Finding Text
2022 001 Assistance Listing Number, Federal Agency, and Program Name - ALN Nos. 84.063 and 84.268; Department of Education; Federal Pell Grant Program and Federal Direct Loan Program Federal Award Identification Number and Year - N/A Pass through Entity - N/A Finding Type - Material weakness and material noncompliance with laws and regulations Repeat Finding - Yes - 2021-003 Criteria - Returns of Title IV funds are required to be deposited or transferred into the SFA account or electronic fund transfers initiated to the Department of Education (ED) as soon as possible, but no later than 45 days after the date the institution determines that the student withdrew (34 CFR 668.173(b)). Condition - The University did not return Title IV funds to the Department of Education within the required time frame for certain students who required a return of funds, and it did not initially identify all students who required a return of Title IV funds. Questioned Costs - None Identification of How Questioned Costs Were Computed - N/A Context - Of the 25 withdrawn students tested for proper return of Title IV funds, the funds for 7 students requiring a return were not returned to ED by the University within the required time frame. The 7 errors identified were for the summer and fall 2021 terms. Additionally, it was noted that 3 students in the summer and fall 2021 terms who required a return of Title IV had not been identified by the University, consisting of a total return of $5,581. The University ran an updated report that covered missing students and properly calculated and provided returns of Title IV aid for these students after identification as part of audit procedures; as such, there are no questioned costs. Cause and Effect - The University had a change in personnel in the financial aid department and did not have a process in place to ensure calculations performed were processed and returned to ED within the required time frame. This led to returns of Title IV funds to ED being completed outside the required time frame, and/or students who required a return of Title IV funds were missed. Recommendation - We recommend that the University institute a process to ensure that all returns of Title IV aid are calculated and returned within the required time frame. Views of Responsible Officials and Corrective Action Plan - Upon notification of Finding No. 2021-003, a new R2T4 process was created for the spring 2022 academic term. This process consists of creating a new report to identify students who withdrew from all courses during each academic term. Once the R2T4 calculation is completed, the aid adjustment is made in the financial aid system and posted to the student's account the same day. The aid amounts are manually adjusted in COD. All audit errors related to Finding No. 2022-001 are from the summer 2021 and fall 2021 academic terms. There were no errors in the audit sample for spring 2022. The new procedure continues to be in place.