Finding Text
Finding 2023-001 – Significant Deficiency: Special Tests And Provisions – Return Of Title IV Funds – Compliance and Control Finding
ALN 84.063 – Federal Pell Grant Program and 84.268 – Federal Direct Student Loan Program – Student Financial Aid Cluster and 84.007 – Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant Program
Federal Agency: Department of Education
Pass-Through Entity: None
Criteria Or Specific Requirement: Per 34 CFR 668.22(f)(2)(i) and (ii)(B), the total number of calendar days in a period of enrollment includes all days within the period that the student was scheduled to complete, except that scheduled breaks of at least five consecutive days are excluded from the total number of calendar days in a period of enrollment and the number of calendar days completed in that period.
Condition: The University did not exclude a scheduled break of at least five consecutive days in the Fall 2022 trimester from the total number of calendar days in a period of enrollment and the number of calendar days completed in that period when calculation the amount of Title IV aid earned by students at the time of the withdrawal date.
Cause: Controls over compliance put in place by management were not operating effectively as it relates to return of Title IV funds.
Effect: The University’s controls did not prevent the errors noting during the return of Title IV funds.
Questioned Costs: $435 of known questioned costs were identified in our testing sample. Likely questioned costs did not exceed $25,000.
SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued)
For The Year Ended August 31, 2023
Context: Based on a sample of 9 students, the University did not exclude a scheduled break of five consecutive days for 5 students tested for the Fall 2022 trimester. The five consecutive days were not excluded from the period of enrollment and the number of calendar days completed in that period when calculating the amount of Title IV aid earned by the student for the trimester.
Identification As A Repeat Finding: The finding is not a repeat finding.
Recommendation: We recommend that management review its processes and controls surrounding this compliance requirement to ensure that the control is appropriate and operating effectively to support that the University is in compliance with the requirements of its federal program.
Views Of Responsible Officials: The 2022-2023 academic year was revised to include a 5 day break for the Thanksgiving holiday. This revision occurred after the calendar has been uploaded to the system and therefore the return of Title IV calculations for Fall 2022 were calculated using the incorrect number of days. Total questioned costs related to this amounted to $2,101. The calendar for 2023 - 2024 academic year has been updated to ensure the correct number of days are used for return of Title IV calculations.