Finding Text
Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education
Federal Program Title: Student Financial Aid Cluster
ALN Numbers: Multiple
Award Period: September 1, 2023 through August 31, 2024
Type of Finding:
• Significant Deficiency in Internal Control Over Compliance
• Other Matters
Criteria or Specific Requirement: The Code of Federal Regulations, 34 CFR 685.309 requires that enrollment status changes for students be reported to NSLDS within 30 days or within 60 days if the student with the status change will be reported on a scheduled transmission within 60 days of the change in status. Regulations require the status include an accurate effective date. In addition, regulations require that an institution make necessary corrections and return the records within 10 days for any roster files that don’t pass the NSLDS enrollment reporting edits.
Condition: During our testing, it was noted the effective date reported on the “Campus Level” and “Program Level” report in NSLDS did not match the University records for 6 of the 60 students tested. It was also noted that the effective date on the “Campus Level” and “Program Level” did not match for one the 1 out of the 60 students.
Questioned Costs: None.
Context: There were discrepancies between the effective dates reported to NSLDS and the University’s records.
Cause: The University’s processes and controls did not ensure that student effective dates were properly reported to NSLDS. The effective date should be the student’s last date of attendance and academically related activity.
Effect: The NSLDS system is not updated with the correct student information which can cause a student to not properly enter the repayment period.
Repeat Finding: Yes, 2023-001
Recommendation: We recommend reviewing the components of the enrollment roster file to ensure the correct effective date is reported correctly for both the “Campus Level” and “Program Level”.
Views of Responsible Officials: There is no disagreement with the audit finding.