Finding Text
Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education Federal Program Name: Student Financial Aid Cluster Assistance Listing Numbers: Various Federal Award Identification Number and Year: N/A Pass-Through Agency: N/A Pass-Through Number(s): N/A Award Period: 2021-2022 Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance and Other Matters Criteria or Specific Requirement: The Code of Federal Regulations, 34 CFR 685.309(b), states schools must have some arrangement to report student enrollment data to NSLDS through an enrollment roster file. The school is required to report changes in the student?s enrollment status, the effective date of the status, and an anticipated completion date. Also, the Code of Federal Regulations, 34 CFR 682.610, states that institutions must report accurately the enrollment status of all students regardless if they receive aid from the institution or not. Changes to said status are required to be reported within 30 days of becoming aware of the status change, or with the next scheduled transmission of statuses if the scheduled transmission is within 60 days. There are two categories of enrollment information; ?Campus Level? and ?Program Level,? both of which need to be reported accurately and have separate record types. Condition: During our testing, it was noted the effective date reported on the "Enrollment Level" and "Program Level" report in NSLDS was incorrect for 2 out of 40 students tested. In addition, the change in status was reported incorrectly for 1 out of 40 students tested. Questioned Costs: None. Context: There were discrepancies in the enrollment statuses reported to NSLDS. Also, there were discrepancies between the effective dates reported to NSLDS and the University's records. Cause: The University's processes and controls did not ensure that student status changes and effective dates were properly reported to NSLDS. The effective date should be the student's last date of attendance and academically-related activity. Effect: The NSLDS system is not updated with the correct student information which can cause a student to not properly enter the repayment period. Repeat Finding: Yes, 2021-001 Recommendation: We recommend reviewing the components of the enrollment roster file to ensure the correct effective date is reported correctly for both the ?Campus Level? and ?Program Level?. Views of Responsible Officials: There is no disagreement with the audit finding.