NASFAA Mention: Howard U Is Off Cash Monitoring, But Some Colleges Linger Under Sanctions

"In 2018, Howard University landed on the U.S. Department of Education's heightened cash monitoring (HCM) list with a bang," Education Dive reports

"The decision meant the institution, which was reeling from a massive scandal in its financial aid office, would no longer receive an advance from the Ed Department to cover its students' financial aid. Instead, Howard would need to put its own money down and ask for reimbursement.

In a letter explaining its decision, the department cited "serious administrative capability issues" at the university, identified in audits from 2015 through 2017 and again during a program review in 2018. Among those issues were a lack of internal financial oversight and shoddy accounting practices.

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The department's HCM restriction has two levels. The less-severe is HCM1, under which the Ed Department more heavily scrutinizes a college's finances but still advances it student aid funds.

On HCM2, however, schools don't receive advances. Instead, they must pull from their own resources and request reimbursement from the department. 

Those schools still would need to create 'a seamless environment … where the students don't know that the school is on HCM,' Jill Desjean, a policy analyst at the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA), told Education Dive in an interview. In other words, she continued, 'not punishing the students for whatever issues the school is being punished for, whenever possible.'"

NASFAA's "Notable Headlines" section highlights media coverage of financial aid to help members stay up to date with the latest news. Articles included under the notable headlines section are not written by NASFAA, but rather by external sources. Inclusion in Today's News does not imply endorsement of the material or guarantee the accuracy of information presented.

 

Publication Date: 2/25/2020

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