A mistake found in an audit report of Georgia State’s fiscal year 2012 has led to several changes in the way the university recognizes unofficial withdrawals.
The report, conducted by the Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts, found a case where a student received all Ws and Fs. It was estimated that this student received $1,375 in financial aid and Title V funds that, if the student withdrew, had to be returned.
That one mistake showed that the university did not have adequate internal control procedures to identify students who officially withdrew during an academic semester, causing financial aid inaccuracies.
“The $1,375 is the amount of federal financial aid that the auditors are saying should have been returned to the Federal government because of the one student they found that was an unidentified unofficial withdrawal,” said Sterling Roth, chief audit officer and director of University Auditing and Advisory Services.
The failure to provide documentation of these unofficial withdrawals caused the university to fall out of compliance with federal regulations.
The report recommended that Georgia State should “improve established monitoring processes in place to ensure that unofficial withdrawals are identified and the required Return of Title IV Funds calculation is performed. The university should also contact the U.S. Department of Education regarding the resolution of this finding.”
According to Bruce Spratt, comptroller and associate vice president for Finance and Administration, the university has implemented procedures that ensure that unofficial withdraws are identified.
“The procedures the University has implemented will ensure that all students who receive all W’s and F’s will be notified at the end of the semester and required to submit proof that they earned the grade of F,” Spratt said.
According to Spratt, the university will notify the students, who then must respond within two weeks of the notification date. If the students do not respond during that period they lose their Title IV financial aid and Georgia State must refund the aid money in accordance with Title IV requirements.
Students who receive financial aid and then withdraw or fail all of their courses will also be put through a vetting process. They will have to prove that they actually attempted to complete the work.
“By federal law, we need to ensure that they were not just trying to benefit from the receipt of federal funds without any intent to complete the courses,” Spratt said.
The university will also contact the students’ professors to verify that each student was making an effort to complete work. If it cannot be confirmed, then the university will reverse the funds.
“I have no doubt that the Recommendation will be implemented. In fact, there will be follow-up later to ensure that it is. There was only that one error in a sample of 25,” Dr. Sterling Roth said.
