UNIVERSITY OF MARYHigher Education

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Assistance Listing # 97.047 2021 Award Year, Award Number: PDMV-PJ-08-ND-2018-003 Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities Reporting Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance Criteria: Quarterly reports are required under the grant agreement to be submitted to the State of North Dakota. Condition: There was no documented control in place to review reports prior to submission for the grant program. Cause: Review controls have not been implemented. The quarterly reports are completed by an outside consultant based on information provided by the University of Mary and submitted to the State without a review process. Effect: Inaccurate information could have been reported or lines with required information could have been missed. Questioned Costs: None. Context/Sampling: We tested 2 of the 4 quarters for the fiscal year 2024. Repeat Finding from Prior Year(s): No Recommendation: We recommend a documented review process be implemented prior to report submission to ensure all lines are properly entered and agree to the applicable backup. Views of Responsible Officials: Management agrees with the finding.

2021-001 Direct Program from U.S. Department of Education Student Financial Aid Cluster (CFDA #?s 84.268, 84.379, 84.063, 84.033, 84.007, 93.364) Special Tests: Enrollment Reporting Significant Deficiency in Internal Control Criteria: A student?s enrollment status determines eligibility for in-school status, deferment, and grace periods, as well as for the payment of interest subsidies to FFEL Program loan holders by ED. Enrollment reporting in a timely and accurate manner is critical for effective management of the programs. Condition: In our student testing, there was two students that had a change in enrollment status (i.e., withdrawal, graduation, reduction from fulltime to part-time) that was incorrectly reported to NSLDS as the wrong type of status change. Questioned Costs: None reported. Cause: The incorrect information was submitted for reporting to NSLDS. Effect: Inaccurate reporting of student enrollment status does not allow the Department of Education to properly track and monitor students. Repeat finding From Prior Year: Yes Context: Out of the 60 sample of enrollment status changes, 2 status changes had not been reported correctly as graduated. Population was 432 status changes. Non-statistical sampling was used. Recommendation: We recommend that management update their control processes to ensure that the proper status date changes are being reported to NSLDS and a review is completed on students to ensure that the enrollment status is correctly reported. Views of Responsible Officials: Management agrees with the finding.

2020-001 Direct Program from U.S. Department of Education Student Financial Aid Cluster (CFDA #?s 84.268, 84.379, 84.063, 84.033, 84.007) Special Tests: Enrollment Reporting Significant Deficiency in Internal Control Criteria: A student?s enrollment status determines eligibility for in-school status, deferment, and grace periods, as well as for the payment of interest subsidies to FFEL Program loan holders by ED. Enrollment reporting in a timely and accurate manner is critical for effective management of the programs. Enrollment information must be reported within 30 days whenever attendance changes for students, unless a roster will be submitted within 60 days. Condition: In our student testing, there was one student that had a change in enrollment status (i.e. withdrawal, graduation, reduction from fulltime to part-time) that was not submitted timely to NSLDS. Questioned Costs: None reported. Cause: Internal controls do not appear to be in place to accurately report to NSLDS. This student had an off graduation date based on the program they were enrolled in. Effect: Inaccurate reporting of student enrollment status does not allow the Department of Education to properly track and monitor students, including initiation of the loan repayment process. Repeat finding From Prior Year: No Context: Out of the 60 sample of enrollment status changes, 1 status change had not been reported timely. Population was 935 status changes. Non-statistical sampling was used. Recommendation: We recommend that management update their control processes to ensure that the proper status date changes are being reported to NSLDS and not subsequently changed to inaccurate dates. Views of Responsible Officials: Management agrees with the finding.