Finding Text
Programs Affected
U.S. Department of Education—Student Financial Assistance Cluster, AL 84.063, 84.007, 84.033, and
84.268—Award Year July 1, 2022—June 30, 2023.
Criteria
According to 34 CFR section 668.22, a school is required to determine the earned and unearned portions
of Title IV aid as of the date the student ceased attendance based on the amount of time the student is
in attendance or, in the case of a clock-hour program, was scheduled to be in attendance.
34 CFR Section 668.2 (f)(2)(i) further states the total number of calendar days in a payment period or
period of enrollment includes all days within the period that the student was scheduled to complete.
Condition
While testing the return of Title IV funds, a nonstatistical sample of 25 students was tested for proper
return calculations. During the testing, we noted 1 of 25 calculations were incorrectly calculated. We
noted this did not result in additional funds to be returned.
Cause
This occurred during a time of low staffing in the student financial aid office and high volume of activity.
While the calculation was performed by one individual and reviewed by a second individual, the review
did not identify the miscalculation. While, the calculation of total days was miscalculated, the percentage
earned and unearned by Title IV student that withdrew did not significantly change. As a result, there was
no financial impact.
Questioned Costs
None.
Effect
Without effective review, students withdrawing could have improper calculations of aid earned and
unearned due to the miscalculated total number of days.
Recommendation
We recommend additional emphasis be placed on the reviewer function within the return of title funds
process, to timely identify errors, even in times of staffing shortages.
Views of Responsible Officials and Corrective Action Plan
Management agrees with the finding. See attached Corrective Action Plan.