Finding Text
Assistance Listing, Federal Agency, and Program Name - Student Financial Assistance Cluster. Federal Direct Student Loan Program (ALN 84.268) and Federal Pell Grants (ALN 84.063). Federal Award Identification Number and Year - Various.
Pass-through Entity - None.
Finding Type - Significant deficiency.
Repeat Finding - No.
Criteria - If a recipient of Title IV grant or loan funds withdraws from a school after beginning attendance but before he or she has attended 60 percent of the scheduled length of the semester, the school must perform a return of Title IV funds (R2T4) calculation. If the amount disbursed to the student is greater than the amount the student earned, the unearned funds must be returned. A school must return unearned funds for which it is responsible no later than 45 days from the determination of a student's withdrawal (30 days if never attended) (34 CFR 668.220)(1)). When a recipient of Title IV grant or loan assistance withdraws from an institution during a payment period or period of enrollment in which the recipient began attendance, the institution must determine the amount of Title IV aid earned by the student as of the student's withdrawal date. If an institution does not require instructors to take attendance, the withdrawal date is (1) the date, as determined by the institution, that the student began the withdrawal process prescribed by the institution; (2) the date, as determined by the institution, that the student otherwise provided official notification to the institution, in writing or orally, of his or her intent to withdraw; (3) if the student ceases attendance without providing official notification to the institution of his or her withdrawal, the midpoint of the payment period or, if applicable, the period of enrollment; (4) if the institution determines that a student did not begin the withdrawal process or otherwise notify the institution of the intent to withdraw due to illness, accident, grievous personal loss, or other circumstances beyond the student's control, the date the institution determines is related to that circumstance; (5) if a student does not return from an approved leave of absence, the date that the institution determines the student began the leave of absence; or (6) if the student takes an unapproved leave of absence, the date that the student began the leave of absence. Notwithstanding the above, an institution that is not required to take attendance may use as the withdrawal date the last date of attendance at an academically related activity, as documented by the institution (34 CFR668.22(c) and (I)).
Condition - The College used incorrect or incomplete data in the return of Title IV calculations.
Questioned Costs - $1,708
Identification of How Questioned Costs Were Computed - Recalculation of returns was based on accurate student data.
Context - Of the 40 students tested, there were 4 students where a portion of institutional charges (bookstore charges) were not included in the calculation when a Return of TItle IV calculation was performed and 1 student where a calculation was not completed but the student withdrew before the 60 percent completion date. As a result, the College completed updated calculations and properly corrected all 5 of the issues identified, resulting in $1,708 in questioned costs.
Cause and Effect - The College did not have a control in place to ensure all returns of Title IV refunds were reviewed. As a result, certain student Title IV refund calculations were not correctly calculated and returned.
Recommendation - The College should implement controls to ensure returns of Title IV refund calculations are prepared and reviewed to ensure accurate.
Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions - Management agrees with the finding. The College's financial aid department has updated its R2T4 procedure document to highlight steps needed to bring in other charges, such as bookstore, has provided updated training and has recalculated all R2T4's during FY23 where bookstore charges were incurred or calculations were not performed and processed the corrections.