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Audit: Students owe Coppin State University $5.4 million
BALTIMORE -
Coppin State University has failed to collect about $5.4 million owed by students, according to an audit of the state college released Monday. “A lot of that they should collect ... but when they don’t, they should take timely action,” said Bruce Myers, legislative auditor for the Maryland Department of Legislative services. Students with outstanding balances were permitted to register for classes at Coppin State University from February 2002 through June 2006, in violation of University System of Maryland policy, the audit said. Some student accounts sat dormant for almost 45 months, the audit said. “One student was permitted to register for six different semesters even though the student had an outstanding balance at the time of each registration and had made no payments,” the report said. Money owed slipped through the cracks because the university failed to transfer delinquent student accounts to the state’s central collection unit and also failed to issue follow-up billing statements to students with unpaid accounts, the audit said. Discrepancies in account records totaling nearly $6.8 million made it difficult for the university to determine how much was owed by each student, the audit found. In response to the audit, university officials said they have taken steps to better enforce tuition and fees policies. Beginning in fall 2006, students with outstanding balances from a prior semester were not permitted to register without agreeing to a payment plan that requires at least a 50 percent payment at the onset. The university also hired a new bursar in August 2006 and has begun to bill students with outstanding balances monthly, according to the audit. The university will investigate its record-keeping procedures and account discrepanices by hiring additional staff in the controller’s office, the audit said. Officials from Coppin State University did not return requests for comment by press time. mmcilroy@baltimoreexaminer.com |
