Department of Education

Our FY 2013 FISMA review found that the Department had made progress in remediating issues identified in previous FISMA reviews. Specifically, it complied with 4 of the 11 reporting metrics: continuous monitoring, plan of action and milestones, contractor systems, and security capital planning...

We found that the Los Angeles Unified School District designed internal controls that provided reasonable assurance that its personnel used Department funds for nonpayroll purchases in accordance with applicable Federal requirements. In addition to its own system of controls, the District was also...

Our audit found that the Department and the five SEAs reviewed had systems of internal control designed to prevent and detect inaccurate, unreliable, or incomplete Statewide test results; however, these systems did not always require corrective action if indicators of inaccurate, unreliable, or...

Our audit found that additional safeguards and improvements were needed for the Department’s adaptation of Federal student aid (Title IV) requirements and guidance to mitigate the unique risks inherent in distance education and for the Department’s, accrediting agencies’, and State agencies’...

Our audit sought to determine whether OPE’s internal controls were adequate for evaluating grantees for duplication of effort; whether the Talent Search, Upward Bound, and Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) programs resulted in duplication of services provided...

We found that FSA did not effectively monitor borrower complaints against the PCAs or make sure that the complaints were satisfactorily resolved, did not ensure that the PCAs were adhering to Federal debt collection laws, and did not consider complaints when deciding how much to compensate PCAs. As...

We evaluated FSA’s process for ensuring the continued protection of Federal funds at Guaranty Agencies (GA), oversight of the GAs’ ability to perform their duties, and actions necessary for the GAs’ successful participation during the phase-out of the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP)...

Our audit sought to determine whether the Ohio Department of Education (the Ohio SEA) accurately and completely reported RTT grant performance data to the Department, ensured that it and its participating LEAs and charter schools would have the capacity to deliver and sustain results described in...

We found that the Department did not adequately address the risks that schools offering direct assessment programs pose to the Federal student aid programs and did not establish sufficient processes to ensure that only programs meeting Federal regulatory requirements are approved as eligible. We...

We found that for both FY 2012 and FY 2013, the Department complied with Executive Order 13520, adequately addressed improper payment risks, and described an adequate level of oversight to reduce and recapture improper Pell Grant payments. However, we found that the Department still had not...