Finding 49626 (2022-001)

Significant Deficiency
Requirement
E
Questioned Costs
$1
Year
2022
Accepted
2022-12-05
Audit: 42506
Organization: Lesley University (MA)

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: Nine out of forty students received under awarded Pell grants due to outdated funding rates from the previous academic year.
  • Impacted Requirements: Eligible students must receive Pell grants based on the current rates set by the Department of Education each academic year.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: Management should update Pell amounts annually and review past awards to ensure all students receive their full entitlement.

Finding Text

Finding ? Eligibility: Cost of Attendance ? Student Financial Assistance Cluster, Listing #84.063; June 30, 2022 Award year; U.S. Department of Education Criteria or Specific Requirement Eligible students are entitled to receive Pell grants at the rates determined at the beginning of each academic year by the Department of Education. Condition Found Out of forty students selected for testing, nine students were under awarded Pell grants based on their EFC and COA. Pell grants were issued using the rates for the prior academic year. This is not a statistically valid sample. Questioned Costs Known questioned costs $1,312; likely questioned costs of approximately $40,000. Management has estimated based on their own further analysis that the effects of this were under $25,000. Cause The University?s internal systems were not updated for the new Pell award amounts for the 2021-2022 academic year. Identification as a Repeat Finding Not a repeat finding. Recommendation Management should update Pell amounts annually and put controls in place to ensure this update happens annually as required. Management should also perform a full review of prior year Pell awards and provide institutional grants for any students who did not receive their full Pell award. Views of Responsible Officials and Corrective Actions See Corrective Action Plan.

Corrective Action Plan

Finding ? Return of Funds Condition Out of forty students selected for testing, nine students were under awarded Pell grants based on their EFC and COA. This is not a statistically valid sample. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions The University begins to award students prior to the new Pell Grant schedule release in late March. In April our software provider, Ellucian, releases an update for us to upload with the new Pell Grant schedule. This update was completed but some of the Pell Grants that had been packaged prior to the update were not reprocessed and repackaged with the new Pell Grant amounts. This error was due to a loss of personnel that had previously managed the reprocessing of the Pell Grants. Management has already reprocessed any students for 2022-23 to ensure correctness of Pell awards for the current year. Additionally, management has adopted new step by step procedures in writing to assist with the reprocessing/repackaging of Pell Grant awards to ensure that proper practices will be followed on a forward basis. Management is also in the process of reviewing 21-22 Pell awards and will disburse any shortfalls by December 31, 2022 to impacted students. Responsible Official: Frank Mullen Completion Date: 10/26/2022

Categories

Questioned Costs Student Financial Aid Eligibility

Other Findings in this Audit

  • 626068 2022-001
    Significant Deficiency

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
84.268 Federal Direct Student Loans Program $26.96M
84.425 Covid-19 - Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund III - Student Portion $3.16M
84.063 Federal Pell Grant Program $2.57M
84.038 Federal Perkns Loan Program $1.08M
84.365 English Language Parent/teacher Certificate $602,743
84.007 Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants $337,230
84.033 Federal Work-Study Program $231,556
84.411 Education Innovation and Research $88,842
94.433 National Institute of Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research $66,714
47.070 Computer and Information Science and Engineering $61,282
15.684 White-Nose Syndrome National Response Implementation $2,524