Finding Text
Assistance Listing Number, Federal Agency, and Program Name - ALN Nos. 84.425E, 84.425F, 84.425M; Department of Education; Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund- Student Aid and Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund- Institutional Portion, Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund- Strengthening Institutions Program Federal Award Identification Number and Year - Not applicable Pass through Entity - Not applicable Direct Finding Type - Material weakness and material noncompliance with laws and regulations Repeat Finding - No Criteria - CARES Act 18004(e) and the CRRSAA 314(e) require an institution receiving funds under HEERF I and HEERF II to submit a report to the secretary, at such time in such a manner as the secretary may require. ARP Act 2003 specifies that the same terms and conditions of CRRSAA 314 apply to HEERF III funds. While the acts do not explicitly identify procedures by which institutions must report on their uses of HEERF grant funds, pursuant to these requirements, the Department of Education required quarterly public reporting of student portion and institutional portion awards. The Department of Education has identified certain key data to include in the reporting that should prescribe to identified criteria. Condition A certain quarterly report submitted did not include the key data in line with the criteria identified. Questioned Costs - None Identification of How Questioned Costs Were Computed - not applicable Context - Of the three reports tested, the June 2022 combined quarterly report did not include institutional portion expenditures in line with the identified criteria. Institutional expenditures should have been reported for the quarter ending June 2022, but were improperly reported as institutional expenditures to date for the award. Cause and Effect - The University did not properly identify all required criteria for reporting in the combined quarterly report for June 2022, which resulted in institutional expenditures being reported incorrectly in the quarterly report. Recommendation - The University should establish a process in order to ensure that all required reports are reviewed for compliance with the identified criteria for each key line item. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions - Data presented in the June 2022 HEERF disclosure should have reflected the quarterly expenses. However, cumulative expense for HEERF related to the disclosure request was given instead of the quarter in question. HEERF disclosures in the future will be evaluated prior to posting by the required disclosure date.