Audit finds problems with postsecondary board

Wednesday, March 2, 2005 | 9:35 a.m.

SUN CAPITAL BUREAU

CARSON CITY -- A state commission that regulates 139 private postsecondary schools with an estimated 36,000 students in Nevada has problems in its financial record keeping, a legislative audit says.

The audit of the Commission on Postsecondary Education, headquartered in Las Vegas, said it must improve its financial and administrative practices in three areas.

The commission collects $4 per student from each school every quarter. The financial examination, released Tuesday, said 14 of the 15 schools reported different enrollments in their quarterly and annual reports.

There was an overall difference of about 4.5 percent.

"Although we did not find any evidence to indicate institutions were not paying their required fees, accurate data is an important component of a good regulatory process," said the audit.

The commission is also required by law to keep a minimum of $250,000 in a fund to reimburse students who have suffered financial damages when a school closes or fails to operate up to standard. Since November 2003, the balance has dropped to about $234,000.

The audit said it found a 2.2 percent error rate in the claims submitted by the commission to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for reimbursement of monitoring veteran educational programs. The errors did not result in significant over- or under-billing, said the audit, but it recommended there be improved accuracy.

The commission accepted all the recommendations.