Enhancing Compliance through FSA Assessments: Tools and Strategies for Institutions

1. Session #13 FSA Assessments:An Opportunity to Improve Compliance Julie Arthur David Bartlett

2. What are the FSA Assessments? Tools to: Prevent non-compliance Identify compliance issues Establish Action Planning steps to correct problems

3. Why use the FSA Assessments? • Ensure Title IV compliance • Prepare for an audit • Prepare for a program review • Correct deficiencies and eliminate repeat findings • Develop or update policies and procedures

4. Standards for Participation • Program Participation Agreement • Factors of financial responsibility • Standards of administrative capability

5. Importance of Administrative Capability • Administrative capability: a standard for participation • 34 C.F.R. § 668.16 “Standards of Administrative Capability” • Program review and audit findings may indicate lack of administrative capability

6. Using Findings to Improve Compliance • Program review and audit findings are good starting point for diagnosing • Review past findings and develop policies and procedures to prevent problems from recurring • Repeat findings indicate problems that have not been corrected

7. Findings With Significant Liabilities • Return of Title IV Funds • Returns not Made • Calculation Errors • Made Late • Verification Violations

8. Findings With Significant Liabilities • Account Records Inadequate/not Reconciled • Inconsistent Information in Student File • Lack of Administrative Capability

9. Correcting and Preventing Findings • Return of Title IV Funds (R2T4) Errors, Incomplete, Late, Missing • Verification Incomplete, Missing, Errors • Title IV Accounts Not Reconciled

10. IFAP http://ifap.ed.gov Where to find the Federal Student Aid Assessments

11. School Portal http://FSA4schools.ed.gov Where to find the Federal Student Aid Assessments

12. The Redesign of the Assessments New Look and Feel • Introduce the New Policy and Procedure Assessment

13. FSA Assessments – Four Categories

14. FSA Assessments Chart

15. FSA Assessments Chart

16. Correcting and Preventing Findings • Return of Title IV Funds (R2T4) Errors, Incomplete, Late, Missing • Verification Incomplete, Missing, Errors • Title IV Accounts Not Reconciled

17. FSA Assessments – Policies and Procedures Return of Title IV Funds (R2T4) Errors, Incomplete, Late, Missing • Managing Funds - Review R2T4 Assessment • Policies and Procedures Assessment • Policies and Procedures At a Glance • Activities

18. Return of Title IV Funds

19. Return of Title IV Funds

20. Getting Started Developing Policies and Procedures

21. Getting Started with P & P

22. P & P at a Glance

23. P & P At a Glance

24. Correcting and Preventing Findings • Return of Title IV Funds (R2T4) Errors, Incomplete, Late, Missing • Verification Incomplete, Missing, Errors • Title IV Accounts Not Reconciled

25. FSA Assessments - Activities Finding: 2 – Verification Incomplete • Review Verification Assessment - Students • Policies and Procedures • Activity 4: Resolving Conflicting Data • Activity 5: Professional Judgment

26. FSA Assessments – Verification

27. Verification Activity 4 and Activity 5

28. Verification Activity 4

29. Verification Activity 5

30. Activity 5 continued…

31. Correcting and Preventing Findings • Return of Title IV Funds (R2T4) Errors, Incomplete, Late, Missing • Verification Incomplete, Missing, Errors • Title IV Accounts Not Reconciled

32. Reconciliation Worksheets Finding: 3 – Title IV Accounts Not Reconciled • Select Managing Funds – Fiscal Management • Select Activity 1 – Reconciliation Worksheets • Review Year End and Monthly Worksheet

33. Managing Funds – Fiscal Mgmt

34. Reconciliation & Fiscal Mgmt

35. Reconciliation Worksheets

36. Fiscal year end worksheet

37. Management Enhancement An Action Plan to: Identify compliance issues Assign the issue for correction Design a Corrective Action Plan

38. Management Enhancement Worksheet

39. Management Enhancement Worksheet continued…

40. Effective Practices • Innovation – Effective Practices • Opportunity to review a successful practice reported by one of your colleagues • Opportunity to report a successful practice to the Department

41. FSA Assessments: Innovation

42. Effective Practices

43. Current Effective Practices

44. Importance of Offices Working Together “It’s a fact that people working as a team can achieve better results than individuals working alone.”

45. Summary • If we can find it – so can you! • Use the Assessments to fix problems before the auditor or program reviewer finds it • Team Approach to the assessments is critical • Use the Management Enhancement as a corrective action plan and track progress

46. Questions

47. Julie Arthur Phone: 206-615-2232 Email: julie.arthur@ed.gov Fax: 206-615-2508 David Bartlett Phone: 816-268-0434 E-mail: david.bartlett@ed.gov Fax: 816-823-1402 Contact Information We appreciate your feedback and comments. We can be reached at: