UL overpaid student loans

LAFAYETTE — An audit of University of Louisiana’s financial statements found that the school wasn’t properly calculating students’ federal financial aid awards during the 2003 fiscal year. Errors were found in the university’s calculations of the cost of attendance for the Federal Family Education Loans, according to a management letter from the office of Legislative Auditor Steve Theriot. The audit was conducted by the Legislative Auditor’s Office of the 2003 fiscal year that ended June 30. No other financial problems were uncovered in the audit. Auditors found that of the 43 student applications reviewed, the cost of attendance was miscalculated for three students, or 7 percent of those reviewed. Two of the three students received $6,863 more than they were eligible for in Federal Family Education Loans. Cindy Perez, director of UL’s financial aid office, said the error was caused by a computer glitch, and a new system has been set up to fix the problem. Cost of attendance is based on five factors — tuition and fees, room and board, books and supplies, transportation and personal and miscellaneous expenses. The cost of attendance also varies based on where the student lives, Perez said.“Of those three, only two received funds that they should not have,” Perez said. “There were no other students.”About 65 percent of the 16,000 students on campus receive financial aid, Perez said. Though the audit only reviewed 43 students, Perez said her office checked all awards to ensure that there were no other mistakes. “We award tens of millions of dollars in loans,” Perez said. “Any time you over-award, it’s not a small issue, but we want to maintain the best awarding process that we can.”The university may have to pay interest on the overpayments, according to Theriot’s office, but Perez said she has not been notified of any financial repercussions.A review of the University of Louisiana at Monroe’s financial statements did not identify any financial discrepancies. “We found no matters that required disclosure,” Theriot said.Just last year, UL-Monroe was released from sanctions and oversight by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools following an unfavorable audit process in 2000. That year, Legislative Auditor Dan Kyle couldn’t even certify an audit because of the university’s disorganized financial records.