Finding Text
Finding 2022-003 Enrollment Reporting Identification of the Federal Program: Student Financial Assistance Cluster, United States Department of Education. OPE ID Affected: 00141600 Compliance Requirement: Special Tests and Provisions Criteria: A student?s enrollment status determines eligibility for in-school status, deferment, and grace periods. Under 34 CFR 690.83(b)(2), 34 CFR 682.610 and 34 CFR 685.309, enrollment information must be reported within 30 days whenever attendance changes for students. These changes include reductions or increases in attendance levels, withdrawals, graduations, or approved leaves-of absence. The institution must submit changes electronically through the batch method on the National Student Loan Data System (?NSLDS?) website. Condition: During testing of the enrollment reporting process, the auditors noted that the University of Bridgeport did not appropriately update the enrollment status within the required 30-day timeframe for certain students that had a status change during the year. Cause: Due to staffing shortages and insufficient reconciliation practices there was a breakdown in internal control over compliance including the review and approval process related to the status changes over the enrolled students. Effect: The effect of this condition is noncompliance with U.S. Department of Education regulations. Questioned Costs: N/A Context: The enrollment status change was not appropriately reported for three students out of a sample of forty. In each instance, the University of Bridgeport notified the National Student Clearinghouse of the student graduating from the University, but the student?s enrollment status had not been properly updated within the system. The University of Bridgeport has a reconciliation process in place to verify that student?s enrollment status is checked after submitting batch rosters to the National Student Clearinghouse, however the process failed to identify these exceptions. Repeat Finding: N/A Recommendation: We recommend that the University of Bridgeport review its current internal control process over enrollment reporting. This should include a timely review and reconciliation of corrections submitted the ensure accuracy and timeliness of the required information. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: We concur with this finding and have addressed it in our Corrective Action Plan. The Office of the Registrar will take over Clearinghouse responsibilities from Information Technology. The Office of the Registrar will submit to Clearinghouse enrollment and DegreeVerify files. If exceptions are received back from the Clearinghouse, the corrections will be made by the Office of the Registrar and with support from Information Technology if needed. Corrections to the file are then sent to Financial Aid. Financial Aid will then submit the corrections to the National Student Loan Database System. These procedures will be recorded in a comprehensive manual.