Finding Text
2023 – 001 – National Student Loan Data Systems (NSLDS) Enrollment Reporting
Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education
Federal Program Title: Student Financial Assistance Cluster
Federal Assistance Listing Number: 84.007, 84.033, 84.038, 84.063, 84.268
Award Period: 7/1/22-6/30/23
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 the 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. ED requires the College 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, the school may provide the date on that roster file. In addition, regulations require that an institution make necessary corrections and return the records within 10 days for any roster files that don’t pass the NSLDS enrollment reporting edits. ED requires the University to report changes in enrollment status within 30 or 60 days that the College 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 out of our sample of 17 students tested:
- 1 student’s enrollment status and effective date was incorrectly reported at the campus level and they were not timely reported to NSLDS.
- 3 student’s effective date reported to NSLDS did not agree to the effective date of per the College at the campus level.
- 10 student’s enrollment status and effective date reported to NSLDS at the program level did not agree to the status and effective date reported to NSLDS at the campus level.
Cause: Enrollment information was not properly transmitted to NSLDS.
Effect: Student enrollment information is not being accurately reported to the NSLDS.
Repeat Finding: No.
Auditors’ Recommendation: The College should review its policies and procedures on reporting of enrollment status changes to NSLDS to ensure that all status changes are being reported accurately to be in compliance with regulations.
Views of Responsible Officials: See attached corrective action plan.