Finding 599227 (2022-001)

2022-001 National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) Enrollment Reporting Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education Federal Program Title: Student Financial Assistance Cluster ALN Number: 84.033, 84.268 Award Period: July 1, 2021 ? June 30, 2022 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 Assistance programs must have an arrangement to report student enrollment data to the National Students Loan Data System (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 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. In addition, regulations require that an institution make necessary corrections and return the records within 10 days for any roster files that do not pass the NSLDS enrollment reporting edits. ED requires the University to report changes in enrollment status within thirty or sixty days that the University determined the changes occurred (34 CFR 682.610). Condition: An instance was noted where an incorrect enrollment effective date was reported to the NSLDS. Questioned Costs: None Context: One out of a sample of forty students had an incorrect enrollment date reported. Cause: The University mis-keyed the effective date reported to NSLDS therefore the student?s actual last date of attendance did not match the date reported. They also did not have a process in detect manual entry errors. Effect: The enrollment effective date reported to NSLDS is used to determine when the student?s grace period should begin. By not reporting a correct effective date, the grace period begin date for the student will be incorrect. Repeat Finding: Yes, 2021-001 Recommendation: We recommend the University add a procedure to help detect any data entry errors. Views of Responsible Officials: There is no disagreement with the audit finding and the University has already implemented a corrective procedure.