Finding Text
FINDING 2023-002 – CONTROLS AND NONCOMPLIANCE OVER SPECIAL TESTS AND PROVISIONS
– NATIONAL STUDENT LOAN DATA SYSTEM
Federal Department: Department of Education
Assistance Listing Number(s):84.063, 84.007, 84.033
Program Name(s): Student Financial Aid Cluster
Questioned Costs: None
Criteria
Per the requirements of the Uniform Guiance in the Compliance Supplement, the College is required to
maintain documentation demonstrating its controls over compliance with applicable federal requirements.
Additionally, Federal regulations dictate when a recipient of Title IV funds has a change in status such as
increase/decrease in attendance levels, graduation, or withdrawal, the institution must submit the status
change information to the Department of Education’s National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) site
within 60 days.
Condition
During our testing of controls over reporting it is noted that the College could not locate documentation for
3 out of 25 students selected for testing to support their change in status that was reported to the NSLDS.
Additionally, during our compliance testing we noted 3 out of 25 students selected for testing where the
College submitted the status information to the NSLDS site after the 60 day submission window.
Questioned Costs
None
Context
A sample of 25 students were selected for compliance testing. 3 students’ status information was submitted
between 35 and 43 days late However, for these students, it was noted during our compliance testing that
the status information reported by the College to the U.S. Department of Education was accurate.
Additionally, the College was unable to locate its enrollment status change documentation that the NSLDS
site indicated had occurred for 3 additional students out of the 25 selected for testing.
Effect
The College did not apply its established controls to ensure SSCR information was remitted timely as well
as properly reviewed and approved, thus the College was not in compliance with the requirements.
Cause
The cause appears to be an error in the processing of the information batches, due to turnover in the
Student Financial Aid department.
Identification as a Repeat Finding, if Applicable
This matter is not considered a repeat finding.
Recommendation
We recommend that the College’s Student Financial Aid department consider additional steps to reinforce
established policies and procedures regarding timely submission of the SSCR information. This may
including automated reminders, updated calendars and other notification mechanisms in the College’s
Colleague system to compliment manual controls to allow for more flexibility in remote working situations,
such as those caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions
See Corrective Action Plan.