The objectives of our audit were to (1) determine whether the Department complied with the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act of 2010 (IPERA); (2) evaluate the accuracy and completeness of the Department’s improper payments reporting, estimates, and methodologies;(3) evaluate the Department’s performance in preventing, reducing, and recapturing improper payments; (4) evaluate the Department’s assessment of the level of risk associated with the high-priority programs; and (5) review the oversight and financial controls used by the Department to identify and prevent improper payments in high-priority programs.
The Department complied with IPERA as it met each of the six compliance requirements. However, we also found that the Department published improper payment estimates that were unreliable in its FY 2019 Agency Financial Report for the Federal Pell Grant and William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan programs, as well as for the Temporary Emergency Impact Aid for Displaced Students program.
We made five recommendations, including that the Department develop and implement procedures to ensure that its (1) estimation methodologies for the Pell, Direct Loan, and Emergency Impact Aid programs are accurate, complete, and statistically valid; (2) improper payment estimates for the Pell, Direct Loan, and Emergency Impact Aid programs are based on, and represent, quality information (accurate and complete information); and (3) improper payments are appropriately identified and included in the improper payment estimate for the Emergency Impact Aid program.
Improper Payments
See other OIG reports on improper payments.