Finding 578805 (2020-002)

Material Weakness
Requirement
E
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2021
Accepted
2023-11-26
Audit: 4064
Organization: Concordia College (NY)

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: The College lacks proper documentation and controls for verifying student eligibility for Federal Financial Assistance due to the shutdown of the Banner system.
  • Impacted Requirements: Compliance with eligibility verification processes for Federal Direct Student Loans, Pell Grants, and other financial aid programs is compromised.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: Establish a plan to restore access to records and implement a reliable system for tracking eligibility exceptions moving forward.

Finding Text

2020-002 Eligibility FALN Number: 84.268 / 84.063 / 84.007 / 84.379 Program or Cluster Name: Federal Direct Student Loans / Federal Pell Grant Program / Federal Work-Study Program / Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants / Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (Student Financial Assistance Cluster) Agency: U.S. Department of Education Condition: The College relies upon flag reports generated by the College’s Banner system to verify and monitor the eligibility of students to receive Federal Student Financial Assistance awards. The Director of Financial Aid receives and reviews the students flagged with eligibility exceptions that need to be resolved before Federal Student Financial Assistance is disbursed. Based upon the review and resolution of eligibility flags, Federal Student Financial Assistance is disbursed, or the student is determined to be ineligible for Federal Student Financial Assistance. The Director of Financial Aid was unable to provide copies of exception reports, therefore we were unable to determine if controls over eligibility were in place and operating effectively. Status: Due to the closure of the College, the Banner system was shutdown with management losing access to electronic files in the system. Maintenance of proper financial records and student enrollment files in paper form were not kept by management nor was the data downloaded from Banner prior to the system being shutdown. Student and financial scholarship records could not be provided and as such the correction of the finding could not be verified. See current year finding 2021-002.

Categories

Eligibility Student Financial Aid Matching / Level of Effort / Earmarking

Other Findings in this Audit

  • 2362 2021-002
    Material Weakness
  • 2363 2020-002
    Material Weakness
  • 2364 2020-003
    Significant Deficiency
  • 2365 2020-004
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 2366 2020-005
    Material Weakness
  • 2367 2020-006
    Significant Deficiency
  • 2368 2020-007
    Significant Deficiency Repeat
  • 2369 2020-008
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 2370 2020-009
    Significant Deficiency
  • 2371 2020-010
    Material Weakness
  • 2372 2020-011
    Material Weakness
  • 2373 2020-012
    Material Weakness
  • 2374 2020-013
    Material Weakness
  • 578804 2021-002
    Material Weakness
  • 578806 2020-003
    Significant Deficiency
  • 578807 2020-004
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 578808 2020-005
    Material Weakness
  • 578809 2020-006
    Significant Deficiency
  • 578810 2020-007
    Significant Deficiency Repeat
  • 578811 2020-008
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 578812 2020-009
    Significant Deficiency
  • 578813 2020-010
    Material Weakness
  • 578814 2020-011
    Material Weakness
  • 578815 2020-012
    Material Weakness
  • 578816 2020-013
    Material Weakness

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
84.268 Federal Direct Student Loans $7.06M
84.063 Federal Pell Grant Program $1.52M
84.007 Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants $40,768
84.379 Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education Grants (teach Grants) $33,031