Finding Text
Finding 2023-001 - Special Tests and Provisions - Enrollment Reporting (Noncompliance and Significant Deficiency) Indentification of the Federal Program - Student Financial Aid Cluster - Assistance Listing Nos. 84.007, 84.033, 84.038, 84.063 and 84.268 Criteria - Institutions are required to report enrollment information under the Pell grant and the Direct loan program via the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS). The administration of the Title IV programs depends heavily on the accuracy and timeliness of the enrollment information reported by institutions. Institutions must review, update, and verify student enrollment statuses, program information, and effective dates reported to NSLDS. Institutions are repsonsible for accurate reporting. According to 34 CFR 685.309(2), the University is required to notifly the Department of Education via the NSLDS if a "student has ceased to be enrolled on at least a half-time basis for the period for which the loan was intended". Changes to status are required to be reported within 30 days of becoming aware of the status change, or with the next schedule transmission of statuses if the scheduled transmission is within 60 days. Condition - A sample of 25 students were selected from the population of all students who received federal student financial aid during the year ended May 31, 2023. We obtained the student records and tested compliance with federal regulations for the specific loans and grants. For 4 out of the 25 students selected for Enrollment Reporting testing, the students were reported as withdrawn. However, per review of the student transcripts, those students attended and earned credit for the same semester. Therefore, the reporting to NSLDS was incorrect. For 1 out of the 25 students selected for Enrollment Reporting testing, the status change to withdrawn was not reported within the 60 day reporting window after the status change was effective. Cause - The University's processes of internal controls for reporting enrollment information and to timely report student statuses to NSLDS were not adequate. Effect - Enrollment reporting to NSLDS did not include accurate information. Student status changes were not reported to NSLDS within the required timeframe. Recommendation - We recommend the University revise it processes for reporting enrollment information and to timely report student status changes to NSLDS. The University should implement a process to review, update, and verify student enrollment statuses that appear on the Enrollment Reporting roster files. We also recommend that management implement controls to ensure reported changes are timely and correctly reported to the NSLDS. One way to do this is to update monthly reporting to National Student Clearinghouse when responding to the NSLDS roster files rather than every other month. Views of Responsible Officials - Management agrees with the finding.