Reinhardt University SACSCOC Compliance Certification

4.7 Title IV Program Responsibilities

The institution is in compliance with its program responsibilities under Title IV of the most recent Higher Education Act as amended.  (In reviewing the institution’s compliance with these program responsibilities, the Commission relies on documentation forwarded to it by the U.S. Department of Education.)

Judgment check box Compliance

 

Narrative

The Student Financial Aid Office is responsible for maintaining school and student eligibility, maintenance of student financial aid files, packaging, notifying, originating, disbursing, balancing, reporting, and closing out student financial aid.   Reinhardt meets aid-related requirements to participate in federal student aid programs and collaborates with other offices on campuses such as Admissions, Business Office, Registrar, Athletics, and Public Safety.

Reinhardt University is an institution of higher education and fulfills its Title IV responsibilities under such eligibility requirements.  The Student Financial Aid Office maintains school and student eligibility through Title IV requirements by

  1. communicating financial aid policies with the public and students,
  2. filing annual Fiscal Operations Report and Application to Participate (FISAP) report,
  3. maintaining the Program Participation Agreements (PPA) and Eligibility and Certification Approval Report (ECAR),
  4. monitoring its cohort default rate, and
  5. undergoing annual, external financial statement audit and single audit in accordance with federal uniform guidance.

Communicating policies

The Student Financial Aid Office strives to educate parents and students on policies and financial literacy and to help students obtain and maintain financial aid.  The Office of Financial Aid publishes information on requirements, regulations, policies, and opportunities on the Reinhardt University’s public website. [5] Policies and regulations included on this webpage are Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP), Code of Conduct, Right to Cancel, and Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).  Other information listed on the Reinhardt University webpage is the Security Report along with the Crime and Fire Log.

The Office of Student Financial Aid works diligently to provide financial aid information by assigning a specific financial aid counselor to each student. The counselor works with the student throughout his or her time at Reinhardt.  This communication between financial aid counselor and student is imperative not only to build the most effective financial aid package but for students to understand how to apply, obtain, and maintain the programs within their package.  The Student Financial Aid Office recently set-up a financial aid system to perform auto-packaging of federal, state, and institutional funds to quickly and efficiently develop financial aid packages for new and returning students each year.  Moving to this packaging method has allowed the financial aid counselors to spend more time on counseling students and families.

Reinhardt University uses two systems to manage student accounts: Jenzabar EX and PowerFAIDS.  Jenzabar EX is used campus wide to maintain the students’ academic affairs and student activity information.  PowerFAIDS is used in the Student Financial Aid Office to process financial aid.  Jenzabar EX and PowerFAIDS interface with each other to disburse financial aid funds to the student account, which completes the student’s educational record.  PowerFAIDS also interfaces with EdConnect and Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) to maintain the student’s federal fund record, receive ISIRs, and corrections.

Fiscal Operations Report and Application to Participate (FISAP)

Reinhardt annually completes and submits the Fiscal Operations Report and Application to Participate (FISAP), requesting Title IV Campus-based funding, to the U.S. Department of Education requesting Title IV Campus-based funding. This funding includes the Pell Grant, Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant (FSEOG), Federal Work Study, and Student and Parent Direct Loans.  Provided as evidence are the 2015 and 2016 copies of the submitted report. [12]

Program Participation Agreement (PPA) and Eligibility and Certification Approval Report (ECAR)

The Director of Student Financial updates and submits the Program Participation Agreement (PPA) upon requirement.  The PPA is currently under review for recertification.  The Eligibility and Certification Approval Report (ECAR) is continually updated with program and location changes.

Annual, external audit with single audit reports

Each year, the University contracts with a regional CPA firm to conduct an audit that includes the audit of its federal financial assistance program as a part of a single audit conducted in accordance with federal Uniform Guidance.   The single audit includes testing school and student eligibly, timely notifications and payment disbursements, cash management, and reporting. [34]

The University’s most recently issued single audit is for the June 30, 2016 year and reported no findings related to internal controls over financial reporting or major programs.  The auditor’s opinion on compliance with federal program requirements was unmodified (unqualified) and there were no reported findings or questioned costs relating to federal compliance.

The Department of Education utilizes information included in the annual audit to calculate the University’s federal financial responsibility composite score.  This score reflects the overall relative financial health of institutions along a scale from negative 1.0 to positive 3.0. A score greater than or equal to 1.5 indicates the institution is considered financially responsible.  The University’s average composite score for the past 5 years is 2.7 with an estimated 2017 score of 3.0.

Listed below you will find the official 3-year cohort default rates beginning in 2009:

2009 Official 15.2 on 8/5/12

2010 Official 10.3 on 7/28/13

2011 Official 8.3 on 7/26/14

2012 Official 7.6 on 8/8/15

2013 Official 12.2 on 8/6/16

The Georgia Student Finance Commission (GSFC) performs Compliance Reviews every three years to ensure program integrity.  The review includes:  HOPE Scholarship, Zell Miller Scholarship and Georgia Tuition Equalization Grant.

 

Supporting Documents

[1] FISAP 2016

[2] FISAP 2015

[3] Single Audit Report June 2016

[4] Key Ratios for FY 17 Audit

[5] http://www.reinhardt.edu/Future-Students/Cost/index.html