FAC Explorer

Finding 519832 (2024-001)

Significant Deficiency
Requirement
N
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2024
Accepted
2025-01-21
Audit: 339019
Organization: St. John Fisher College and Subsidiaries (NY)
Auditor: Bonadio & CO LLP

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: A student's withdrawal was not reported to NSLDS within the required 60-day timeframe.
  • Impacted Requirements: Federal regulations mandate timely reporting of enrollment status changes, including withdrawals.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: Implement a formal process for unique withdrawal situations and provide training to ensure compliance with reporting requirements.

Finding Text

Criteria - The federal government requires the Organizations to report student enrollment data to the U.S. Department of Education’s National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) system at least every 60 days, and to certify the enrollment status of the students as submitted. Enrollment status changes such as withdrawals must be submitted at a minimum during this 60 day certification process, but may report at more frequent intervals to capture more current enrollment status changes. Condition - During the 2024 audit, it was noted that for one of six students selected for testing, the student’s withdrawal information was not reported within the required timeframe. Cause - Because the student’s withdrawal was due to a situation that does not occur often (academic dismissal), the Organizations’ typical system and process flow caused the student to be reported after the student account system recognized an incomplete semester, rather than at the academic dismissal date. Effect - The Organizations did not report the student’s status change to NSLDS within the required timeframe. Recommendation - The Organizations should implement a process to ensure that unique withdrawal situations are adequately communicated to the appropriate parties and education should be provided to all responsible parties to ensure that all are aware of the program’s rules and regulations. The process should incorporate a more formalized review and approval process to reduce the likelihood of such findings in the future. Views of Responsible Officials- The Organizations recognize the importance of complying with all federal requirements. The Organizations will put processes in place to ensure withdrawals are adequately communicated and education of the program’s rules and regulations are provided to responsible parties. The processes will include a formalized review and approval process and measures will be put in place to ensure all changes are processed timely, including updating the automatic reporting to capture all potential changes.

Corrective Action Plan

The University recognizes the importance of complying with all federal requirements. In this case out of the sample of students one student was reported late to NSLDS. During the processing of a student's academic status, there was a unique situation where the student's record remained active in our system due to the presence of an incomplete grade. In this case, because the incomplete grade delayed the finalization of the student’s academic status, the dismissal was not reported to NSLDS within the typical timeframe. Once the incomplete was resolved and the final status was updated, the necessary information was reported to NSLDS. Measures will be put in place to ensure all changes are processed timely, additional measures are as follows.  Adding the following language to the Graduate catalog, consistent with the Undergraduate catalog: Students with one or more Incomplete grades at the end of the term have an academic standing of On Hold until the Incomplete grade(s) is resolved. When all Incomplete grades are converted to letter grades, the term and cumulative GPA are recalculated and academic standing is set according to the Standards of Academic Progress.  Before any dismissal decision is finalized, the Registrar’s Office verifies that all incomplete grades for the student have been resolved and that final grades are recorded in the system. This verification ensures that no student is dismissed prematurely or inaccurately in the academic records. Implement a workflow process as a double check in the student information system that monitors the status of incomplete grades for students who are dismissed, the system will generate alerts to the Registrar’s office when an incomplete grade is pending resolution in conjunction with dismissal.  Implementing controls to ensure accurate grading in conjunction with dismissals in the Student Information System will enable precise reporting to NSC/NSLDS

Categories

Student Financial Aid Reporting Matching / Level of Effort / Earmarking

Other Findings in this Audit

  • 1096274 2024-001
    Significant Deficiency

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
84.268 Federal Direct Student Loans $41.43M
84.063 Federal Pell Grant Program $4.08M
93.732 Mental and Behavioral Health Education and Training Grants $670,179
47.076 Stem Education (formerly Education and Human Resources) $463,111
84.033 Federal Work-Study Program $428,248
93.178 Nursing Workforce Diversity $378,075
84.042A Trio Student Support Services $326,895
84.007 Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants $268,205
45.162 Promotion of the Humanities Teaching and Learning Resources and Curriculum Development $169,483
84.379 Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education Grants (teach Grants) $106,088
93.631 Developmental Disabilities Projects of National Significance $59,639
47.049 Mathematical and Physical Sciences $54,377
93.184 Disabilities Prevention $25,584
47.084 Nsf Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships $25,102
16.609 Project Safe Neighborhoods $14,331
45.164 Promotion of the Humanities Public Programs $8,764