Finding 578829 (2023-002)

Finding 2023-002 Federal Program: U.S. Department of Education: TEACH Grant Criteria: The University must comply with 36 Section 686.37(a) and 36 CFR Section 686.31(e). Condition: During our testing of eligibility, we noted 5 TEACH Grant recipients of 5 sampled did not have the proper time of disbursement reported on COD. The students were also not notified of their right to cancel. Cause: 5 students disbursement dates were improperly report to COD and were not notified of their right to cancel. Effect: The provisions of 36 Section 686.37(a) and 36 CFR Section 686.31(e) were not followed and thus 5 students TEACH disbursements were not properly reported to COD and were not notified of their right to cancel. Recommendation: We recommend the University report to COD monthly the disbursement dates of grants, as well as update their notification to students to include wording about the students right to cancel. Views of Responsible Officials: The financial aid office has had turnover in positions. Submitting a disbursement date adjustment file for TEACH Grant disbursements was missed in training the new employee. This has been corrected and a disbursement date adjustment file is sent after each TEACH Grant disbursement is made to a student's ledger. We have manually reviewed TEACH Grant recipients for the 2022-2023 at COD to insure that our ledger and COD are in agreement. Personnel responsible: Leslie Kurtz, Director of Financial Aid, with appropriate staff.