SOUTHEASTERN ILLINOIS COLLEGE

Federal Program Name: Student Financial Assistance Cluster - Federal Work Study, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, and PELL Grants CFDA No: 84.033, 84.007, and 84.063 Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education Criteria or specific requirement: The College is required to report enrollment information under the Pell grant program via the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS). The administration of the Title IV programs depends heavily on the accuracy and timeliness of the enrollment information reported. The College must review, update, and verify 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 (NSLDSFAP) website. The College is responsible for timely reporting of this information to NSLDS. Condition: During the testing of students who graduated or withdrew from the College, we found that in a sample of 20 students, 14 students were not reported correctly or timely to NSLDS making up 28 exceptions. Questioned costs: None Context: Of 20 graduated and withdrawn students tested, 14 were not reported to the NSLDS as timely or correctly. Cause: Lack of oversight by College personnel. Effect: The College was not in compliance with the enrollment requirements as prescribed by the Title IV program. Auditor’s Recommendation: We recommend that procedures be developed to review the roster files received from the NSLDS to ensure correct student information is being reported with each roster file. Management’s Response: Management will be implementing remediation steps to ensure that enrollment information is accurate in the NSLDS. The College’s Information Technology (IT) department will work with the Registrar in creating a process where graduates who are not originally reported as graduated can be updated to graduated status in National Student Clearinghouse (NSC)’s website. This may include making a graduates’ only submission to NSC to update those graduates whose degrees were conferred after the original submission. Also, the Student Affairs department will now review submission data and give approval prior to submission to NSC. To assist in this review, the IT department will develop a data validation report that lists students who have completed a certificate and/or degree and are no longer attending.

Finding No. 2022-001 Federal Program Name: Student Financial Assistance Cluster - Federal Work Study, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, and PELL Grants CFDA No: 84.033, 84.007, and 84.063 Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education Criteria or specific requirement: The College is required to report enrollment information under the Pell grant program via the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS). The administration of the Title IV programs depends heavily on the accuracy and timeliness of the enrollment information reported. The College must review, update, and verify 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 (NSLDSFAP) website. The College is responsible for timely reporting of this information to NSLDS. Condition: During the testing of students who graduated or withdrew from the College, we found that in a sample of 25 students, 6 students were not reported as graduated to NSLDS. Questioned costs: None Context: Of 25 graduated and withdrawn students tested, 6 were not reported to the NSLDS as graduated. Cause: Lack of oversight by College personnel. Effect: The College was not in compliance with the enrollment requirements as prescribed by the Title IV program. Auditor?s Recommendation: We recommend that procedures be developed to review the roster files received from the NSLDS to ensure correct student information is being reported with each roster file. Management?s Response: Management will be implementing remediation steps to ensure that enrollment information is accurate in the NSLDS. The College?s Information Technology (IT) department will work with the Registrar in creating a process where graduates who are not originally reported as graduated can be updated to graduated status in National Student Clearinghouse (NSC)?s website. This may include making a graduates? only submission to NSC to update those graduates whose degrees were conferred after the original submission. Also, the Student Affairs department will now review submission data and give approval prior to submission to NSC. To assist in this review, the IT department will develop a data validation report that lists students who have completed a certificate and/or degree and are no longer attending.

Finding No. 2021-001 - Lack of Internal Controls over the Verification Process Federal Program Name: Federal Work Study, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, and PELL Grants CFDA No: 84.033, 84.007, and 84.063 Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education Criteria or specific requirement: The College is required to have internal control procedures to ensure that verification procedures are performed accurately. Condition: During verification testing we found the following: ? One student?s number in college was incorrectly reported on the ISIR ? Two student?s showed the wrong amount of education credits used on the ISIR Questioned costs: None Context: Of the 25 students chosen for verification testing, three issues were noted. Cause: Lack of oversight by College personnel. Effect: The College was not in compliance with verification requirements as prescribed by the Title IV grant. Auditor?s Recommendation: We recommend that the College develop internal controls to ensure that verification is obtained and correct on each student and adheres to the requirements set forth by the Department of Education. Management?s Response: Michelle Metten, Financial Aid Director, agrees with finding and will take steps to implement corrective action.

Finding No. 2021-002 - Lack of Internal Controls over Return of Title IV Funds Federal Program Name: Federal Work Study, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, and PELL Grants CFDA No: 84.033, 84.007, and 84.063 Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education Criteria or specific requirement: The College is required to have internal control procedures to ensure that the calculation of federal aid to be returned or refunded is calculated accurately and returned or refunded within 45 days. Condition: During the testing of students withdrawn from the College and the calculation of return of federal funds we found the following: ? Sixteen students? funds were not returned to the Department of Education within 45 days ? One students? funds were calculated using the incorrect Pell amount and charges; Additionally, these funds were not returned to the Department of Education until discovered by the auditors ? One student did not have a return of funds calculation performed nor were the students? funds returned to the Department of Education until discovered by the auditors ? In addition it was noted during testing that there were no return of funds calculations done for students who had completed 60% of the semester. This impacted 26 students. Questioned costs: None Context: Of 25 withdrawals and return of funds calculations tested, exceptions were noted in nine calculations and the College under returned $1,765 to the Department of Education on those tested. Cause: Lack of oversight by College personnel. Effect: The College returned the incorrect amount of federal funds to the Department of Education and was not in compliance with the grant requirements. Auditor?s Recommendation: We recommend that the College develop internal controls to ensure the accuracy of the return of funds calculation. Management?s Response: Michelle Metten, Financial Aid Director, agrees with finding and will take steps to implement corrective action.

Finding No. 2020-001 - Lack of Internal Controls over the Verification Process Federal Program Name: Federal Work Study, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, and PELL Grants CFDA No: 84.033, 84.007, and 84.063 Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education Criteria or specific requirement: The College is required to have internal control procedures to ensure that verification procedures are performed accurately. Condition: During verification testing we found the following: ? One student?s AGI was reported correctly on the ISIR then changed by personnel to an incorrect amount resulting in an incorrect EFC being calculated ? Two student?s signatures, or the signatures of their parents, were missing from the student verification form Questioned costs: None Context: Of the 25 students chosen for verification testing, three issues were noted. Cause: Lack of oversight by College personnel. Effect: The College was not in compliance with verification requirements as prescribed by the Title IV grant. Auditor?s Recommendation: We recommend that the College develop internal controls to ensure that verification is obtained and correct on each student and adheres to the requirements set forth by the Department of Education. Management?s Response: Michelle Metten, Financial Aid Director, agrees with finding and will take steps to implement corrective action.

Finding No. 2020-002 - Lack of Internal Controls over Return of Title IV Funds Federal Program Name: Federal Work Study, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, and PELL Grants CFDA No: 84.033, 84.007, and 84.063 Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education Criteria or specific requirement: The College is required to have internal control procedures to ensure that the calculation of federal aid to be returned or refunded is calculated accurately and returned or refunded within 45 days. Condition: During the testing of students withdrawn from the College and the calculation of return of federal funds we found the following: ? Five return of funds calculations used an improper semester end date resulting in incorrect amounts being returned to the Department of Education ? Three return of funds calculations used incorrect withdrawal dates resulting in incorrect completion percentage, which led to $0 being returned to the Department of Education Questioned costs: None Context: Of 37 withdrawals and return of funds calculations tested, exceptions were noted in nine calculations and the College under returned $2,177 to the Department of Education on those tested. Cause: Lack of oversight by College personnel. Effect: The College returned the incorrect amount of federal funds to the Department of Education and was not in compliance with the grant requirements. Auditor?s Recommendation: We recommend that the College develop internal controls to ensure the accuracy of the return of funds calculation. Management?s Response: Michelle Metten, Financial Aid Director, agrees with finding and will take steps to implement corrective action.

Finding No. 2020-003 - Lack of Internal Controls over Enrollment Reporting Federal Program Name: Federal Work Study, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, and PELL Grants CFDA No: 84.033, 84.007, and 84.063 Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education Criteria or specific requirement: The College is required to have internal control procedures to ensure that enrollment is reported correctly and timely to the National Student Loan Data System. Condition: During enrollment reporting testing, we found the following: ? Five students reported to the clearinghouse were submitted as enrolled but should have been submitted as withdrawn ? 20 students were not reported to the clearinghouse as graduated within the 60 days required which is critical according to the NSLDS enrollment reporting guide due to the student?s interest calculation. Questioned costs: None Context: Of the 45 students reported to the National Student Loan Data System, we found 25 issues where the student?s status was not changed in a timely manner. Of those, five were not submitted as withdrawn. The remaining 20 (nine in Fall, ten in Spring, and one in Summer) were not reported as graduated within the 60-day requirement. Cause: Lack of oversight by College personnel. Effect: The College did not report student?s status changes to the National Student Clearinghouse in a timely manner which can affect the student?s interest calculations. Auditor?s Recommendation: We recommend that the College develop internal controls to ensure that status changes are reported to the clearinghouse in a timely manner. Management?s Response: Michelle Metten, Financial Aid Director, agrees with finding and will take steps to implement corrective action.

Finding No. 2019-001 - Lack of Internal Controls over Student Financial Aid Federal Program Name: Federal Work Study, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, and PELL Grants CFDA No: 84.033, 84.007, and 84.063 Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education Criteria or specific requirement: The College is required to have internal control procedures to ensure that the calculation of federal aid to be returned or refunded is calculated accurately and returned or refunded within 45 days. Condition: During the testing of students withdrawn from the College and the calculation of return of federal funds we found the following: ? Seven return of funds calculations used an improper semester end date resulting in incorrect amounts being returned to the Department of Education ? Two return of funds calculations used incorrect tuition charges resulting in incorrect amounts being returned to the Department of Education ? Student refunds were not refunded within 45 days Questioned costs: None Context: Of 25 withdrawals and return of funds calculations tested, exceptions were noted in 11 calculations and the College under returned $239 to the Department of Education on those tested. Cause: Lack of oversight by College personnel. Effect: The College returned the incorrect amount of federal funds to the Department of Education and was not in compliance with the grant requirements. Auditor?s Recommendation: We recommend that the College develop internal controls to ensure that personnel working on the grant are knowledgeable of the grant requirements and ensure the accuracy of the return of funds calculation. Management?s Response: Michelle Metten, Financial Aid Director, agrees with finding and will take steps to implement corrective action.

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