Finding Text
Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education
Federal Program Name: Student Financial Assistance Cluster
Assistance Listing Number 84.063 – Federal Pell Grant Program
84.268 – Federal Direct Student Loans
84.379 – Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education Grants
Federal Award Identification Number and Year: N/A
Pass-Through Agency: N/A
Pass-Through Number(s): N/A
Award Period: July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023
Type of Finding:
• Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance
• Other Matters
Criteria or Specific Requirement: The Code of Federal Regulations, 34 CFR 668.165, states Direct Loans or TEACH funds are being credited to a student’s account, the institution must notify the student, or parent, in writing of (1) the date and amount of the disbursement; (2) the student’s right, or parent’s right, to cancel all or a portion of that loan or loan disbursement and have the loan proceeds returned to the holder of that loan or the TEACH Grant payments returned to ED; and (3) the procedure and time by which the student or parent must notify the institution that he or she wishes to cancel the loan, TEACH Grant, or TEACH Grant disbursement (a minimum of 14 or 30 days depending on confirmation process). The notification requirement for loan funds applies only if the funds are disbursed by EFT payment or master check.
Condition: Due to a gap in their systems, there were no notifications of disbursements sent out to students in the fiscal year. As well as one Pell COD disbursement incorrectly reported. We noted the disbursement date did not match the applied date.
Questioned Costs: None
Context: The University had an issue with their reporting for eligibility.
Cause: Lack of controls around reporting with in SFA.
Effect: The University was not in compliance with the requirements to timely respond to errors.
Repeat Finding: No
Auditor’s Recommendation: We recommend that the University review their controls around eligibility.
Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: There is no disagreement with the audit finding.