Information on the Federal Program: Student Financial Aid Cluster (AL Numbers 84.268, 84.063, 84.033, 84.379, 84.038, and 84.077) – U.S. Department of Education
Criteria or specific requirement: 34 CFR 668.164(h) - If a credit balance occurred on or before the first day of class of a payment period, it must be paid directly to the student or parent within 14 days of the first day of class. If a credit balance occurred after the first day of class of a payment period, it must be paid directly to the student or parent within 14 days of the occurrence.
Condition: Out of a population of 1,623 students, we sampled 40. Out of this sample, the University failed to reimburse student account credit balances timely for 5 students.
Cause: The University did not have a control in place to ensure credit balances were refunded timely.
Effect: The University is not in compliance with Title 34, Section CFR 668.164 with respect to the referenced students.
Recommendation: We recommend that the University establish controls to ensure that credit balances are paid directly to the student or parent within 14 days of the first day of class or within 14 days of the occurrence of a credit balance.
Views of responsible officials and planned corrective actions: The University concurs with finding. The Bursar Office, under the office's current leadership, has improved reporting procedures which allows for timely student reimbursements.
120.