Louisiana Legislative Auditor
Daryl G. Purpera, CPA, CFE

September 29, 2014

L.E. Fletcher Technical Community College

Officials at L.E. Fletcher Technical Community College in Schriever lost almost $61,000 in fee revenues between 2010 and 2014 by charging incorrect student technology fees, a report released Monday by Legislative Auditor Daryl Purpera said.

The management letter, issued by the state auditor’s Financial Audit Services section, also cited the Terrebonne Parish college for its handling of federal student assistance funds and not remitting unclaimed property to the state.

On the technology fee, auditors said that from the fall of 2010 through the spring of 2014, the college should have charged $5 per course credit-hour for the technology fee, but instead assessed a $4-an-hour fee, with a maximum semester charge of $45 per student. The student body at the campus can vote to set the maximum technology fee that can be collected in a semester but cannot deviate from the $5-an-hour rate, which is established in state law.

Effective in the Fall 2010 semester, Fletcher’s Student Government Association approved the technology fee at $4 per-course-hour with a maximum of $45 per student, per semester, the report said. In the four-year period the lower fee was in place, the school lost $60,913, the report said.

Auditors also cited the school for not reporting to the state’s Unclaimed Property Program “outstanding checks totaling $5,938, which were held for more than one year.” Some of the checks that were still held by the Fletcher campus dated from November 2004 to June 2012. “Although procedures were established to report unclaimed property, FTCC personnel failed to do so,” the state auditor’s report said.

In a financial test of 25 students’ financial aid, auditors said that in 11 cases Fletcher did not return financial aid money to the federal education department within the required timeframe. As of June 2014, the report said, unearned Pell grant funds totaling more than $9,800 were due to the U.S. Department of Education.

“In addition, for another 12 of the 25 students tested, FTCC did not return Pell funds totaling $9,481” to the department of education within 45 days of the students’ withdrawal. “The late returns ranged from 73 to 116 days after the required 45-day period,” according to the report.

The management letter also said that Fletcher officials:

In the fiscal year ending June 30, 2014, Fletcher dispersed about $4 million in federal Pell grants, work-study and Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant program money.

Fletcher 2014 Release.pdf
For more information contact:

Legislative Auditor
225.339.3800



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