Finding Text
Program: Federal Direct Student Loans Assistance Listing Number: 84.268 Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education Federal Award Identification Number: P268K226290 Federal Award Year: June 30, 2022 Criteria: 34 CFR 685.309(b) states that upon receipt of an enrollment report from the Secretary, a school must update all information included in the report and return the report to the Secretary in the manner and format prescribed by the Secretary and within the timeframe prescribed by the Secretary. Unless it expects to submit its next updated enrollment report to the Secretary within the next 60 days, a school must notify the Secretary within 30 days after the date the school discovers that a loan under title IV of the Act was made to or on behalf of a student who was enrolled or accepted for enrollment at the school, and the student has ceased to be enrolled on at least a half-time basis or failed to enroll on at least a half-time basis for the period for which the loan was intended. Condition: For 2 students tested, the incorrect enrollment status was reported to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS). For 2 students tested, the change of enrollment status was not reported within the 60 day requirement. Questioned Costs: Not applicable. Context: Noncompliance with federal regulations was noted for 4 of the 25 students who were tested. 2 of the students did not have their change in enrollment status reported to NSLDS within 60 days and 2 students did not show the correct change of status, and thus also did not have their change in enrollment status reported timely to NSLDS. A total of 529 students who were issued Federal Direct Student Loans separated from the University or had a change in enrollment status during fiscal year 2022. The sample was not considered statistically valid. Effect: The accuracy of Title IV student loan records depends heavily on the accuracy of the enrollment information reported by the schools. If an institution does not review, update and verify student enrollment statuses, effective dates of the enrollment status, and other information, then the Title IV student loan records will be inaccurate, which impacts student loan repayments. Cause: It does not appear that there are proper processes in place surrounding enrollment reporting in order to verify that the correct enrollment statuses are reported to NSLDS within the required timeframes. Recommendation: It is recommended that policies and procedures are put in place to verify that the correct enrollment status changes are reported to NSLDS within required time frames. This could include a review of withdrawal or graduation listings to ensure correct statuses were reported to NSLDS within the required timeframes. Management?s Response: The University concurs with this finding and has taken steps to resolve the deficiency. To resolve the issue of graduated students potentially being reported incorrectly to NSLDS, the University will provide additional training to the staff member who made the processing error (in one instance) and adjust their procedures to contact National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) to manually update records when a degree is retroactively processed to a prior term at a non-standard conferral date (the 2nd instance). In addition, to resolve the issues surrounding potential late reporting of students beyond the 60-day requirements, the University will correct the timeliness of their reporting schedule so that all files are submitted to the NSC by the 10th of the month if not sooner. The University feels that these steps will ensure that reporting requirements are met, as outlined in 34 CFR 685.309(b) of the code of federal regulations.