Finding Text
Finding 2024-004 - Significant Deficiency, Compliance
Federal Award No. 84.038
U.S. Department Of Education
Student Financial Aid Cluster – Reporting
Criteria: Annually, the College is required to submit its Fiscal Operations Report and Application to Participate (FISAP) by October 1st of each year. The FISAP requires reporting primarily of key student financial aid data that ED has deemed necessary to assist with evaluating the College and is utilized to approve the College’s participation in Title IV funding levels for the fiscal year following the submission (ex. 2025-2026 academic year for report due October 1st, 2024). ED and the OMB have identified key line items in the 2024 Compliance Supplement that contain critical information that is required to be tested by the College’s auditors. One of the key line items required to be tested is Part III (Perkins): Section A, Line 1.1 Cash on hand and in depository which represents the amount of Perkins Loan funds cash held by the College at June 30, 2024 resulting from student loan repayments.
Condition: The Perkins cash amount reported on Part III, Section A, Line 1.1 on the initial FISAP submitted for the year ended June 30, 2024, which was submitted timely prior to the October 1, 2024 deadline, totaled $231,958 as originally reported. The actual amount of cash held for the Perkins loan fund was $33,507 at June 30, 2024 per the College’s financial and banking records. The amount was not corrected until the discrepancy was identified during the audit testing of the FISAP. The College was able to correct the amount reported prior to the December 13, 2024 corrections due date.
Context: The College utilized reports from its third party service provider to populate Part III (Perkin) of the FISAP. The third party service provider had not been informed of repayments made in the year ended June 30, 2024 to ED and to the College that were made as part of the annual distributional share calculation as funds are required to be repaid from the Perkins Cash held at the end of each fiscal year as the Perkins loan fund winds down. Therefore amounts listed in Part III (Perkins), Section A, Lines 1.1, 28.1, and 30.2 had not been updated properly on the initial FISAP submission.
Effect: If the improper Perkins Cash was not corrected, the College could have been required to repay funds to ED using institutional funds.
Questioned Costs: None noted.
Cause: The College did not have proper processes and related controls in place to ensure that the amount reported on Part III (Perkins): Section A, Line 1.1 was accurate at June 30, 2024 as originally submitted.
Indication Of Repeat Finding: This is not a repeat finding.
Recommendation: The College should implement controls to specifically review Part III (Perkins): Section A, Line 1.1, 28.1, and 30.2 and ensure that the amounts reported agree with the College’s records prior to submission to ensure reporting is accurate.
Views Of Responsible Officials (Unaudited): The College concurs with the finding and has taken corrective action by submitting a corrected FISAP with the accurate date prior to the FISAP corrections due date of December 13, 2024. Additionally, the College has established controls to ensure review of the Perkins section of the FISAP for the next reporting year.
Completion Date: December 2024
Contact Person: Steven W. Eckman, President