Report 2021-611 Recommendation 8 Responses

Report 2021-611: Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund: Some University Campuses Did Not Maximize Available Federal Pandemic Funds, and They Prioritized Students Differently When Awarding Relief Funds (Release Date: November 2021)

Recommendation #8 To: University, California State

To encourage campuses to obtain additional federal funds that allow them to maximize student services and aid, the CSU Chancellor's Office should review and evaluate the campuses' reports described in recommendation #7 to ensure that they are consistently identifying expenses eligible for FEMA reimbursement.

Each campus has the responsibility and authority to identify expenses eligible for reimbursement from HEERF and FEMA. An additional review as recommended is not cost effective.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Status: Will Not Implement

We stand by our recommendation. The millions of dollars in potential FEMA reimbursements that campuses have not claimed suggests that the CSU Chancellor's Office should take a more proactive role in ensuring that its campuses obtain these federal funds. Further, it is not clear how the Chancellor's Office has determined that an additional review is not cost effective. The Chancellor's Office has not provided a cost estimate for such a review; however, we identified roughly $6 million in potential FEMA-reimbursable costs at only three of the 23 CSU campuses, and there are likely additional pandemic related expenses at the other CSU campuses that are eligible for FEMA reimbursement.

---

All Recommendations in 2021-611

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.