Finding Text
Federal Agency: Department of Education
Federal Program Title: Student Financial Assistance Cluster
Assistance Listing Number: Various
Award Period: July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023
Type of Finding:
• Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance
• Other matter
Criteria or Specific Requirement: The Code of Federal Regulations, 34 CFR 685.309(b), states schools must have some arrangement to report student enrollment data to NSLDS through an enrollment roster file. The school is required to report changes in the student’s enrollment status, the effective date of the status, and an anticipated completion date as well as program enrollment effective date. Changes to a students' status are required to be reported within 30 days of becoming aware of the status change, or with the next scheduled transmission of statuses if the scheduled transmission is within 60 days.
Condition: During our testing, we noted 5 out of the 40 students tested where the students' change in status was not reported in a timely manner.
Questioned Costs: None reported.
Context: During our testing, it was noted the University identified the status changes outside of their regular enrollment reporting schedule, so the reporting to NSLDS was not done timely.
Cause: For 4 of the 5 students, they were considered unofficial withdrawals where the student never officially withdrew. It was determined the withdrawal occurred outside of our regular enrollment reporting processes. For 1 of the 5 students, the issue arose due to the student not being enrolled in the semester immediately prior to degree conferral.
Effect: The University did not comply with Department of Education (ED) regulations by reporting student enrollment status changes timely.
Repeat Finding: No
Recommendation: We recommend the University reevaluate its procedures and review policies surrounding reporting status changes to NSLDS to put a process in place to ensure the student status changes are being reported timely.
Views of Responsible Officials: There is no disagreement with the audit finding.