Finding Text
2023 – 003
Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education
Federal Program Name: Student Financial Assistance Cluster
Assistance Listing Number: 84.007 (Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants Program), 84.033 (Federal Work Study Program), 84.063 (Federal Pell Grant Program), 84.268 (Federal Direct Student Loans Program)
Federal Award Identification Number and Year: N/A; 2022-2023
Pass-Through Agency: N/A
Pass-Through Number(s): N/A
Award Period: July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023
Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance
Criteria or specific requirement: Department of Education requires that all checks outstanding related to financial aid payments to students which are more than 240 days outstanding be returned to the Department of Education.
Condition: During our testing, we noted 5 checks for students totaling $10,242 written for federal financial aid amounts that were outstanding for more than 240 days.
Questioned costs: $10,242
Context: As it relates to outstanding checks over 240 days, tt was noted that the College did not have a proper procedure in place for returning funds to the Department of Education.
Cause: The College did not have a process in place to ensure outstanding checks over 240 days old are returned to the Department of Education.
Effect: The College did not comply with Department of Education (ED) regulations and did not return outstanding checks more than 240 days old.
Repeat finding: No
Recommendation: We recommend the College reevaluate its procedures and review policies
surrounding the return of checks over 240 days old that specifically relate to student financial aid payments.
Views of responsible officials: The College has created procedures to review outstanding checks monthly. Outstanding checks that are not resolved after several notifications to the student will be returned to the Department of Education. Checks will be returned within four months of the initial check issued date.