Finding Text
2023 – 001 – National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) Reporting Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education Federal Program Name: Federal Pell Grant Program; Federal Direct Student Loans Assistance Listing Number: 84.063; 84.268 Federal Award Identification Number and Year: P063P222081, 2022-2023; P268K232081, 2022-2023 Award Period: July 01, 2022 - June 30, 2023 Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance Other Matters Criteria or specific requirement: Per U.S. Department of Education (ED) regulations, all schools participating (or approved to participate) in the Federal Student Aid programs must have an arrangement to report student enrollment data to the NSLDS through a roster file. The school is required to report enrollment status at both the school and program level. The school is required to report changes in the student’s enrollment status, the effective date of the status and an anticipated completion date. An academic program is defined as the combination of your school’s Office of Postsecondary Education Identification (OPEID) number and the program’s Classification of Instructional Program (CIP) code, credential level, and published program length. The Department of Education requires the University to report changes in enrollment status and indicate the date that the changes occurred (34 CFR 685.309). Changes in enrollment status must be reported within 30 days. However, if a roster file is expected within 60 days, you may provide the date on that roster file. ED requires the institution to report changes in enrollment status within 30 or 60 days that the institution determined the changes occurred (34 CFR 682.610). Condition: Certain students’ enrollment information was not reported accurately or timely to the NSLDS. Questioned costs: None. Context: During our testing, we noted the following: In our sample of 40 students tested, 1 student was not reported to the NSLDS. In our sample of 40 students tested, 2 students did not have the correct effective date or effective status on the campus level of the NSLDS. These same students did not have the effective status change applied to the correct active academic program on the program level of the NSLDS. Cause: The NSLDS website had a major restructure for which there are multiple ways to update a student's enrollment information. The University used a way to make a manual change that only updated the program level of the NSLDS. Effect: Inaccurate reporting to the NSLDS can result in incorrect determination of when the students’ grace period should begin. Repeat Finding: No. Recommendation: We recommend the University review procedures around sending correct information to the NSLDS. In addition, we recommend the University develop a process to help better oversee the submissions completed by the third-party servicer. Views of responsible officials: There is no disagreement with the audit finding.