Finding 503622 (2024-001)

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Requirement
N
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2024
Accepted
2024-10-24
Audit: 325812

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: The College failed to report changes for withdrawn and graduated students to the NSLDS accurately and on time.
  • Impacted Requirements: Compliance with the requirement to report changes within 60 days as per Uniform Grant Guidance.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: Implement a monitoring process to ensure timely and accurate reporting of student status changes to the NSLDS.

Finding Text

Finding 2024-001 – Student Financial Aid Cluster, Assistance Listing # 84.007, 84.033, 84.063, 84.268 Compliance Requirement: Special Test and Provisions - Enrollment Reporting Condition: The College had not reported changes of all the sampled withdrawn or graduate students to the NSLDS as required under the Uniform Grant Guidance for the year ended May 31, 2024 accurately or timely. Criteria: The College is required to send changes in attendance levels, graduated, withdrew, dropped out, or enrolled changes to the NSLDS within 60 days of the change. Cause: The College did not have a monitoring mechanism in place that would have alerted them to this deficiency in the system reporting. Context: The College sent three changes related to withdrawn students to the National Student Loan Data System (“NSLDS”) with incorrect statuses and updated the status after 60 days and submitted the status change related to two graduated students after 60 days. Effect: The College did not report withdraw changes to the NSLDS timely. Recommendation: The College should put in place a process to timely capture student status changes so that they can be reported to the NSLDS. Management Response: The College concurs with this finding. See attached management’s corrective action plan.

Corrective Action Plan

College Corrective Action Plan: Every 30 days, Ringling College of Art and Design reports updated student enrollment activity, encompassing attendance levels, graduation status, withdrawals, dropouts, and enrollment changes, to the National Student Loan Database System via the National Student Clearinghouse. Regrettably, during the 2023-24 academic year, an unforeseen error from the Clearinghouse resulted in the dissemination of incorrect enrollment statuses for a subset of our students. This oversight was beyond the Registrar's Office's knowledge, leading to an unintended delay in rectifying the reported statuses. We believe this Clearinghouse error was an isolated incident, having never occurred in any preceding academic year. The issue has been effectively resolved and should not recur in the future. Nevertheless, as a proactive measure, commencing with the 2024-25 academic year, the Financial Aid Office will collaborate with the Registrar's Office to review a representative sample of at least 10% of student records transmitted to the Clearinghouse. This review process will serve as an additional safeguard, ensuring the accuracy and timeliness of our reporting requirements. Lee Harrell Director of Financial Aid, Office: 941-359-7532, Cell: 941-928-9413

Categories

Student Financial Aid Subrecipient Monitoring Reporting Matching / Level of Effort / Earmarking Special Tests & Provisions

Other Findings in this Audit

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
84.268 Federal Direct Student Loans $19.27M
84.063 Federal Pell Grant Program $2.10M
84.033 Federal Work-Study Program $333,346
84.007 Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants $219,198