Finding 504279 (2024-002)

Direct Program - Department of Education Student Financial Assistance Cluster Federal Financial Assistance Listing: 84.007, 84.033, 84.063, 84.268 Award Nos. P063P237884, P268K247884, P033A239207, P007A239207 Compliance Requirement: Special Tests & Provisions – Disbursement to or on Behalf of Students Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency in Internal control over Compliance Criteria: Institutions that implement an affirmative confirmation process (as described in 34 CFR 668.165 (a)(6)(i)) must make this notification to the student or parent no earlier than 30 days before, and no later than 30 days after, crediting the student’s account at the institution with Direct Loan or TEACH Grants. Institutions that do not implement an affirmative confirmation process must notify a student no earlier than 30 days before, but no later than seven days after, crediting the student’s account and must give the student 30 days (instead of 14) to cancel all or part of the loan. Condition: In our testing of 60 samples, 31 students did not receive a timely notification of their award from the College. Cause: In the current fiscal year, the College implemented a new software that pushes out notifications to students; however the notifications of student financial aid awards were not pushed out timely by the new program and was not immediately identified by the College staff. When this error was noticed by the College staff, they were able to notify students of their financial aid award during the fiscal year 2024, however it was not within the 30 days outlined above. The College was able to correct the process for the summer 2024 disbursements, in which the 30-day time frame was met. Effect: Students were not notified of their student financial aid award within 30 days of crediting the student account. Questioned Costs: None reported Context/Sampling: Nonstatistical sample of 60 students receiving financial aid out of 3,591 total students receiving financial aid. Repeat Finding from Prior Year: No Recommendation: The College should have a compensating control or process to ensure timely notifications of aid are delivered to students. Views of Responsible Officials: The College’s management agrees with the finding.