Reports

The purpose of this report is to share with the U.S. Department of Education (Department) observations made by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) concerning institutions of higher education (IHE) that ceased to provide educational instruction in all programs of study (closed) and received or had access to coronavirus response and relief aid through the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF). We found that 17 IHEs that closed on or before December 31, 2020, applied for and were awarded a total of $4,912,675 of HEERF grants by OPE. Of these 17 IHEs, 14 drew down HEERF funds and 3 did...

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government has appropriated over $3.5 trillion to address the public health and economic crises. Given the changing nature of the pandemic and the federal government’s response, we re-visited our original top management challenges to ensure that the PRAC is providing timely information to Congress and the new Administration about the response efforts. The following four challenges have been added: Preventing and Detecting Fraud against Government Programs; Informing and Protecting the Public from Pandemic-Related Fraud; Data...

These challenges illustrate the most significant areas the Office of Inspector General (OIG) believes need improvement for the Peace Corps to effectively manage its resources and minimize the potential for fraud, waste, and abuse occurring in its operations. Addressing the issues related to these challenge areas will enable the agency to increase operational efficiencies and improve mission effectiveness.

The objective of this report is to provide insight into the top management challenges facing federal agencies that received pandemic related funding as identified by Offices of Inspector General.

In July 2020, Delaware State Auditor Kathy McGuiness announced the creation of a national COVID-19 Data Quality Audit Template. The template was created as part of a bipartisan, multistate effort with auditor’s offices from Florida, Mississippi, Ohio and Pennsylvania in order to create a uniform approach to data collection, reporting, and monitoring of COVID-19 across the country. Several auditor’s offices across the country have released reports specifically using the COVID-19 Data Quality Audit Template. The goal for this report is to evaluate released reports for common issues that can...

As a part of our audit of the State of Louisiana’s Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) and our work related to the Single Audit of the State of Louisiana for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2021, we performed procedures at the Department of the Treasury to provide assurances on financial information that was significant to the state’s ACFR. The Department of Treasury did not consistently follow its policies and procedures for all grants awarded through the Main Street Recovery Program, which provided reimbursement from the federal Coronavirus Relief Fund to eligible Louisiana...

In this performance audit, we reviewed financial activity from federal funds provided by the CARES Act and the CRRSAA. The Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt) received grant funding under two components of the CARES Act’s Education Stabilization Fund: direct funding from the United States Department of Education (US DOE), provided through the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF), and funding from the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education (MDHE), allocated through the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund. Under the CRRSAA, MassArt received direct funding...

The audit examined Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination's (MCAD) case management system to determine whether a backlog was present. The audit also reviewed whether MCAD had created a process for ensuring that CARES Act funds received complied with the policies issued by the Office of the Comptroller of the Commonwealth and whether the employees processing these funds were trained in risk management and information security as required by the Executive Office of Technology Services and Security.