Finding Text
Criteria or Specific Requirements
OMB Compliance Supplement, OMB No. 1845-0035 – Institutions are required to report enrollment information under the Pell grant and the Direct Loan and Federal Family Educational Loan (FFEL) programs via the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS).
Institutions are responsible for accurately reporting the following significant data elements under the Campus-Level Record that ED considers high risk:
- OPEID Number – This is the OPEID for the location that the student is attending.
- Enrollment Effective Date – The date that the current enrollment status reported for a student was first effective.
- Enrollment Status – The student’s enrollment status as of the reporting date; full-time (F), three-quarter time (Q), half-time (H), less than half-time (L), leave of absence (A), graduated (G), withdrawn (W), deceased (D), never attended (X) and record not found (Z)
- Certification Date – The date enrollment was certified by the District. At a minimum, schools are required to certify enrollment every 60 days.
Institutions are responsible for accurately reporting the following significant data elements under the Program-Level Record that ED considers high risk:
- OPEID Number – This is the OPEID for the location that the student is attending.
- CIP Code – The code that defines the student’s field of study.
- CIP Year – The year that corresponds with the CIP Code.
- Credential Level – The level of a credential the student will receive for the program the student is attending.
- Published Program Length Measurement – How the program length is measured by the institution whether it be in days, weeks, or years.
- Published Program Length – The time it takes to complete a program as determined by the College.
- Program Begin Date – The date the student first began attending the program being reported.
- Program Enrollment Status – The student’s enrollment status as of the reporting date; full-time (F), three-quarter time (Q), half-time (H), less than half-time (L), leave of absence (A), graduated (G), withdrawn (W), deceased (D), never attended (X) and record not found (Z)
- Program Enrollment Effective Date – The date when the student’s current program status first took effect.
Institutions are responsible for timely and accurate reporting, whether they report directly or through a third-party servicer.
Condition
Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance – During our review of the enrollment reporting requirements we observed the following:
- For one of sixty students who had a change in their enrollment status during the period subject to audit, the District did not accurately report the effective date of the change.
- For four of sixty students tested, there was no enrollment information reported to NSLDS during the period under audit.
- For one of sixty students tested, the student’s field of study was not correctly reported to NSLDS.
Cause
The District did not accurately report enrollment information for students under the Pell grant and Direct loan programs via NSLDS. The administration of the Title IV programs depends heavily on the accuracy and timeliness of the enrollment information reported by institutions.
Effect
The District is not in compliance with the aforementioned criteria.
Questioned Costs
There are no questioned costs associated with this finding.
Context
During the 2023-2024 fiscal year, the District distributed student financial aid to approximately 9,260 students.
Repeat Finding (Yes or No)
No.
Recommendation
The District should implement a process to review, update, and verify student enrollment information that appear on the Enrollment Reporting Roster file or on the Enrollment Maintenance page of the NSLDS Professional Access (NSLDSFAP) website.