Proposed SFA Audit Requirement Delayed Until FY18
5/02/2017
NACUBO highlighted last fall that the Department of Education planned to pursue an annual audit mandate of Student Financial Assistance programs for FY17 as part of the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) 2017 Compliance Supplement.
Following the announcement, NACUBO and other higher education associations expressed concern to ED that such a requirement would be in direct conflict with both the Single Audit Act Amendments of 1996 and the more recent Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards.
ED now has announced that no such guidance made it into the FY17 Compliance Supplement but plans to include it in the FY18 guidance. ED’s August 2016 announcement indicated that institutions should contact their School Participation Division if their auditor, in following previous OMB guidance, made a determination that their Student Financial Assistance Program Cluster was low risk. This guidance will now stand for FY17 audits as well.