State audit reveals North Carolina A&T awarded $5 million in financial aid to student relatives of school officials
TheGrio...
“Full transparency demands nothing less,” school chancellor James R. Martin II said. The school says the Division of Business and Finance will no longer award financial aid and will “immediately discontinue” awarding scholarships to students who were found to have been wrongfully awarded them.
An audit into the finances at North Carolina A&T State University has discovered millions of dollars in financial aid might have been distributed to ineligible out-of-state recipients and those recipients were tied to former university officials.
According to a report from State Auditor Dave Boliek, the university directed $5 million in financial aid to students without “evidence of merit or need-based” criteria. Officials at the school contacted the auditor’s office after discovering the impropriety in student financial aid and asked the auditor to investigate.
Shortly after the audit became public, school chancellor James R. Martin II told Boliek that the individuals named in the report no longer work for A&T.
“Senior officials directly involved with the improperly awarded scholarships are no longer employed,” Martin told Boliek, adding that the school intends to seek “restitution from the responsible employees.”
In light of the audit, the Division of Business and Finance will no longer award financial aid and will “immediately discontinue” awarding scholarships to students who were found to have been wrongfully awarded.
“N.C. A&T identified this problem through our own internal audit process, and I personally contacted State Auditor Boliek because full transparency demands nothing less,” Martin said in a statement. “I am grateful to Auditor Boliek and his team for the thoroughness and professionalism of their review. Our students deserve to know that every dollar they pay is managed with integrity, and the corrective actions we have taken reflect that commitment.”
According to Boliek’s report, of the $5 million that was improperly distributed to students, more than $780,000 that was tied to Administrative Recovery Funds, fees charged to students for services such as housing, dining and parking, instead was directed to students who were university employees, family members of employees or individuals who had “direct personal or professional connection to the university.”
“Students got an advantage because of who they knew and who they were connected to,” Boliek said. “Money that otherwise could have benefited a different program or student who qualified instead went to those who had the right connection.”
In total, the 24 students who received more than $238,000 combined were either university employees or family members of employees. Among the most egregious examples outlined in the report include the nephew of the former Executive Director of the Real Estate Foundation who was given $73,063 in financial awards, the daughter of a NC A&T Center for Teaching Excellence External Advisory Board member receiving $23,052, the son of a former part-time English instructor receiving $22,545, the son of the former Associate Vice Chancellor for Campus Enterprise receiving $18,707 and the daughter of the former Assistant Vice Chancellor for Busines and Finance receiving $14,888 in student aid.
Additionally, the report found that the university’s former Vice Chancellor for Business and Finance used selective treatment to award $49,024 to one out-of-state student. The same vice chancellor authorized $48,654 to be awarded to two friends of the same out-of-state student. The move prompted Boliek to make criminal referrals related to the audit to North Carolina’s Bureau of Investigation.
“What’s been uncovered at NC A&T represents gross misconduct. Given the findings of our investigation, we’ve made a criminal referral to the State Bureau of Investigation, and I have fully informed and updated the Guilford County District Attorney,” Boliek said.