Finding Text
Federal Program Information: Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (ALN: 84.007), Federal Work-Study Program (ALN: 84.033), Federal Pell Grant Program (ALN: 84.063), Federal Direct Student Loan Program (ALN: 84.268)
Criteria or Specific Requirement (Including Statutory, Regulatory or Other Citation): N. Special Test and Provisions – Verification - An institution shall require an applicant selected for verification to submit acceptable documentation that will verify or update the following information used to determine the applicant's expected family contribution: adjusted gross income, U.S. income tax paid, aggregate number of family members in the household, number of family members in the household who are enrolled in as at least half-time students in postsecondary educational institutions if that number is greater than one and untaxed income subject to U.S. income tax reporting requirements in the base year which is included on the tax return form, excluding information contained on schedules appended to such forms. Untaxed income and benefits include: Social Security benefits if the institution has reason to believe that those benefits were received and were not reported or were not correctly reported; child support if the institution has reason to believe child support was received; U.S. income tax deductions for a payment made to an individual retirement account or Keough account; interest on tax-free bond; foreign income excluded from U.S. income taxation if the institution has reason to believe that foreign income was received; and all other untaxed income subject to U.S. income tax reporting requirements in the base year included on the tax return form, excluding information contained on schedules appended to such forms (34 CFR section 668.56).
Condition: For certain students selected for verification, the information required to be verified did not match the underlying supporting documentation. In addition, the University was unable to provide a complete listing of students selected for verification.
Cause: Administrative oversight and insufficient internal control.
Effect: The University was not in compliance with verification compliance requirements.
Questioned Costs: None.
Context: For 3 of 16 students selected for verification testing, the University did not perform appropriate verification procedures.
Identification of Repeat Finding: This is a repeat of prior year finding 2023-005.
Recommendation: We recommend the University enhance its procedures and internal controls to ensure that the appropriate verification procedures are performed for all students who are selected for verification unless excluded by the federal regulations.
Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: During the 2024 fiscal year, the Financial Aid office experienced several staffing changes, including hiring a new Director of Financial Aid. They also contracted with a third-party servicer that assisted with the verification process. The newly hired staff did not receive the proper training to perform their roles effectively. These two changes led to errors in verifying certain data when performing verification. The Financial Aid office implemented a Quality Assurance two-step verification process, but this took place after some of the 23-24 awards were processed. The Financial Aid office will run a report to identify all students selected for verification for 2024-2025 and review them for accuracy. If any corrections are needed, they will be updated, and awards will be adjusted as needed.