Finding Text
Finding 2024-002 - Significant Deficiency, Compliance
Federal Assistance Listing Number. 84.063, 84.268
U.S. Department Of Education
Student Financial Aid Cluster – Special Tests And Provisions – R2T4
Criteria: According to Chapter 2 of Volume 5 of the 2023-2024 Federal Student Aid (FSA) Handbook scheduled breaks of more than 5 days are required to be excluded from the length of the term for purposes of the Return to Title IV (R2T4) calculation. Further, where classes end on a Friday and do not resume until Monday following a one-week break, both weekends (four days) and the five weekdays would be excluded from the R2T4 calculation, for a total of nine days.
Condition: In our nonstatistical sample of 5 R2T4 calculations completed in the year ended June 30, 2024, we identified one instance where the University improperly calculated the number of days in the Spring 2024 semester used in the denominator of the percentage of aid earned calculation.
Context: We noted for the one student that the University used 10 days of scheduled breaks (5 for Spring Break and 5 for Easter Break) which excluded the weekend dates surrounding the week of Spring Break. The University should have included the weekend dates prior to the week of Spring Break and after the week of Spring Break resulting in 14 days of scheduled breaks used in the denominator of the calculation.
Effect: As a result of the miscalculation the school was required to return $104 more of the student’s Pell grant than should have been required. There was only one other Spring 2024 R2T4 calculation completed which would have resulted in the additional student earning $2 more in Pell grant than the University calculated.
Questioned Costs: There were no questioned costs as the University returned more funding than required.
Cause: The University did not have a properly designed internal control structure to ensure the academic calendar was established to properly account for the scheduled breaks for purposes of determining the denominator in the earned aid calculation.
Identification Of Repeat Finding: This is not a repeat finding.
Recommendation: The University should correct the two Spring 2024 RT24 calculations and disburse to the students the additional Pell grant funds that the students earned. The University should correct its calculation for Spring Break for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Views Of Responsible Officials (Unaudited): The University concurs with the finding. The University has corrected the two Spring 2024 RT24 calculations and initiated additional Pell grant disbursements to the noted students. The University has updated its calculations of the scheduled breaks for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Completion Date: August 2024
Contact Person: Megan Morton, Director of Financial Services