Finding 5742 (2023-001)

Enrollment Reporting Type of Finding - Noncompliance with Enrollment Reporting compliance requirement and material weakness in internal control over compliance Program: Student Financial Assistance Cluster Assistance Listing Number: Federal Pell Grants 84.063, Federal Direct Loans 84.268 Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education Criteria - 34 CFR 690.83(b)(2) and 34 CFR 685.309 provide regulations to institutions for the accurate and timely reporting of student enrollment information. Institutions must review, update, and verify student enrollment statuses, program information, and effective dates to the Department of Education. The institution should have sufficient internal controls over program compliance to report information accurately and timely. Condition - One student was found to have a status change that was not reported in accordance with the sixty-day requirements and two students were reported as less than half-time when they should have been reported as withdrawn per enrollment reporting guidelines. Cause - The College’s system does not always report status changes correctly and the status report requires a review prior to submission. The internal controls over the review of student status changes were not effective at preventing or detecting and correcting noncompliance with the requirements. Effect - The status changes were reported incorrectly and/or untimely to the Department of Education. Questioned Costs - Not applicable. Context - Out of our sample of 40 students with status changes, three students were found to have status changes reported that were not compliant with the enrollment reporting requirements. Identification as a Repeat Finding - A similar finding was identified in the audit for the year ending June 30, 2022 as finding 2022-004. Recommendation - The individual responsible for identifying effective status change dates needs to be educated on the requirements. The review of status changes for compliance with enrollment reporting requirements should be performed routinely and timely to verify compliance with the requirements. Views of Responsible Official - Management concurs with the finding and is providing those responsible for compliance with appropriate education on the compliance requirements. The College is reviewing the processes and controls and will make changes as necessary to prevent and/or detect and correct noncompliance on a timely basis