Aiken Technical College

AL#: 84.033, 84.007, 84.063, 84.268 Student Financial Aid Cluster Award Year: 2025 Criteria: Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance) require that, where there are Title IV funds to be returned, that they be deposited or transferred into the student financial aid account or an electronic funds transfer initiated to the Department of Education as soon as possible, but no later than 45 days after the institution determines that a student withdrew. Condition: There were eight of sixty students tested where the College failed to initiate the electronic funds transfer to the Department of Education within the 45-day timeframe. Context: We addressed this matter with College management who are aware of the requirements to properly review and when applicable, return funds in a timely manner. Effect: Failure to properly review and adhere to policies and procedures can lead to noncompliance and the misappropriation of federal funds that are not detected during the normal course of business. Cause: The lack of compliance is due to the College failing review student withdrawals in a timely manner. Recommendation: We recommend the College review and update its policies and procedures to ensure all Title IV funds are reviewed, and returned in a timely manner. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Action: Management concurs with the finding. The College is in the process of implementing controls and procedures to ensure that all Title IV funds are properly monitored and reviewed. Questioned Costs: None.

Management’s Corrective Action Plan: 1. Strengthen Interdepartmental Coordination Aiken Technical College will enhance collaboration between Academic Affairs, the Registrar, and Financial Aid to ensure timely and accurate reporting of Last Dates of Attendance (LDA). This includes: Establishing a standardized communication protocol for timely submission of LDAs following student withdrawals. Ensuring withdrawal data is entered into the student information system promptly to trigger R2T4 processing. 2. Faculty Communication and Compliance To reduce delays and improve reporting accuracy: Faculty will receive term-based reminders regarding the importance of accurate and timely drop/withdrawal reporting. Reminders will reinforce federal compliance expectations and highlight the downstream impact on student financial responsibility and institutional audit outcomes. 3. Policy and Procedure Revision The College will revise its policies and procedures to: Clearly define internal timelines, responsibilities, and handoff points across departments. Increase transparency of each step in the workflow to improve consistency and reduce processing errors. Support a collaborative, student-centered process that aligns with Aiken Technical College’s commitment to regulatory excellence and audit readiness. Responsible Official: Melinda Rodgers, VP Enrollment Mgmt. & Student Affairs Anticipated Implementation Date: Fiscal Year 2026

Program: Student Financial Cluster - CFDA Nos. 84.007, 84.033, 84.063, and 84.268 Criteria or Specific Requirement: For recipients of Title IV grant or loan assistance that withdraw 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 grant or loan assistance that the student earned as of the student?s withdrawal date, calculate the portion of unearned aid which is the responsibility of the student and institution, respectively, and return the amount of Title IV funds for which it is responsible no later than 45 days after the date of the institution?s determination that the student withdrew (34 CFR section 668.22(a-j)). Condition: For two students who withdrew from the College during a payment period or period of enrollment in which the recipient began attendance in the 2018-2019 fiscal year, the College failed to correctly calculate the return of Title IV funds (?RT4?) calculation. For one of those students, this incorrect calculation resulted in the student?s refund not being returned within the required 45 days from the date of the institution?s determination that the student withdrew. Questioned Costs: $0 Context: A test of students who withdrew from the College during a payment period or period of enrollment in which the recipient began attendance during the year revealed two students out of a sample of nineteen selected for testing for which the RT4 calculation were calculated incorrectly. This resulted in one student?s refund not being returned within the required 45 days from the respective dates of the institution?s determination that the each student withdrew. Cause: During the Fall semester, the calculation for return of Title IV funds was completed using the DOE?s R2T4 software. The first student?s calculation was processed incorrectly due to a transposition error in the institutional charges that were used in the calculation of $1,719 instead of $1,791. During the Spring and Summer semesters, the RT4 calculation was completed within the College?s software for student accounts. The second student?s return was calculated incorrectly due to the use of an incorrect withdrawal date. The student?s last date of attendance was 3/6/19 and the date of determination of the withdrawal was 3/8/19. In the return calculation, the 3/8/19 determination date was used in error. Effect: For the first student, there was no effect on the RT4 calculation, as the student had completed over 60% of the semester and earned the aid. For the second student, the allocation of unearned aid which is the responsibility of the student and institution, respectively, was not calculated and returned in the required timeframe of 45 days from the date of determination from when the student withdrew. Due to the late return calculations, the College returned the Title IV funds in the amount of $980 after the required timeframe of 45 days. The untimely reporting of this student has resulted in delayed repayment of a Federal Direct Loan. Recommendation: The College should have a second person review all RT4 calculations, which would include verifying the inputs used in each calculation (i.e. institutional charges, withdrawal date, number of days attended compared to number of days in the term, and the student financial aid awarded to the student). View of Responsible Official and Corrective Actions: The College is in agreement with audit finding 2019-001. To ensure corrective action for the future, the following plan has been implemented. 1. The Vice President of Academic & Student Affairs, the Director of Financial Aid, and the Registrar, in collaboration with the Information Systems Management Department, have identified the cause for the incorrect RT4 calculations, and in one instance, the delayed repayment of Federal Pell Grant funds. Prior to the Spring 2019 term, the Financial Aid Office utilized the Department of Education software to calculate RT4 amounts, requiring manual input of institutional charges, withdrawal date, and financial aid awarded to the student for the term. Beginning with the Spring 2019 term, the Financial Aid Office began using the College?s student information system (Colleague) to calculate the RT4 amounts, requiring manual input of only the student?s date of withdrawal. The new process should reduce or eliminate manual keying errors. 2. The Financial Aid Director routinely checks a sample of RT4 calculations for accuracy. The two audit selections, however, involved calculations that were not among those checked in the Financial Aid Director?s sampling. Since the student?s date of withdrawal is now the only component manually entered into the RT4 calculation, the date of withdrawal will be the only component to review in every RT4 calculation. This new process makes it feasible for the Financial Aid Director or designee to check all RT4 calculations on a weekly basis to ensure use of the correct date of withdrawal. Additionally, the Financial Aid Director will continue with routine sampling of RT4 calculations for accuracy and to ensure that the system is calculating properly. Section IV. Summary of Populations See Schedule of Findings and Questioned Costs for chart/table of populations for testing and findings. 394 students received both Pell and FDL funding and are included in both eligibility testing populations. 23 students received both Pell and FDL funding and were included in the samples selected for eligibility testing. 28 students were included in both the Pell and FDL return of Title IV funds populations. 7 students were included in both the Pell and FDL return of Title IV funds sample tested.

A. Comments on Findings and Recommendations: Aiken Technical College concurs with the auditors? finding that we incorrectly computed the Return of Title IV funds calculations for two students during the fiscal year ended June 30, 2019. For the first student, there was no effect on the RT4 calculation, as the student had completed over 60% of the semester and earned the aid. For the second student, the allocation of unearned aid which is the responsibility of the student and institution, respectively, was not calculated and returned in the required timeframe of 45 days from the date of determination from when the student withdrew. Due to the late return calculations, the College returned the Title IV funds in the amount of $980 after the required timeframe of 45 days. The untimely reporting of this student has resulted in delayed repayment of a Federal Direct Loan. B. Actions Taken or Planned: The College is in agreement with audit finding 2019-001. To ensure corrective action for the future, the following plan has been implemented. 1. The Vice President of Academic & Student Affairs, the Director of Financial Aid, and the Registrar, in collaboration with the Information Systems Management Department, have identified the cause for the incorrect RT4 calculations, and in one instance, the delayed repayment of Federal Pell Grant funds. Prior to the Spring 2019 term, the Financial Aid Office utilized the Department of Education software to calculate RT4 amounts, requiring manual input of institutional charges, withdrawal date, and financial aid awarded to the student for the term. Beginning with the Spring 2019 term, the Financial Aid Office began using the College?s student information system (Colleague) to calculate the RT4 amounts, requiring manual input of only the student?s date of withdrawal. The new process should reduce or eliminate manual keying errors. 2. The Financial Aid Director routinely checks a sample of RT4 calculations for accuracy. The two audit selections, however, involved calculations that were not among those checked in the Financial Aid Director?s sampling. Since the student?s date of withdrawal is now the only component manually entered into the RT4 calculation, the date of withdrawal will be the only component to review in every RT4 calculation. This new process makes it feasible for the Financial Aid Director or designee to check all RT4 calculations on a weekly basis to ensure use of the correct date of withdrawal. Additionally, the Financial Aid Director will continue with routine sampling of RT4 calculations for accuracy and to ensure that the system is calculating properly.