Finding Text
Education Stabilization Fund, Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) - Student Portion #84.425E U.S. Department of Education Award Year 2022 Criteria or Specific Requirement - Under the CARES Act 18004(e) and the CRRSAA 314(e), there are three components to reporting HEERF, public reporting on student aid portion, public reporting on the institutional portion, and annual reporting. The public reporting on student aid requires institutions to publicly post certain information no later than 10 days after the end of each calendar quarter. Condition - The College posted one quarterly student aid HEERF report to the website after the required deadline. Questioned Costs - None noted Context - Out of a population of nine reports (one annual, four quarterly public reports for institutional aid and four quarterly public reports for student aid), we selected five reports and noted the one instance of noncompliance with the timely reporting requirement of the student aid report on September 30, 2021. Effect - The College was not in compliance with the reporting requirements of the Education Stabilization Fund program. Cause - Management was not aware of the reporting requirements associated with the HEERF funds. Identification as a Repeat Finding - No Recommendation - We recommend that management review this area and establish procedures to ensure required reports are completed timely and accurately. View of Responsible Official and Planned Corrective Actions ? Initial guidance from the Department of Education did not specify that quarterly reports were required for quarters in which no funds were expended. The late report noted in the audit was for a quarter in which no Student Aid funds were expended. As soon as the Department of Education clarified in a webinar that quarterly reports were required even for quarters where no funds were expended, Donnelly posted the missing report showing zero expenditures.