Administrative Service

Financial Aid Compliance Assessment and Procedural Review
Our staff reviews the main areas that lead to audit concerns with Financial Aid Office and with other functions performed within the institution that impact financial aid compliance.  Our team understands the focus of the US Dept of ED reviewers and provides valuable in depth critique of your staff, their roles, and, then provides a summary and recommendations for office operational improvement.

We evaluate your institution’s handling of the following critical areas that are targeted by Institutional Review Specialists:

Point 1 – Cost of Attendance, Award Adjustments, and, Packaging
Point 2 – Changes in Enrollment Status, Academic Progress, Withdrawal/R2T4 process
Point 3 – Documentation of Corrective Action Plan, Policy Changes, and, Staffing
Point 4 – Consumer information, Verification Process, Disclosures, Electronic Access
Point 5 – Training, Staff Development Plan, Institutional Accreditation & Audit Readiness

If you are uncertain of the level of staff productivity, your institutions understanding of the compliance requirements, have experienced turnover in your staffing, have not updated your student’s electronic access capability, have not conducted internal customer service training, or have had audit findings in other area of your financial aid administrative capabilities - whether simply for improvement purposes or a crisis in the office - this is the Evaluation for your Institution.  We are a team of experienced Financial Aid compliance experts, and, because we know that corrective actions and implementation is an essential component of administrative capability a complete summary of findings and an implementation plan is an integral part of this program.

Financial Aid Performance Analysis and Review of Office Procedures
Our Team provides you with experienced financial aid reviewer consultants to closely with your internal staff to review and analyze the financial aid process.  This is not limited to just the financial aid office, rather it is done in conjunction with the many functions performed as a result of FSA Title IV participation.  Working with the Director of Financial Aid and your office staff, we:

• Evaluate the efficiency of your staff
• The process flow of the financial aid awarding and disbursement activities
• Evaluate your customer service and interview content
• Map the entire financial aid process in its current state

Through this process mapping, we will identify any gaps and deficiencies that exist and discover the reasons that certain errors occur. We then use this information to make recommendations to your policy and procedures, your job descriptions, and your staff training module with an end result of developing a more efficient operational system for your students and staff.

Peer Regulatory Review and Pre-Annual Audit Inspection
Our on-site review team, within a week’s time, will conduct:

• An in-depth review of financial aid files, sampled in a non-random selection process from your student data,
• Evaluate your implementation and following of your published policies and procedures,
• Define inconsistent application of regulatory requirements for disbursements, review summary reports and reconciliations, and, review the file content and format of your financial aid records,
• We will summarize and report on any identifying possible issues of noncompliance in all areas, such as budgets, file verification, awards, return of Title IV funds, disbursements, consumer information requirements, dependency overrides and other professional judgment decisions.

When we are finished, we will provide an exit interview of our concerns, an outline of the areas we have concerns on, and within 14 days provide a detailed report of findings as well as recommendations for effective and appropriate corrective action.  This report will be generated as if your institution was subjected to a Program Review;, however, its contents are for the institutions use only, it is not forwarded to the Department of Education or other agencies.  You should make note in your 3 year institutional improvement plan, your actions as related to the findings in the report to provide documentation of your improvements made between accreditation visits.

Pre-FSA Title IV Program Review Visit
This is a highly focused review of your institutional performance as it relates to the 12 items the US Dept of ED review specialist will conduct on your campus.  We provide a detailed action plan that our on-site review team, within a period of no more than 10 days will evaluate your compliance and administrative capabilities in the following known areas of concern:

• Late Refund/Returns to Title IV Account
• Incorrect Return of Title IV Funds Calculation
• Entrance/Exit Counseling Deficiencies
• Enrollment Report (SSCR) Issues
• Repeat Finding-Failure to resolve prior audit issues with reporting period
• Auditor Opinion Cited in Audit
• Student Credit Balance Deficiencies
• Verification Violations
• Pell over/under Payments
• Corrective Action Plan (CAP) implementation steps taken
• FDLP awards - Not Prorated
• Overaward – Financial Need Exceeded based on Academic Standing
• SAP Requirement Not Met, Probation not Documented, Ineligible Aid Awarded prior to Appeal Process documentation
• Inconsistent/Missing or Conflicting Information in Student File
• Account Records Inadequate or Not Reconciled
• Leave of Absence Deficiencies
• Improper Disbursement-PELL Disbursed Before Midpoint

This type of review addresses all compliance issues that could, if identified and not resolved, place undue hardship on the institution.  We act as US Dept of ED review specialists in our evaluation and interview procedures, prepare your team for what we found, and, most importantly, provide you a means to correct it prior to it being discovered by the auditors. Our clients have found great benefit in this type of review and how it prepared their team for the visit.