Finding 538074 (2024-002)

2024-002 Special Tests (Enrollment Reporting) Student Financial Assistance Cluster: U.S. Department of Education Federal Pell Grant Program (ALN 84.063) Federal Direct Student Loans (ALN 84.268) Federal Grant Numbers: E P063P130272 (7/1/2023 – 6/30/2024), P268K130272 (7/1/2023 – 6/30/2024) Statistically Valid Sample: No, and it was not intended to be Prior Year Finding: No Finding Type: Significant Deficiency and Noncompliance Criteria: Under the Pell grant and the Direct and Federal Family Education Loan programs, institutions are required to report enrollment information via the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) (OMB No. 1845 0035). 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 certify student enrollment statuses, program information and effective dates that appear on the Enrollment Reporting Roster file or on the Enrollment Maintenance page of the NSLDS Professional Access (NSLDSFAP) website. The data on the institution’s Enrollment Reporting Roster, or Enrollment Maintenance page, is what NSLDS has as the most recently certified enrollment information. 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. Institutions are responsible for accurately reporting all Campus Level Record data elements. The Department of Education (ED) considers the following data elements to be high risk: • OPEID number, enrollment effective date, enrollment status and certification date Institutions are responsible for accurately reporting all Program Level Record data elements. The Department of Education (ED) considers the following data elements to be high risk: • OPEID number, CIP code, CIP year, credential level, published program length measurement, published program length, program begin date, program enrollment status and program enrollment effective date Institutions are responsible for timely reporting, whether they report directly or via a third party servicer. Institutions must complete and return within 15 days the Enrollment Reporting roster file placed in their Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG) (OMB No. 1845 0002) mailboxes sent by ED via NSLDS. An institution determines how often it receives the Enrollment Reporting roster file with the default set at a minimum of every 60 days. Once received, the institution must update for changes in the data elements for the Campus Record and the Program Record identified above, and submit the changes electronically through the batch method, spreadsheet submittal, or the NSLDS website (Pell, 34 CFR 690.83(b)(2); FFEL, 34 CFR 682.610; Direct Loan, 34 CFR 685.309: Perkins 34 CFR 674.19(f)). Additionally, in accordance with federal requirements, the University shall maintain internal controls over federal programs designed to provide reasonable assurance that transactions are executed in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal award that could have a direct and material effect on a federal program. Condition and Context: The University utilizes the National Student Clearinghouse (the Clearinghouse) as a service provider for transmissions of its enrollment reporting changes to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS). The University receives the Enrollment Reporting Roster and updates it for changes in student status. The file is sent to the Clearinghouse who transmits the updated information to NSLDS. For one of sixty students selected for testwork, the University did not report the student’s status change of withdrawn to NSLDS within 60 days on the Campus Level Record. The student was reported 349 days late. For two of sixty students selected for testwork, the withdrawn effective date for the students did not match between the University record, Campus-Level Record and Program-Level Record. Cause: For the student whose withdrawn status was reported late, the notification of withdrawn was provided to the Registrar timely, however the update in NSLDS was not recorded timely. For the two students who did not have a consistently reported withdrawn dates between the University record, Campus-Level Record and Program-Level Record, the issue was due to a retroactive change to the status which was not reported timely. Effect: Student status changes not reported in a timely manner may cause the student to not enter into repayment status for Federal Direct Loans on a timely basis. Questioned Costs: None. Recommendation: We recommend the University adhere to its current policies and procedures to ensure that all status changes are reported to NSLDS timely and that all student statuses match between the University records, Campus-Level Records and Program-Level Records. Views of Responsible Officials: Management agrees with the finding. For the student whose withdrawn status was reported late, the notification of withdrawn was provided to the Registrar timely, however the update in NSLDS was not recorded appropriately until several months later. The School finally updated the Clearinghouse information and at that time the correct information was transmitted to NSLDS via the Clearinghouse. The Rutgers Health and University Registrar will continue to provide training and support to University constituents through regular reporting and monthly check-in meetings to reiterate the importance of timely submissions.. For the two students who did not have a consistently reported withdrawn date between the University record, Campus-Level Record and Program-Level Record, the issue was due to a reporting error. There was a subtle difference/issue with the coding of the Clearinghouse file process that created the infrequent anomaly. In both instances, the Campus-Level effective date was the correct date. The Rutgers Health and University Registrar will continue work with the central Office of Information Technology, University Enrollment Services and Ellucian teams to refine the enrollment reporting process and will provide training to all involved to ensure ccurate reporting.