Section 487(a)(17) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA), requires postsecondary schools participating in Title IV programs to annually report data, including data relevant to students’ cost of attendance and financial aid and the schools’ graduation rates, to the U.S. Department of Education’s (Department) Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) to the satisfaction of the Secretary. IPEDS data are available to the public, including students, parents, and researchers, and can be used to analyze trends in postsecondary education. They also can help students attending postsecondary schools, prospective students, and their parents compare postsecondary schools and make informed sc The objective of our inspection was to determine whether the National College of Business & Technology Company, Inc., doing business as NUC University (NUC University), reported verifiable data to IPEDS for the 2020–2021 reporting period.
NUC University did not always report verifiable data to IPEDS for the 2020–2021 reporting period. The total amount of grant or scholarship aid that NUC University students received for the 2020–2021 reporting period and the number of full-time undergraduate students who were enrolled in the fall of 2020 and seeking their first postsecondary certificate or degree that the school reported to IPEDS were not verifiable. In addition, the number of students who were full-time undergraduate students who began attending the school during academic year 2015–2016, were seeking their first postsecondary certificate or degree, and completed their program of study by the end of academic year 2020–2021 (150 percent of the normal time) that NUC University reported to IPEDS were not verifiable. While not all reported data were verifiable, the average tuition and fees, books and supplies, room and board, and other expenses charged to full-time undergraduate students who were seeking their first certificate or degree that the school reported to IPEDS for the 2020–2021 reporting period were verifiable. NUC University did not always report verifiable data to IPEDS because it did not design and implement procedures for collecting, consolidating, assessing the reliability of, and reporting data to IPEDS.
We made five recommendations to strengthen NUC Universities’ policies and procedures for collecting, consolidating, assessing the reliability of, and reporting data to IPEDS
Data Quality and Reporting