University of Houston’s Compliance with Verification and Reporting Requirements

Our audit objectives were to determine whether the University of Houston completed verification of applicant data in accordance with Federal requirements and accurately reported verification results to Federal Student Aid (FSA). Our audit covered award year 2016–2017 (July 1, 2016, through June 30, 2017). We found that the University of Houston completed verification of applicant data in accordance with Federal requirements for 55 of the 60 students in our sample for award year 2016–2017. However, we found the University of Houston did not properly perform verification of applicant data in accordance with Federal requirements for 5 of the 60 students. Because the University of Houston did not properly perform verification for five sampled students, it improperly disbursed $14,004 in Pell funds for four students.The University of Houston accurately reported verification results to FSA for 59 of 60 students included in our random sample and for whom the school performed verification.