Finding Text
Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education; Office of Federal Student Aid Pass through Entity: Not applicable Program Name: Federal Pell Grant and Federal Work Study ALN and Program Expenditures: 84.063 ($557,058) and 84.033 ($ 12,366) Award Number: P268K223976 and P033A226456 Federal Award Year: July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023 Questioned Costs: $542 (ALN 84.033) Condition Found: There was an overaward of $542 for one of the twenty-five students in our sample. Criteria: The total amount of aid a student receives cannot be greater than his or her cost of attendance. Cause: The School made adjustments to its new tuition scholarship offered last fall which prohibited the scholarship funds from being reduced. Possible Asserted Effect: The student in question received $542 of Federal Work Study funds that the student was ineligible to receive. Repeat Finding: There was not a similar finding in the prior year. Statistical Sampling: The sample was not intended to be, and was not, a statistically valid sample. Recommendation: $542 of Federal Work Study funds should be returned and replaced with payroll funds from the School’s general budget. Policies and procedures should be updated to ensure that institutional and federal aid do not exceed a student’s need. Management Response: Management agrees with the auditors’ finding. Federal Pell Grant funds are entitlement funds and cannot be returned. The student in question also worked the hours in which Federal Work Study funds were awarded. Going forward, the School has made changes to the provisions of the institutional scholarship to avoid overawards. All state and federal aid and endowed scholarships are applied first and then the scholarship covers the remaining tuition cost.