This flash report presented our finding concerning duplicate Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) grant awards to institutions of higher education that we identified by analyzing HEERF program award data in the Department’s grants management system (G5).
We identified schools that were awarded the same HEERF award twice (duplicate awards). We identified 25 duplicate HEERF grant awards that OPE made to 24 schools, totaling about $73 million, which had not been corrected and documented in G5 as of August 2021. Department officials stated that their processes for reviewing and approving HEERF applications and awards, which evolved over time, resulted in the Department identifying and correcting many duplicate HEERF grant awards. However, we found that the Department’s processes did not always prevent or timely identify and correct duplicate HEERF grant awards, and that the Department did not consistently document activities taken to correct duplicate awards. According to G5 data, most of the schools did not draw down funds from the duplicate award; however, eight schools did draw down the funds.
We made one recommendation: that the Department design and implement written policies and procedures for HEERF and other future emergency programs that specifically address (1) application and award verification procedures designed to prevent duplicate awards from occurring, (2) quality assurance reviews of obligated HEERF funds including analyses to identify duplicate awards, and (3) the correction and documentation of erroneous awards in a timely manner.
Implementing Pandemic Relief Laws
This is one of several reports the OIG has issued involving HEERF. Find other reports on our Pandemic Relief page.