New York Law SchoolHigher Education

Finding 2025-001 Special Tests and Provisions – NSLDS Reporting Compliance and Internal Control (Significant Deficiency) U.S. Department of Education – Student Financial Assistance Cluster Federal Direct Student Loans (Federal Assistance Listing #84.268) Federal Award Number: P268K256103 Federal Award Year: 2024-2025 Criteria or Specific Requirement Institutions are required to report enrollment information under the Pell Grant and the Direct Loan and Federal Family Education Loan (“FFEL”) programs via the National Student Loan Data System (“NSLDS”) (OMB No. 1845-0035), although FFEL loans are no longer made or a part of the Student Financial Assistance Cluster, a student may have a FFEL loan from previous years that would require enrollment reporting for that student (Pell, 34 CFR 690.83(b)(2); FFEL, 34 CFR 682.610; Direct Loan, 34 CFR 685.309; Perkins 34 CFR 674.19(f)). The administration of the Title IV programs depends heavily on the accuracy and timeliness of the enrollment information reported by institutions. Institutions must review, update, and certify student enrollment statuses, program information, and effective dates that appear on the Enrollment Reporting Roster file or on the Enrollment Maintenance page of the NSLDS Professional Access website which the financial aid administrator can access for the auditor. The data on the institution’s Enrollment Reporting Roster, or Enrollment Maintenance page, is what NSLDS has as the most recently certified enrollment. There are two categories of enrollment information, “Campus Level” and “Program Level,” both of which need to be reported accurately and have separate record types. The NSLDS Enrollment Reporting Guide provides the requirements and guidance for reporting enrollment details using the NSLDS Enrollment Reporting Process. Institutions are responsible for accurately reporting all Program-Level Record data elements. The Program-Level Record data elements that the U.S. Department of Education considers to be high risk include, but are not limited to: • Published program length; • Program begin date; • Program enrollment status; • Program enrollment effective date; and, • Classification of Instructional Program (“CIP”) code. Published Program Length should be reported based on the definition of “normal time” to completion in the regulations at 34 CFR 668.41(a), as follows: • If the school has published, in its catalog, on its website, or in any promotional materials, the length of the program in weeks, months, or years, the program length reported must be the same as the program length that the school has published. Note: For gainful employment programs, the school must have published the program’s length in weeks, months, or years on the school’s website. • If the school has not published a program length and the program is an associate or bachelor’s degree program, the program length to be reported should be two years (associate) or four years (bachelor), respectively, unless the academic design of the program makes it longer or shorter than typical. • For all other programs for which the school has not published a program length, the program length is based on the school’s determination of how long, in weeks, months, or years, the program is designed for a full-time student to complete.   Context and Condition For a non-statistical sample of 22 students, the published program length reported for 20 students on their NSLDS Program-Level records did not comply with the requirements in the NSLDS Enrollment Reporting Guide. For these 20 students, all of whom were enrolled in the School’s full-time Juris Doctor (J.D.) program, the School reported a published program length of four years instead of three years, which is the program length for the full-time J.D. program as published on the School’s website. Cause As a general practice, the School reported a program length of four years for all students, instead of reporting the actual length of the program each student was enrolled in. Effect The published program length for twenty students was not accurately reported to the NSLDS. Questioned Costs None noted. Identification as a Repeat Finding This is not a repeat finding. Recommendation The School should implement procedures to ensure that students’ program-level enrollment reporting data, including the published program length, are reported to the NSLDS accurately and in accordance with the requirements in the NSLDS Enrollment Guide. Views of Responsible Officials See Corrective Action Plan.

Criteria or Specific Requirement Institutions submit Direct Loan, Pell Grant, TEACH Grant, and IASG origination records to the COD ("Common Origination and Disbursement") system. The disbursement record reports the actual disbursement date and the amount of the disbursement. Institutions must report student disbursement data within 15 calendar days after the institution makes the disbursement or becomes aware of the need to make an adjustment to previously reported student disbursement data or expected disbursement date. Condition Of the 40 disbursements selected for COD reporting testing, one disbursement was reported late compared to the required 15-day threshold. Cause At that time, the School was transitioning to a new system platform. As such, disbursement was not reported within the 15-day required timeframe. Effect As the change in status was not reported within the specified time or not reported at all, COD data was not up to date. Questioned Costs None noted. Context The auditor selected 40 students to test COD reporting and examined if the School reported the disbursement within 15 days. Identification as a Repeat Finding This is not a repeat finding. Recommendation We recommend the School implement a policy where the disbursements are submitted within the 15 days.

Criteria or Specific Requirement Enrollment information, including the effective date of separation from the institution, must be accurately reported within 30 days whenever attendance changes for a student, unless a roster will be submitted within 60 days. The changes include reductions or increases in attendance levels, withdrawals, graduations, and approved leaves-of absence. It is the institution’s responsibility, as a participant in the Title IV aid programs, to monitor and report these changes to the National Student Loan Data System (“NSLDS”). Condition Of the ten students selected for enrollment reporting testing who graduated, all ten students tested were not reported to NSLDS within the maximum 60-day window. This was not a statistically valid sample. Cause This was overlooked by the School while switching processing systems. There were no 'late transmission' notifications as the 'Graduates Only' report did not repeat in the Spring/Summer 2024 transmission schedule. Effect A student’s enrollment status determines eligibility for in-school status, deferment, grace periods, and repayments, as well as the government’s payment of interest subsidies. The notification of student status changes to NSLDS will cause a student to enter into a grace period and determine a repayment date and, therefore, accurate and timely notification of student status to NSLDS is important. Questioned Costs None noted. Context The auditor selected 40 students to test enrollment and examined if the student had a change of address and whether there was an indication of graduating or withdrawing from the School either voluntarily or for academic purposes. We examined all applicable documentation to determine the date of any such change in status to conclude whether the School was in compliance with the reporting requirements for the student changes in status. Identification as a Repeat Finding This is not a repeat finding. Recommendation We recommend the School implement a policy where the student roster is reviewed within the required 60 days and that all changes in student status be identified and reported timely with the Department of Education. This will ensure that the requirement to notify the NSLDS is done timely and in compliance with the requirement.

The Department of Education through the National Student Loan Data System (?NSLDS?) requires that the School certify all students on their enrollment roster at least every 60 days, even if there has been no change in student status. Student status changes then must be reported to the NSLDS within the required time-period. Condition During our procedures to test compliance with this requirement to enrollment testing, for a sample of 40 students, 35 student status changes were either not reported timely or not reported at all. Cause The student roster was not reviewed timely and as a result student changes were not identified and reported in accordance with the compliance requirement. Effect As the change in status was not reported within the specified time or not reported at all, changes to student loan repayments were not determinable by the Department of Education. Questioned Costs None noted. Context The auditor selected 40 students to test enrollment and examined if the student had a change of address and whether there was an indication of withdrawing from the School either voluntarily or for academic purposes. We examined all applicable documentation to determine the date of any such change in status to conclude whether the School was in compliance with the reporting requirements for the student change in status.