Finding 609155 (2022-001)

-
Requirement
E
Questioned Costs
$1
Year
2022
Accepted
2023-02-23

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: Three students were over-awarded Federal Pell Grant funds due to incorrect eligibility assessments, leading to a total questioned cost of $2,067.
  • Impacted Requirements: Compliance with 34 CFR 690.63 regarding proper awarding of Federal Pell Grant funds was not met, resulting in a 7.5% error rate in the sample.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: Review and adjust awarding processes to ensure accurate eligibility assessments and resolve outstanding refunds to maintain compliance.

Finding Text

Finding 2022-001 Identification of the Federal Program: United States Department of Education Federal Pell Grant Program (84.063) Criteria: 34 CFR 690.63 Condition: Over Award of Federal Pell Grant Program Funds Cause: No cause could be determined. Effect: The students in question were not awarded properly based upon the students? eligibility. Questioned Costs: $2,067 in 2021-2022 Federal Pell Grant program funds. Description of the Nature and Extent of the Issues Reported: Our review of forty (40) student files disclosed that three (3) students were incorrectly awarded Federal Pell Grant program funds based on eligibility. For student #8, the university awarded $3,248 in 2021-2022 Federal Pell Grant program funds. The student was eligible for $2,436, resulting in an over award of $812 in 2021-2022 Federal Pell Grant program funds. Subsequent to the over award, the university used the incorrect amount of $3,248 in 2021-2022 Federal Pell Grant program funds on the R2T4 calculation. As a result of the R2T4 calculation the university returned $2,557 in 2021-2022 Federal Pell Grant program funds adjusting the total over award amount to $87 in 2021-2022 Federal Pell Grant program funds. For student #17, the university awarded $3,247 in 2021-2022 Federal Pell Grant program funds. The student was eligible for $1,624, resulting in an over award of $1,623 in 2021-2022 Federal Pell Grant program funds. Subsequent to the over award, the university used the incorrect amount of $3,247 in 2021-2022 Federal Pell Grant program funds on the R2T4 calculation. As a result of the R2T4 calculation the university returned $2,634 in 2021-2022 Federal Pell Grant program funds adjusting the total over award amount to $58 in 2021-2022 Federal Pell Grant program funds. For student #21, the university awarded $2,086 in 2021-2022 Federal Pell Grant program funds. The student was eligible for $812, resulting in an over award of $1,274 in 2021-2022 Federal Pell Grant program funds. Subsequent to the over award, the university used the incorrect amount of $2,086 in 2021-2022 Federal Pell Grant program funds on the R2T4 calculation. As a result of the R2T4 calculation the university returned $1,162 in 2021-2022 Federal Pell Grant program funds adjusting the total over award amount to $1,922 in 2021-2022 Federal Pell Grant program funds. Subsequent to the audit, the university refunded a total of $145 in 2021-2022 Federal Pell Grant program funds on behalf of student #8, and student #17. In addition, the university attempted to refund $1,922 in 2021-2022 Federal Pell Grant program funds to COD on behalf of student #21 but received an error code. The university refunded $1,922 in 2021-2022 Federal Pell Grant program funds to G5 on September 16, 2022 and submitted a support ticket to COD. The instances of noncompliance represent an error rate in the number of sampled items tested equal to 7.5% (3 of 40) from a population of 1,653 and in the dollar amount of the sampled items tested equal to 0.5% ($2,067 of $427,857) from a population of 22,831,960. This is a statistically valid sample.

Categories

Questioned Costs Student Financial Aid Eligibility

Other Findings in this Audit

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
84.268 Federal Direct Student Loans $15.63M
84.063 Federal Pell Grant Program $5.29M
97.036 Disaster Grants - Public Assistance (presidentially Declared Disasters) $341,047
84.425 Education Stabilization Fund $182,511
84.007 Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants $141,299
84.033 Federal Work-Study Program $79,377