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University of Cincinnati’s Use of Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund Student Aid and Institutional Grants

Audit · Department of Education OIG · 2023-01-17 · about Department of Education

Report

Title
University of Cincinnati’s Use of Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund Student Aid and Institutional Grants
Submitting OIG
Department of Education OIG
Component agency
Department of Education
Type
Audit
Publication date
2023-01-17

Summary

Our objective was to determine whether the University of Cincinnati (University) used the Student Aid (Assistance Listing Number (ALN) 84.425E) and Institutional (ALN 84.425F) portions of its Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) funds for allowable and intended purposes.The University spent $109.9 million (83 percent) of its total HEERF allocation of $132.8 million as of September 30, 2021.

Recommendations (10)

#StatusText
1.1ClosedRequire the University of Cincinnati to develop and implement a review process to prevent or detect payment errors when awarding emergency financial aid grants to students, including written policies and procedures detailing how the reviews shall be…
1.2ClosedRequire the University of Cincinnati to develop and implement written policies, procedures, and management review to ensure that its award determinations, eligibility criteria, and management decisions related to eligibility for its emergency…
1.3ClosedRequire the University of Cincinnati to carefully document how its student aid eligibility criteria prioritized and continues to prioritize students with exceptional need throughout the HEERF grant performance period.
2.1ClosedRequire the University of Cincinnati to develop and implement written policies and procedures, including procedures that would identify and prevent improper revenue recognition and duplicate charges, to ensure that future calculations for charging…
2.2ClosedDetermine whether the University of Cincinnati implemented appropriate corrective actions to resolve the $797,965 in unsupported lost revenue costs it charged to its HEERF Institutional grant; and, if the corrective actions are inappropriate, require…
2.3ClosedDetermine whether the $1,916,041 that the University of Cincinnati charged to its HEERF Institutional grant for noncompetitive procurements was reasonable when compared to the costs of suitable alternatives; and, if the charges were inappropriate,…
2.4ClosedRequire the University of Cincinnati to develop and implement written policies and procedures to ensure that procurements charged to its HEERF Institutional grant are in accordance with applicable Federal requirements; and it consistently follows its…
3.1ClosedRequire the University of Cincinnati to incorporate in its policies and procedures and implement the cash management requirements for minimizing the time between drawing down and disbursing Federal grant funds, and remitting interest earned in excess…
3.2ClosedRequire the University of Cincinnati to remit $35,439 based on the TIP’s average rate of return, less no more than $320 ($500 minus the $180 already retained) for administrative expenses if applicable; and remit the actual amount of earned interest on…
4.1ClosedRequire the University of Cincinnati to develop and implement written policies and procedures that incorporate the HEERF program’s reporting requirements and ensure that the expenditures in its quarterly HEERF Institutional expenditure reports are…

Source

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