Maricopa Steward

Internal Audit Results for MCCCD Tuition Waiver Program

At the request of the Office of Public Stewardship and District Human Resources, the District’s Office of Internal Audit and Management Advisory Services (IAMAS) performed an internal audit of tuition waivers in order to determine if we had an effective internal control structure in place to ensure adequate eligibility processing and compliance with Board Policy and state statutes. When MCCCD waives tuition for credit hour courses, it uses institutional funds to cover the loss of revenues represented by the waiver. Implementing controls to ensure that waivers are used by those who are eligible and ensuring that routine program monitoring is in place are both key components for the responsible stewardship of this employee benefit.

The audit report was released on August 18, 2009 and noted the following:

Key internal controls and procedures for tuition waiver processing at several college locations should be established;
District officials should work with the colleges to implement procedures to help ensure greater compliance in areas such as processing adjunct waivers prior to contracts being enacted and the use of waivers by full-time employees during normal working hours of accountability;
A significant number of withdrawals from waivered courses were noted; and
The need for improvements in the standardized monitoring process.

As a follow-up to the findings, District administrators will be working with the colleges to implement a consistent process for handling tuition waivers. Process improvements are expected to be implemented by March 2010. Questions on tuition waiver eligibility may be directed to: Lupe Gutierrez, 480.731.8469 or Teresa Toney, 480.731.8880

The Tuition Waiver Handbook can be found online at the Legal web.

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Internal Audit Results for MCCCD Tuition Waiver Program