U.S. Department of Education’s Compliance with Payment Integrity Information Reporting Requirements for Fiscal Year 2022

Submitting OIG:

Department of Education OIG

Report Description:

The objective of this statutory audit was to determine whether the Department complied with the Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019 (PIIA) for FY 2022. We found that the Department did not comply with the PIIA because it did not meet one of the six compliance requirements. Specifically, the Department reported improper payment and unknown payment estimates for the Title I, Special Education, and Education Stabilization Fund programs that exceeded 10 percent. We also determined that the Department’s improper payment and unknown payment estimates for five programs (Title I, Special Education, Education Stabilization Fund, Pell, and Direct Loan) were not reliable. Specifically, for the Title I and Special Education programs, the improper payment and unknown payment estimates were based on inaccurate sampling populations. For the Title I, Special Education, and Education Stabilization Fund programs, the Department’s testing results were inaccurate; and the improper payment sampling and estimation plan for the Pell and Direct Loan programs included nonrandom student-level sampling from some of the compliance audits FSA used to calculate the estimates, which affected the appropriateness of the confidence intervals used in the calculation of the improper payment and unknown payment estimates.

Date Issued:

Thursday, July 20, 2023

Agency Reviewed / Investigated:

Department of Education

Submitting OIG-Specific Report Number:

A23NY0119

Location(s):

Agency-Wide

Type of Report:

Audit

Questioned Costs:

Funds for Better Use:

Number of Recommendations:

Report updated under NDAA 5274:

View Document:

Attachment	Size
FY23A23NY0119012924SECUREDv100.pdf	6.76 MB

Recommendation Number	Recommendation Status	Significant Recommendation
1.1	Open	Yes
Develop a plan consistent with 31 U.S.C. section 3353(b)(1)(B)(i) through (iii), that describes actions the Department will take to bring the Title I, Special Education, and Education Stabilization Fund programs into compliance with the PIIA and submit it (via the OMB Annual Data Call) to the appropriate authorizing and appropriations committees of Congress.
1.2	Open	Yes
Develop additional program integrity proposals consistent with 31 U.S.C. section 3353(b)(2) and OMB Circular A 123, Appendix C, Part VI, D(2), that describe how the proposals will help the Title I program come into compliance with the PIIA and submit them with the Department’s next budget submission to the Director of OMB.
2.1	Open	Yes
Design and implement improper payment and unknown payment sampling and estimation plans for the Title I and Special Education programs that would produce a reliable estimate. Specifically, the plans should be appropriate for the sampling of payments based on accurate sampling populations.
2.2	Open	Yes
Design and implement improper payment and unknown payment sampling and estimation plans for the Title I and Special Education programs that would produce a reliable estimate. Specifically, the plans should be appropriate for the sampling of payments based on accurate sampling populations.
2.3	Open	Yes
In conjunction with the Acting Chief Financial Officer for FSA, develop sampling and estimation plans for the Pell and Direct Loan programs that will produce reliable estimates. Specifically, the plan should (a) produce appropriate and accurate confidence intervals around a statistically valid point estimate; (b) consistent with 31 U.S.C. section 3352(c)(1)(A), produce an estimate that is otherwise appropriate using a methodology approved by the Director of OMB; or (c) consistent with OMB Circular A-123 Appendix C, Part II, B(2), include a detailed explanation as to why it is not possible produce a statistically-valid point estimate and appropriate and accurate confidence intervals around the estimate.

Recommendation Number

Recommendation Status

Significant Recommendation

Additional Details

1.1

Open

Yes

Develop a plan consistent with 31 U.S.C. section 3353(b)(1)(B)(i) through (iii), that describes actions the Department will take to bring the Title I, Special Education, and Education Stabilization Fund programs into compliance with the PIIA and submit it (via the OMB Annual Data Call) to the appropriate authorizing and appropriations committees of Congress.

1.2

Open

Yes

Develop additional program integrity proposals consistent with 31 U.S.C. section 3353(b)(2) and OMB Circular A 123, Appendix C, Part VI, D(2), that describe how the proposals will help the Title I program come into compliance with the PIIA and submit them with the Department’s next budget submission to the Director of OMB.