The National Service Trust holds the funds set aside to pay the education awards of national service members who successfully complete their service terms. Responsibility for the education awards that have been earned or will be earned in the near future is the largest liability on AmeriCorps’ financial statements at $287 million.
AmeriCorps has been unable to produce auditable financial statements for the last eight years. This year, independent auditors issued another disclaimer of opinion, reporting five material weaknesses and one significant deficiency. The auditors, however, verified that AmeriCorps took appropriate actions to close 16 of the 46 prior year recommendations. The remaining 30 recommendations continue to be valid and open, seven of them in modified form. The auditors also made three new recommendations, for a total of 33.