Finding Text
Assistance Listing Number, Federal Agency, and Program Name - ALNs 84.268; Department of Education; 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 - No
Criteria - If a student account is credited with Federal Direct Loans (FDL), the institution must notify the student or parent of date and amount as well as the right to cancel all or portion of loan, and the procedure and time by which the student must notify the institution no earlier than 30 days before and no later than 30 days after crediting student’s account if using an affirmative confirmation process (34 CFR Section 68.165).
Condition - The University did not timely notify the student or parent within 30 days of crediting the student's account with Federal Direct Loans.
Questioned Costs - None
Identification of How Questioned Costs Were Computed - N/A
Context - Of the 21 students tested for FDL notification, notifications for 16 students were not timely communicated within the required time frame.
Cause and Effect - The University did not have a process in place to ensure notifications were sent out in the required time frame.
Recommendation - We recommend that the University institute a process to ensure that all notifications are sent within the required time frame.
Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions - When posting direct loans to the student's account, we will add a touchpoint to the student's record. This automatically sends an email to the student. We will mail a notification to the parent in the case of a Parent Plus loan.