FAC Explorer

Finding 50732 (2022-001)

Material Weakness Repeat Finding
Requirement
N
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2022
Accepted
2022-12-20
Audit: 53360
Organization: Central Michigan University (MI)
Auditor: Plante & Moran PLLC

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: The University failed to report student status changes to the NSLDS accurately and on time, leading to a material weakness and noncompliance.
  • Impacted Requirements: Reporting changes within 30 days or including them in a confirmation report within 60 days, as mandated by federal regulations.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: Implement controls to ensure timely and accurate reporting, including a review of enrollment rosters and updating reporting practices by February 2023.

Finding Text

ALN. Federal Agency, and Program Name - Student Financial Assistance Cluster - Federal Direct Student Loan Program ALN 84.268 and Federal Pell Grants ALN 84.063 Federal Award Identification Number and Year - Various Pass-through Entity - None Finding Type - Material weakness and material noncompliance with laws and regulations Repeat Finding - Yes Criteria - Changes in a student?s status are required to be reported to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) within 30 days of the change or included in a student status confirmation report sent to NSLDS within 60 days of the status change (Pell, 34 CFR Section 690.83(b); Direct Loan, 34 CFR Section 685.309(b)). Condition - The University did not report certain students' status to NSLDS in an accurate and timely manner during the fiscal year. Questioned Costs - None Identification of How Questioned Costs Were Computed - N/A Context - There were three errors identified that attributed to this finding: 1.Of the 40 students tested, there was 15 students who withdrew or graduated whose status change was not reported accurately to the NSLDS. The student withdrew or graduated and was reported but with an incorrect effective date. 2.Of the 40 students tested, there were 7 students who withdrew or graduated whose status changes were not reported to the NSLDS within 60 days. 3.Of the 40 students tested, there were 6 students who withdrew or graduated whose status change were not reported to the NSLDS. Cause and Effect - The University did not have a control in place to ensure all enrollment changes are reported timely and accurately to NSLDS. As a result, certain student status changes were not reported to the NSLDS in a timely and accurate manner. Recommendation - The University should implement controls to ensure student status changes are reported accurately and timely to the NSLDS. These controls should include a thorough review of the enrollment rosters prior to reporting to NSLDS. Views of Responsible Officials and Corrective Action Plan - The University agrees with the finding. Following guidance provided by Plante & Moran, PLLC and the Department of Education (2020-2021 desk file review and NSLDS direct support), we will be implementing the following changes effective fall 2022 to address correct enrollment status change reporting: ?Adopt the use of the published academic semester end date for enrollment reporting versus the long-standing use of the SAP/SLCM 100 Date or end of a semester payment period. It was learned that the published end of an academic semester, per the academic calendar, is expected to be reported for use in applicable enrollment compliance timing calculations. ?Registrars will update NSLDS with the actual status effective date when learned for all unofficial withdrawal or graduated statuses. This date will be the earliest date that registrars retroactively learns was the actual last date of attendance that created an enrollment status change. Our past practices did not update such students but used the end of the previous semester date (SAP/SLCM 100 Date) if a student was shown to be enrolled in the next upcoming semester. This corrective action will occur for all cases even if the student is not required to have a R2T4 initiated due to having attended at least 60 percent of the semester. Students who officially withdraw, in part or total, during a given semester are found in our monthly enrollment reporting, as the last date of attendance is supplied at the time of formal withdrawal. ?Registrars will enhance or develop (if not already in place), in conjunction with SASUB, necessary control reports to ensure students who are unofficial withdrawals at the end of an academic semester are accurately identified and adjust staffing resources as necessary to account for critical time periods, such as the period between CMU's fall and spring semesters when the University is closed. This will be necessary due to using the published last date of the semester instead of the end of payment period date that was used in prior years. ?The planned timeline to complete corrective actions is February 2023 to account for end of fall 2022 grading processes and manual updating of NSLDS, as necessary, for identified unofficial withdrawals.

Categories

Student Financial Aid Material Weakness Reporting Matching / Level of Effort / Earmarking

Other Findings in this Audit

  • 47882 2022-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 47883 2022-002
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 47884 2022-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 47885 2022-002
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 47886 2022-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 47887 2022-002
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 47888 2022-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 47889 2022-002
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 47890 2022-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 47891 2022-002
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 47892 2022-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 47893 2022-002
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 47894 2022-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 47895 2022-002
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 47896 2022-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 47897 2022-002
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 50730 2022-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 50731 2022-002
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 50733 2022-002
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 624324 2022-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 624325 2022-002
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 624326 2022-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 624327 2022-002
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 624328 2022-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 624329 2022-002
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 624330 2022-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 624331 2022-002
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 624332 2022-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 624333 2022-002
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 624334 2022-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 624335 2022-002
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 624336 2022-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 624337 2022-002
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 624338 2022-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 624339 2022-002
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 627172 2022-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 627173 2022-002
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 627174 2022-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 627175 2022-002
    Material Weakness Repeat

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
84.268 Federal Direct Student Loans $28.42M
84.425 Covid-19 - Education Stabilization Fund $19.62M
84.063 Federal Pell Grant Program $17.28M
84.033 Federal Work-Study Program $1.01M
84.007 Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants $440,613
93.323 Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Infectious Diseases (elc) $414,624
47.074 Biological Sciences $350,895
93.286 Discovery and Applied Research for Technological Innovations to Improve Human Health $350,397
93.310 Trans-Nih Research Support $344,955
47.049 Mathematical and Physical Sciences $310,357
84.217 Trio_mcnair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement $229,325
84.326 Special Education_technical Assistance and Dissemination to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities $221,873
84.044 Trio_talent Search $212,503
84.047 Trio_upward Bound $145,721
81.049 Office of Science Financial Assistance Program $100,546
93.575 Child Care and Development Block Grant $97,728
93.859 Biomedical Research and Research Training $90,468
47.078 Polar Programs $73,778
66.951 Environmental Education Grants $71,175
93.865 Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research $65,890
47.075 Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences $64,705
66.461 Regional Wetland Program Development Grants $54,355
84.334 Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs $53,422
93.136 Injury Prevention and Control Research and State and Community Based Programs $48,000
93.243 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services_projects of Regional and National Significance $45,736
93.393 Cancer Cause and Prevention Research $43,042
93.997 Assisted Outpatient Treatment $41,813
43.001 Science $38,336
93.211 Telehealth Programs $36,193
93.866 Aging Research $33,236
11.432 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (noaa) Cooperative Institutes $32,412
93.855 Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research $30,709
11.459 Weather and Air Quality Research $22,237
10.558 Child and Adult Care Food Program $21,169
66.469 Great Lakes Program $18,942
12.RD Bequest: Benchmarking Quantum Enhancement in Science and Technology $18,650
84.305 Education Research, Development and Dissemination $17,328
97.039 Hazard Mitigation Grant $16,363
84.379 Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education Grants (teach Grants) $16,031
93.838 Lung Diseases Research $15,877
93.837 Cardiovascular Diseases Research $14,873
15.662 Great Lakes Restoration $14,518
12.630 Basic, Applied, and Advanced Research in Science and Engineering $14,241
93.RD Cog Non-Industry Clinical Trials $14,000
47.041 Engineering $13,224
93.U01 Group Exercise, Training and Fitness (get Fit): Otago Exercise Program $12,751
93.853 Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders $11,606
12.006 National Defense Education Program $11,226
15.637 Migratory Bird Joint Ventures $10,773
45.164 Promotion of the Humanities_public Programs $10,000
15.933 Preservation of Japanese American Confinement Sites $8,705
93.110 Maternal and Child Health Federal Consolidated Programs $8,528
45.310 Grants to States $6,771
93.173 Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders $6,752
12.901 Mathematical Sciences Grants Program $6,510
47.079 Office of International Science and Engineering $5,879
47.076 Education and Human Resources $3,700
11.467 Meteorologic and Hydrologic Modernization Development $3,381
11.553 Special Projects $2,080
93.867 Vision Research $1,889
47.050 Geosciences $495
15.608 Fish and Wildlife Management Assistance $23