The objective of our audit was to determine if Lincoln College of Technology used the Student Aid (Assistance Listing Number (ALN) 84.425E) and Institutional (ALN 84.425F) portions of its Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) grant funds for allowable and intended purposes.
Lincoln Educational Services Corporation, the owner of Lincoln College of Technology and responsible for the school’s HEERF grant, generally used the Student Aid portion of Lincoln’s HEERF funds for allowable and intended purposes but did not always use the Institutional portion of its funds in accordance with Federal requirements. We also determined that it did not adequately document eligibility determinations for a small number of students who received emergency financial aid grants, improperly applied Institutional grant funds to credit student accounts, improperly charged expenditures that extended beyond the grant performance period, and did not follow cash management requirements.
We made five recommendations, including that Lincoln Educational Services Corporation update its policies and procedures to contain sufficient detail to ensure that all the steps necessary to verify student eligibility and distribute emergency financial aid grants to students are completed, and funding determinations are adequately documented and supported.
Implementing Pandemic Relief Laws
This is one of two reports in a series; see also our report on Remington College. Find other OIG reports on HEERF on our Pandemic Relief page.