The Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990 requires the Inspector General to audit the agency’s financial statements each year, which is intended to help improve an agency’s financial management and controls over financial reporting.
For FY 2023, the independent auditor issued a disclaimer of opinion as it was not able to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence to provide a basis for an audit opinion because of unresolved errors identified in the underlying data used to calculate the subsidy re-estimates for the Department’s direct loan and loan guaranty programs. The auditors identified one material weakness related to the Department’s Direct and FFEL student loan portfolios, and two significant deficiencies related to information technology controls and entity-level controls. The auditors also noted the Department did not substantially meet requirements of the Federal Managers Financial Integrity Act. Audit summary begins on page 100 of the report.
The auditors made more than 20 recommendations to address the issues identified.
Read other OIG reports on financial statements.