Finding Text
Federal Agency: Department of Education
Federal Program Title: Student Financial Assistance Cluster
Federal Assistance Listing Number: Various
Federal Award Identification Number and Year: N/A
Pass-Through Agency: N/A
Pass-Through Number: N/A
Award Period: June 1, 2023 – May 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(b), states schools must have some arrangement to report student enrollment data to NSLDS through an enrollment roster file. The school is required to report changes in the student’s enrollment status, the effective date of the status, and an anticipated completion date. Also, the Code of Federal Regulations, 34 CFR 682.610, states that institutions must report accurately the enrollment status of all students regardless if they receive aid from the institution or not. Changes to said status are required to be reported within 30 days of becoming aware of the status change, or with the next scheduled transmission of statuses if the scheduled transmission is within 60 days. There are two categories of enrollment information; "Campus Level" and "Program Level," both of which need to be reported accurately and have separate record types.
Condition: During our testing we noted the following errors, three out of the fourteen student’s enrollment status per institutions records did not match the NSLDS enrollment status. Furthermore, four out of the fourteen student’s enrollment effective date per institutions records did not match the NSLDS enrollment effective date. Lastly, one out of the fourteen students did not have their student change updated timely.
Questioned Costs: None
Context: The enrollment roster file contained dates that were incorrect for the Enrollment and Program Level effective dates. In the cases of this error the enrollment information should have been the date per institution's records for the Campus and Program Level. There were also instances where the information on the Enrollment and Program level were inconsistent with the University's records. Finally, Updates to NSLDS were not completed in a timely manner and some were not updated at all.
Cause: The College did not have a review process in place to ensure that NSLDS reports are being properly reported.
Effect: The NSLDS system is not updated with the student information which can cause a student to not properly enter the repayment period.
Repeat Finding: No
Auditor’s Recommendation: We recommend the University review its reporting procedures to ensure the students’ statuses are accurately and timely reported to NSLDS as required by regulations.
Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: There is no disagreement with the audit finding.