Federal Reports

A supervisor and foreman in Chicago, Illinois, were terminated from employment on June 11, 2020 and issued a written reprimand on June 18, 2020, respectively, for violating company policies. Specifically, our investigation found that the supervisor violated company policies by driving a company-owned vehicle for personal use and operated the vehicle in excess of 90 mph while using a cellular telephone without a hands-free device. In addition, the supervisor directed the foreman to use another company-owned vehicle to tow the supervisor’s personally owned vehicle.

We found, based on our review of samples of approved and rejected TPD discharge applications, that FSA appropriately approved and rejected the applications. We determined that FSA applied appropriate criteria to approve and reject individual TPD discharge applications in accordance with Federal program requirements. We also found that Nelnet generally serviced those TPD accounts throughout the TPD discharge process in accordance with Federal program requirements.2 In addition, based on our review of FSA’s processes and samples of TPD discharge applications, we determined that FSA ensured that accurate information on student loan discharges was entered into the TPD databases.Although we found that FSA appropriately approved or rejected applications, we identified design weaknesses in FSA’s control activities for the TPD discharge application review process that may negatively affect the operating efficiency and effectiveness of the process and increase the risk that FSA approves applications that are inaccurate or incomplete. In addition, we found weaknesses in FSA’s documented procedures and its quality control review for its TPD discharge application review process. We also found weaknesses in FSA’s monitoring of the TPD discharge process.