gap, the staff responsible for updating the information in NSLDS was unaware that when a student has multiple programs of study, information needs to be updated manually at both the campus level and the program level. Unfortunately, information was only being updated at the campus level. Effect: The College did not comply with U.S. Department of Education regulations for reporting student enrollment status changes accurately. Repeat Finding: Yes Recommendation: We recommend that the College review its procedures to ensure enrollment status changes are reported to NSLDS accurately, as required by regulations. Management?s Response: Short term solution ? To reduce any knowledge gaps going forward, the responsibility of enrollment reporting into NSLDS will now be the responsibility of the Enrollment Reporting Specialist. That position is housed in the Records office and reports to the Registrar. The Enrollment Reporting Specialist will be responsible for all aspects of enrollment reporting to NSC and NSLDS including the aforementioned subpopulation of students. Long term solution(s) ? The Record?s office will work closely with the Information Technology department to automate the process of capturing unofficial withdrawal information from Colleague and reporting it to NSC. That information will then be automatically updated into NSLDS effortlessly and without manual intervention. Additionally, the college is re-examining its policy for allowing students to register for multiple programs of study simultaneously.