Berkshire Community College

This is a follow-up audit by the Massachusetts State Auditor looking at Berkshire Community College’s federal student aid programs for July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2010.

“In accordance with Chapter 11, Section 12, of the Massachusetts General Laws, the Office of the State Auditor conducted a follow-up audit of the issues contained in our prior audit report (No. 2010-0190-16S) and in the Single Audit of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and of BCC’s Federal Financial Student Assistance programs funded through the United States Department of Education (ED) for the period July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2010.”

The audit checked whether BCC had fixed problems found in an earlier audit, including financial aid notices, student status reporting, federal work-study payroll controls, and returning federal aid money properly.

“Our follow-up audit of BCC’s procedures for corrective action and improvements in the areas identified in our prior audit report were to determine whether:”

Federal student aid rules affect students’ loans, withdrawals, work-study pay, and public money, so weak controls can create mistakes that matter to students and taxpayers.

“Our audit was also conducted in accordance with standards set forth in OMB Circular A-133 and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Audit and Accounting Guide, Audits of State and Local Governments.”

If you are a student, parent, taxpayer, or community member, the report says BCC improved how it tells students about loans, tracks enrollment changes, handles work-study timesheets, and returns certain federal aid funds.

“Specifically, BCC now includes specific dates and amounts of disbursements as well as notification of a student’s right to cancel all or part of their loan within 30 days.”

BCC was told to keep developing its internal control plan as a priority, and the college said it expected to finish the work in fiscal year 2011.

“BCC should continue to develop its ICP as a priority to comply with OSC guidelines.”

The report is significant because it found real progress on student financial aid compliance, while also warning that BCC’s broader internal controls were still not fully updated.

“Although BCC has made improvements as noted, it still needs to further update and enhance its ICP to be in compliance with OSC guidelines.”

“Internal Control Plan” means the college’s written system for preventing and catching errors, fraud, waste, and poor procedures.

“Further, BCC has also included Mission Statements, an Organization Chart, and a Fraud Waste, and Abuse Policy within its ICP.”