Finding Text
Finding 2022-003: a. Identification of the federal program and specific federal award: i. Assistance Listing title and number: Student Financial Assistance - Cluster, Federal Pell Grant (Pell) - 84.063 ii. Federal award identification number and year: P063P210331, 2021 - 2022 Federal Award Year iii. Name of federal agency: U.S. Department of Education iv. Name of the applicable pass-through entity: Not applicable b. Criteria or specific requirement (including statutory, regulatory or other citation): Institutions are required to submit for the Federal Direct Loan, Pell Grant, Teacher Education Assistance For College And Higher Education Grant, and Iraq & Afghanistan Service Grant origination and disbursement records to the ED?s Common Origination and Disbursement (COD). Institutions may do this by reporting once every 15 calendar days, biweekly or weekly, or may set up their own system to ensure that changes are reported in a timely manner. c. Condition: As part of our testing of the origination records, we noted that within a sample of 25 transactions there were three records that had differences between the COD data and the University?s data for their verification status codes. d. Cause: The unresolved variances in the verification codes were caused by a personnel change that resulted in the control not functioning appropriately during a period within the year ended May 31, 2022. The University has a process to ensure that uploads occurred at least every two weeks to meet the requirements of the COD, however reconciliations were not consistently performed to ensure the data agreed. e. Effect or potential effect: The University?s records did not agree to the records within the COD, which could cause inaccurate data to be used either the ED, the University, lenders or other users of the COD data. f. Questioned costs: There are no questioned costs associated with this finding. g. Context: This finding impacts three records in a sample of 25 records tested. h. Identification as a repeat finding, if applicable: This is not a repeat finding. i. Recommendation: We recommend the University review its controls, policies and procedures related to the processing of COD data to ensure that each upload is reviewed and compared and that any differences are identified and resolved appropriately and in a timely manner. j. Views of responsible officials: Management concurs with the finding. Once management was made aware of the unresolved variances of verification codes, they were corrected immediately. Upon discovery in August 2022, the Student Financial Aid Office immediately implemented additional controls and training to ensure these issues do not reoccur.