Finding 686649 (2022-001)

Section I - Summary of Auditor's Results Financial Statements Type of auditor's report issued: Unmodified Internal control over financial reporting: Material weakness(es) identified? yes X no Significant deficiency(ies) identified that are not considered to be material weaknesses? yes X none reported Noncompliance material to financial statements noted? yes X no Federal Awards Internal control over major programs: Material weakness(es) identified? yes X no Significant deficiency(ies) identified that are not considered to be material weaknesses? yes X none reported Type of auditor's report issued on compliance for major programs: Unmodified Any audit findings disclosed that are required to be reported in accordance with the 2 CFR 200.516(a)? X yes no Identification of major programs A s sCiFsDtaAn cNeu Lmisbteinr(gs )Number(s) Name of Federal Program or Cluster Various Student Financial Assistance Cluster Dollar threshold used to distinguish between type A and type B programs: $ 3,000,000 Auditee qualified as low-risk auditee? X yes no Section II - Financial Statement Findings No matters noted. Section III ? Federal Award Findings and Questioned Costs Finding 2022-001: Notification of Title IV disbursement not provided appropriately Federal Agency: Department of Education Program: Student Financial Assistance Cluster Assistance Listing #: Various Award #: Various Award Year: 2021-2022 Criteria: 34 CFR 668.165, Before an institution disburses Title IV, HEA program funds for any award year, the institution must notify a student of the amount of funds that the student or his or her parent can expect to receive under each Title IV, HEA program, and how and when those funds will be disbursed. If those funds include Direct Loan program funds, the notice must indicate which funds are from subsidized loans, which are from unsubsidized loans, and which are from PLUS loans. Questioned Costs: None. Condition: During the 2021-2022 award year, four out of twenty-five students tested in our sample of disbursements of Title IV funds were not provided notification prior to disbursement of funds as dictated by 34 CFR 668.165. Notification was provided subsequent to disbursement for three of these students; however, one student was not notified at all. Cause: The University?s internal controls over Title IV eligibility and disbursement include a manual review of each student?s account prior to disbursement. Upon completion of this review, the employee performing the review will manually flag the student?s account in the system which generates the required notification prior to disbursement. These four student accounts were not manually flagged for notification. Effect: The University did not provide timely notification to three students and did not provide notification at all for one student. Recommendation: We recommend the University reiterate to control owners the importance of manually flagging students? accounts when reviews are performed. Additionally, a review control to ensure notifications are provided prior to disbursement should be considered. Views of Responsible Officials/Management Response: See Management?s view and corrective action plan included at the end of this report.