Finding 538798 (2024-001)

III – Federal Award Findings and Questioned Costs 2024-001 – Enrollment reporting Cluster: Student Financial Assistance Sponsoring Agency: Department of Education Award Name: Pell Grant Program and Federal Direct Student Loans Award Number: Various Assistance Listing Title: Federal Pell Grants, Federal Direct Student Loans Award Year: 2023-2024 Assistance listing number: 84.063, 84.268 Pass-through entity: Not applicable Criteria When a Direct Loan was made to or on behalf of a student who was enrolled or accepted for enrollment at the institution, and the student ceased to be enrolled on at least a half-time basis or failed to enroll on at least a half-time basis for the period for which the loan was intended; or a student who is enrolled at the institution and who received a loan under Title IV has changed his or her permanent address, the institution must report the change in its next updated Enrollment Reporting Roster file (due within 60 days of the change) (34 CFR 685.309). Condition Through our testing of enrollment reporting, we noted that for one of the twenty-five students selected, the student's status change was not reported to the NSLDS within the required 60-day timeframe. The change was reported 7 days late. While this reporting delay had no direct impact on the federal government or the student, Dartmouth is responsible for ensuring information is reported timely to the NSLDS to be in compliance with enrollment reporting requirements. Through Dartmouth’s review of this matter, they identified 60 total students including the one identified above that were impacted by this reporting error and these students were also reported late. Cause The delay was caused by the internal confirmation process of the student's graduation status. The student's status change (graduated) was updated too late to be included in a timely transmission from NSC to NSDLS and Dartmouth did not report the student as withdrawn while waiting for completion of the degree conferment process. Additionally for other students impacted by this reporting error, the latest Dartmouth processes were not used by the employees performing the enrollment status updates to correctly code the information that was provided to NSC and ultimately transmitted to NSDLS and resulted in late enrollment reporting. The students impacted were reported in a subsequent transmission that resulted in the enrollment reporting being late. Effect The effective administration of Title IV loans could be impacted when changes in students’ status are not reported timely and accurately. The accuracy of enrollment information is important as the student’s enrollment status determines eligibility for the in-school status, deferment, grace periods, and repayments, as well as the Government’s payment of interest subsidies. Questioned Costs None noted. Recommendation We recommend management implement controls to ensure that all status changes are reported to the NSLDS in a timely manner. This includes verifying the accuracy of graduation dates and promptly updating student statuses to prevent delays and errors in future transmissions. Management’s Views and Corrective Action Plan Management’s response is included in “Management’s Views and Corrective Action Plan” included at the end of this report after the summary schedule of status of prior audit findings.