Mary,
I think that almost every department in a school should have internal audits. The registrar's office, career services, and admissions, as you noted, should be included in addition to financial aid. In this highly regulated environment, every department needs to be aware of and practicing compliant processes.
Traci Lee
While it would seem that the focus of internal audits should be/would be on financial aid, I believe that admissions is equally important. The integrity of the school rests on those being admitted and admissions is under a lot of stress with enrollment quotas. To bad that there is so much emphasis on filling the quotas that it may result in dragging down the reputation of the school.
Actually, I believe that Financial Aid is the most important area to be clear in order to guaranteed Chapter IV funds. Another office that I think that is very sensitive is Registrar because is the one that works with some legal documents as: High School Diploma, GED Certification, Foreign Documents and many others.
We just experienced an audit and the focus seemed to be primarily in financial aid with the emphasis placed on teh timing of disbursements and refunds. The DOE really wants to make sure schools are not disbursing early (registrar function is important), hanging onto funds too long, and correcting any mistakes in a timely manner. One of the other big things is to make sure all the proper notifications are going out to students anytime there is activity in their account.
Absolutely at this time. Although,all areas should be internally audited: Admissions/ Academics/ Enrollment AND Financial Aid.
We audit after each class graduates.
There are certainly a heavy amount of regulations driven by the Dept of Education tied to Title IV aid. However, some of the areas that impact compliance with those regulations are typically in other departments such as the registrar's office for attendance and satisfactory academic progress. There are also regulations from accreditors and state agencies which must be adhered to that still tie back to the Dept of Ed since eligilbity is related to each of those entities. Additionally, there is already a requirement for a regular third party audit of the FA area so you may already have this area somewhat covered. Financial Aid is a good place to start but, I would suggest broadening the scope for internal reviews.
